Hogmaster
03-27-2006, 07:12 PM
OK, I am going to let out a super-duper secret.
My gift (?) (some will debate this) to ifish.
It is something I learned from a co-worker who had before that worked for the good ol’ Larry’s Sporting Goods.
It was all the way back in 1986, and I thought he was relatively nuts at the time.
I am exposing this on the internet for a few reasons;
1) Most of you will blow me off and not do it anyway so I figure why not?
2) Some of you who are desperate for a fish and willing to try something new might just get a reward for trying it.
3) What I am going to reveal is contrary to most everything you may have heard before about fishing with prawns, which just goes to show you that there is more than one way that can work.
Let me first qualify this by stating that in no way do I consider myself to be an excellent fisherman like some on this board. I am lucky these days to get out for a morning or so on the weekends. But that being said, this method has produced fish every year for me since 1986, so I can safely write that it DOES work.
There is a reason I believe that it works well for me, compared to the more well-known and recommended “rolling” method of prawn fishing. I actually believe a perfect roll on a prawn is probably more effective than my method, with a big BUT…
OK, here we go:
The roll on a prawn, like a herring, is dependant on the variables of current and troll speed. But it also, unlike a good cut plug, also has the variation that comes about as the fins, head and tail all start catching current. In short (did I write that? :smile: ), it is tough to keep a good roll going. Or in my case, it is tough to get a good roll going. I am envious of all of you out there who can get a good roll going and keep it for a ˝ hour or so (you are changing your prawns often aren’t you?)
Rather than fight that battle, I have learned a different method. It is what I can only characterize as “flat prawning.” That is right. I actually try to make my prawns lay completely flat and upright with no roll at all.
It works!
The fellow who taught me to do this said that it looks more natural to the salmon when the prawn is facing downstream and steady. I am not sure about that, or if it just becomes an easy target to bite, or if it just works because it is different.
But I can tell you that over the years that many salmon have come to the boat from my buds and me fishing this method.
So if you want to try it, how is it done?
It really is very easy. To start with, you will need a “prawn sticker”. What, you say, is a prawn sticker? Well, it can be a toothpick, but I have found it is much better to use a wire that is used for making spinners. Everyone sells them in packages that have the eye on one end and are just a long straight wire. Take one, cut it down to 3” (wow! I had to measure that 6 times to believe that is only 3 inches! :smile: ) then slide it down your leader to your hooks.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_1.jpg
We used to just fish them this way, but usually these days I’ll add a bead and a small spin-n-glo, corkie or maybe a spinner blade. But the sticker is the only essential element to this method of fishing.
When it is time to bait your prawn, simply flip the prawn upside down in your hand. Then carefully start at the tail and slide the sticker up through the prawn’s body, staying inside but just under the shell and right in the center.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_1A.jpg
I slide the sticker until I reach the curl, but then straighten the prawn out and continue up until the point of the sticker is either just inside or even barely poking outside the “helmet” and (important) centered close to or even right between the eyes. Sometimes the prawn will end up with a bit of a hunch-back, sometimes you can get it totally straight. Either way, the key is how it ends up staying straight upright in the current.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_2.jpg
Then take the trailing hook and, starting under the jaw, penetrate.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_3.jpg
Then turn the hook so the hook eye is upstream and under the prawn’s mouth.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_4.jpg
The second hook should be carefully inserted on the skinnier back part of the prawn the same way. You have to be careful here, as there isn’t much meat. If all else fails, you can put that hook up instead of down.
The last thing I do is tear the last little bit of tail off the prawn (because it can catch current and cause tilting or twirling) so the back end is sorta pointed.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_5.jpg
This setup is what caught both springers last weekend.
If this is done properly, the prawn will lay in the current totally steady and upright. That is key. If it is tilting, it is no good. Try moving the leader from one side to the other where it comes by the back hook, or turn the eye of the sticker, or even try it again with a fresh prawn. Hey prawns are relatively cheap, and that flat, level presentation has proven time and time to be key. Once you get it flat you can put it out and be pretty assured that unless you hook something like fish or bottom, it will stay flat.
As a side note, if you get hung up, even if it comes off, reel up and check your prawn. Good presentation is what it is all about, and lots of times (usually) a prawn will get torn up when you hang up, even when you think it is just the lead or diver.
If you have less than steller prawns that have heads that want to come off, you can always use a little magic thread to hold them on. Also, make sure your prawn has eyes! Two eyes. Don’t know why, but it makes a difference.
Note this post is not about adding and doctoring with your favorite scent. That still has its place for sure. But having a flat prawn, whether bouncing or trolling suspended has worked and will continue to be used by me for prawn fishing. For what it is worth, it doesn’t work so well with sand shrimp. They are just too flimsy and don’t stay stuck.
Finally, one more tip: If you are fishing a prawn on the bottom slowly, and you feel a bite, don’t wait! But also don’t pull back! If you wait your prawn will likely be gone. If you set immediately you will likely reel up a headless prawn. So, this is hard to do (but fun), when you feel that bite, quickly drop your rod tip toward the fish and when you feel the next tug, THEN set the hook! The fish will be much more likely to get the bait inside its mouth if you drop it in (remember fish can’t back up). With those razor sharp hooks you properly filed (yes, even the pre-tied laser-sharpened hooks can be and always are sharpened on my boat), it will soon be “Get the net!”
Hope this helps someone.
If anybody tries this and catches a fish, let me know!
:cheers:
Hog
My gift (?) (some will debate this) to ifish.
It is something I learned from a co-worker who had before that worked for the good ol’ Larry’s Sporting Goods.
It was all the way back in 1986, and I thought he was relatively nuts at the time.
I am exposing this on the internet for a few reasons;
1) Most of you will blow me off and not do it anyway so I figure why not?
2) Some of you who are desperate for a fish and willing to try something new might just get a reward for trying it.
3) What I am going to reveal is contrary to most everything you may have heard before about fishing with prawns, which just goes to show you that there is more than one way that can work.
Let me first qualify this by stating that in no way do I consider myself to be an excellent fisherman like some on this board. I am lucky these days to get out for a morning or so on the weekends. But that being said, this method has produced fish every year for me since 1986, so I can safely write that it DOES work.
There is a reason I believe that it works well for me, compared to the more well-known and recommended “rolling” method of prawn fishing. I actually believe a perfect roll on a prawn is probably more effective than my method, with a big BUT…
OK, here we go:
The roll on a prawn, like a herring, is dependant on the variables of current and troll speed. But it also, unlike a good cut plug, also has the variation that comes about as the fins, head and tail all start catching current. In short (did I write that? :smile: ), it is tough to keep a good roll going. Or in my case, it is tough to get a good roll going. I am envious of all of you out there who can get a good roll going and keep it for a ˝ hour or so (you are changing your prawns often aren’t you?)
Rather than fight that battle, I have learned a different method. It is what I can only characterize as “flat prawning.” That is right. I actually try to make my prawns lay completely flat and upright with no roll at all.
It works!
The fellow who taught me to do this said that it looks more natural to the salmon when the prawn is facing downstream and steady. I am not sure about that, or if it just becomes an easy target to bite, or if it just works because it is different.
But I can tell you that over the years that many salmon have come to the boat from my buds and me fishing this method.
So if you want to try it, how is it done?
It really is very easy. To start with, you will need a “prawn sticker”. What, you say, is a prawn sticker? Well, it can be a toothpick, but I have found it is much better to use a wire that is used for making spinners. Everyone sells them in packages that have the eye on one end and are just a long straight wire. Take one, cut it down to 3” (wow! I had to measure that 6 times to believe that is only 3 inches! :smile: ) then slide it down your leader to your hooks.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_1.jpg
We used to just fish them this way, but usually these days I’ll add a bead and a small spin-n-glo, corkie or maybe a spinner blade. But the sticker is the only essential element to this method of fishing.
When it is time to bait your prawn, simply flip the prawn upside down in your hand. Then carefully start at the tail and slide the sticker up through the prawn’s body, staying inside but just under the shell and right in the center.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_1A.jpg
I slide the sticker until I reach the curl, but then straighten the prawn out and continue up until the point of the sticker is either just inside or even barely poking outside the “helmet” and (important) centered close to or even right between the eyes. Sometimes the prawn will end up with a bit of a hunch-back, sometimes you can get it totally straight. Either way, the key is how it ends up staying straight upright in the current.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_2.jpg
Then take the trailing hook and, starting under the jaw, penetrate.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_3.jpg
Then turn the hook so the hook eye is upstream and under the prawn’s mouth.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_4.jpg
The second hook should be carefully inserted on the skinnier back part of the prawn the same way. You have to be careful here, as there isn’t much meat. If all else fails, you can put that hook up instead of down.
The last thing I do is tear the last little bit of tail off the prawn (because it can catch current and cause tilting or twirling) so the back end is sorta pointed.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Step_5.jpg
This setup is what caught both springers last weekend.
If this is done properly, the prawn will lay in the current totally steady and upright. That is key. If it is tilting, it is no good. Try moving the leader from one side to the other where it comes by the back hook, or turn the eye of the sticker, or even try it again with a fresh prawn. Hey prawns are relatively cheap, and that flat, level presentation has proven time and time to be key. Once you get it flat you can put it out and be pretty assured that unless you hook something like fish or bottom, it will stay flat.
As a side note, if you get hung up, even if it comes off, reel up and check your prawn. Good presentation is what it is all about, and lots of times (usually) a prawn will get torn up when you hang up, even when you think it is just the lead or diver.
If you have less than steller prawns that have heads that want to come off, you can always use a little magic thread to hold them on. Also, make sure your prawn has eyes! Two eyes. Don’t know why, but it makes a difference.
Note this post is not about adding and doctoring with your favorite scent. That still has its place for sure. But having a flat prawn, whether bouncing or trolling suspended has worked and will continue to be used by me for prawn fishing. For what it is worth, it doesn’t work so well with sand shrimp. They are just too flimsy and don’t stay stuck.
Finally, one more tip: If you are fishing a prawn on the bottom slowly, and you feel a bite, don’t wait! But also don’t pull back! If you wait your prawn will likely be gone. If you set immediately you will likely reel up a headless prawn. So, this is hard to do (but fun), when you feel that bite, quickly drop your rod tip toward the fish and when you feel the next tug, THEN set the hook! The fish will be much more likely to get the bait inside its mouth if you drop it in (remember fish can’t back up). With those razor sharp hooks you properly filed (yes, even the pre-tied laser-sharpened hooks can be and always are sharpened on my boat), it will soon be “Get the net!”
Hope this helps someone.
If anybody tries this and catches a fish, let me know!
:cheers:
Hog