|
|
Post by dsmith on Mar 16, 2009 18:12:59 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by bobberguy on Mar 16, 2009 19:35:24 GMT -5
I always fish the same way in lakes! One rod with the BWAB ith two hooks above sinker. I put two minnows on this rig and leave it set. Sometimes I put a small sunfish on the rig. I catch crappie and channelas this way along with a few bass. Sometimes I put one hook with two small worms and theb other minnows! My second rod is a lighter rod open face reel. I put the bobber on with one hook above sinker size 6 or 4 bait holder. The other hook I put below sinker attached to the swivel with 15 to 18 inches of leader. This rod I reel in and let set for 30 seconds then reel in 10 feet quick while jigging. I usually catch 20 fish a night on the moving bait mostly bass and gills!
|
|
|
|
Post by dsmith on Mar 16, 2009 19:59:31 GMT -5
A lot of people say when the weather changes, the fish bite better. This has never held true for us.
|
|
|
|
Post by dsmith on Mar 16, 2009 20:00:46 GMT -5
Oh oh, I got another one. During spawn season, concentrate on nooks, crannies, inlets, creekds etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by mastercatter on Mar 16, 2009 20:15:32 GMT -5
You can get one or two really nice cats from one area then would have to move to another spot. We CPR and have caught the same cat a second time a couple of times...I use two rods : one is rigged for the bottom with either cut or live bait. On this rod I most always use a sliding sinker ( no roll or bullet sinker ) above a snap swivel . To the swivel I put about 12 to 18 inch leader attached to a circle hook. I then tightline this rod with the bail open or drag set loose. The second rod is rigged with a slip bobber ( 10 or 12 in.) . Below the bobber is a 1/2 oz bullet sinker then a snap swivel to which I put a leader and hook ( kahle or circle ) . I mostly bait this with live bait but have used cut bait. For the live bait I like it to be between 4 and 6 inches most times.
|
|
|
|
Post by papa on Mar 20, 2009 20:38:01 GMT -5
Around here when our little river is in flood stage, bank fishing is the way to go. Cast your bait out and let it drift back into the weeds and grass along the bank, the cats are there eating what they normally can't get to. Also when I see water rushing over top of something whether it be a boulder or stump, I cast out and let it drift in over whatever is there, usually there is a cat hiding behind it waiting for food to wash over and they also get to lay out of the stronger current that way.
|
|
|
|
Post by daveedka on Apr 8, 2009 19:45:09 GMT -5
I'm Starting to think I'm the only one here who drift fishes religiously. We find a nice Flat 3-7 deep near deeper water and or cover, Drive the boat into the wind until we exceed 7 foot deep or get too close to shore. Set our biats below slip floats so that thye are about 2' off bottom and drift with the wind until we get out of the Flat area. Circle back and go again. No shortage of big fish or frequent fish either. once the sun comes up, we run a little deeper going 7-14' until about 9:00 am. Then pack up and go home and get sme sleep while it's hot and nasty.
We've pulled as many as 10 big fish out of an area in a night, but we are also covering a lot of acerage when drifting.
As far as the weather we have marked some considerable patterns with go along with what most of the old sayings and tips say.
Anytime a cold front moves in you can expect the bite to be off. This doesn't mean we won't catch fish, but we usually don't do as well and the fish are a lot harder to actually get a hook into.
IF the winds from the west the Fishins the best
Wind from the South blows the bait in their Mouth
Wind from the East and the fish bite the least
Wind from the North and the Fishins the Worst.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by mastercatter on Apr 8, 2009 19:50:04 GMT -5
What size do you normaly get while drifting the way you described? I haven't drift fished for cats.
|
|
|
|
Post by daveedka on Apr 8, 2009 20:35:03 GMT -5
on an average night we'll get three or four 5 pound plus with at least one fish Ohio fish in the mix, we land a lot of 20 inch fish in the processas well.
On a really good night we might see 10 fish over 7 pounds, and 20-30 fish total. We haven't been out as much the last few years and although we've had some stellar nights, we've only seen a few 7 pound plus channels.
Channels cruise the flats for food at night, and we simply drift trhough their hunting ground continually. The real advantage I see is the long scent trail we lay when we drift. we aren't depending on current to carry our scent to the fish, nor do we really depend on being in the correct vicinity to find a lot of fish.
Sometimes we will mark areas that produce a lot fo fish and shorten our drifts to concentrate on those areas specifically. At paint creek I can tell you we have drifted for an hour at a time landing fish regularly and never circled back, but the rattlesnake creek inlet to the lake is one very long flat which allows for us to keep going.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by mastercatter on Apr 8, 2009 20:42:08 GMT -5
We fish Rattlesnake Creek when we are there....Do you use the bottom bouncer sinkers or some other style while drifting?
|
|
|
|
Post by daveedka on Apr 8, 2009 21:04:17 GMT -5
Our rigs stay clear off the bottom with the use of the floats. We use enough lead to keep the bait at the desire depth and a big enough float to hold it all up. I've been tempted to try bottom bouncers, but really enjoy the fact that we don't get many snags. The nice thing with drifting is it keeps the bobbers where we want them due to the pull of the drift. we can usually run 2 rods per person out of a 16 foot boat without worries about tangles.
The only time we struggle is when the wind is just dead, and we don't move much at all.
Dave
|
|
|
|
Post by mastercatter on Apr 8, 2009 22:14:00 GMT -5
Where a trolling motor comes in handy
|
|
|
|
Post by bobberguy on Apr 8, 2009 22:32:17 GMT -5
I drift fish all the time with the BWAB. There are several ways to drift fish with it. When the wind is blowing a little t reall works great. I either throw it to the side of the boat or jut throw it out 10 feet from the boat. I leave the bail open and the boat drifts away fro the bobber. When the bbber gets a 100 feet away I reel it toward the boat slow and e it reset. Usually the the fish follow it along the bottom and when I let it reset 20 feet from the boat they sometimes hit at that instant. If you are drifting slow you can fish a incline the whole way up but be a foot off the bottom as you fish the incline! The nice thing about the BWAB is how easy you can tell a biteeven in choppy water since it tilts. At nigh on a boat its fantastic!
|
|
|
|
Post by daveedka on Apr 8, 2009 22:33:17 GMT -5
We use the trolling motor on occasion, but generally we drift Sideways with the boat Dad has, The trolling motor doesn't do much good in that direction. I use the trolling motor to influence our drift direction if the wind isn't in perfect alignment with my desired fishing angle. We alos use the trolling motor for a quiet approach.
dave
|
|
|
|
Post by mastercatter on Apr 9, 2009 1:51:05 GMT -5
Bobber , Am really going to give the BWAB a workout this year. Am going to use it the first day I get to go fishing
|
|
