Stan Fagerstrom
06-30-2003, 03:22 PM
No Stretch Line & Scented Lures
Help Put Bass In The Boat
By Stan Fagerstrom
When my pal Mike Pedersen sets the hook on a bass the trees on the opposite shore of the lake shudder and shake.
Well, perhaps that's exaggerating a bit, but Mike really is as strong as a bull on steroids. I've watched him tote railroad ties around that made my back hurt if I just looked at them too close.
Mike lives in Longview, WA. I helped him get started in this business of bass fishing when he was still in grade school. He has grown up loving to fish as much as I do. I mention Mike because he has accompanied me on recent trips to Mexico's El Salto Lake. I keep mulling over the experience we had on the latest such fishing adventure.
I insisted that Mike take the front seat of our bass boat and stay there on our last trip. I wanted him to have first crack at the different kinds of cover we fished. Mike had been with me when he'd caught his largest bass ever and I wanted to see him break his previous record. I'm pleased to say he did exactly that on the last trip.
Boating his biggest bass ever left Mike with a smile as big as his biceps. But there was another aspect of the El Salto trip we made this year that didn't make either one of us happy. Mike, you see, hooked his share of fish but too darn many of them came unpinned before he got them into the boat.
There had to be a reason for that. I've already pointed out it certainly had nothing to do with the way he sets the hook. Nor, for that matter, with the way he plays the fish he has on. Mike hits 'em hard and fast and plays them well. I've been attempting to analyze his problems ever since we returned from Mexico. I think I've got it figured out. I'm convinced Mike had more problems losing fish than I did because our approach was slightly different.
http://www.ifish.net/sfelsaltomike.jpg
Big Mike Pedersen, of Longview, WA, got this dandy Lake El Salto bass into the boat. He wasn't as fortunate with some of the others he hooked.
I used only Power Pro 30-pound test braided line on my reels. Mike used monofilament. I used a scent on the Outlaw Baits tube lures that caught most of my fish. Mike didn't use any scent at all.
Some of our best action on the most recent trip in May came in water that was often 20-feet or more deep. Make even a fairly short cast and you'd wind up with 30 to 50-feet of line out by the time your lure settled to the bottom. My low diameter, smooth spooling Power Pro line had almost no stretch. That wasn't true of Mike's monofilament. Though I didn't have anywhere near the power Mike did when he slammed the hook home, my Power Pro line, with no stretch, more than made up for it.
In recent years I've been using scents on all of my lures. I also make sure I get the stuff on my hands before I make my first cast. The scent I use is Smelly Jelly. The last couple of trips to Mexico the scent I've used most is the Smelly Jelly crawdad/anise combination.
http://www.ifish.net/sfsmellgrub.jpg
The application of scent tends to make the fish that pick up your lure chomp down harder and hang on longer.
I'm not saying that scent makes bass jump in the boat. But what I think it does do is make them hang onto a lure just a heartbeat or two longer and perhaps chomp down on it a tad harder---both of which help you get a good hook set.
I'm convinced those two factors---a line that didn't stretch at the strike and a scented bait---were the reasons I didn't have the same problems Mike did down there south of the border.
http://www.ifish.net/sfclosepro.jpg
A no stretch line like this Power Pro makes for a solid hook set.
Mike agrees with me. He'll have Power Pro line on his reel and some Smelly Jelly in his pocket next time we fly south. My guess (and hope) is that he'll be so successful I'll have to kick him out of that front boat seat at least part of the time!
Help Put Bass In The Boat
By Stan Fagerstrom
When my pal Mike Pedersen sets the hook on a bass the trees on the opposite shore of the lake shudder and shake.
Well, perhaps that's exaggerating a bit, but Mike really is as strong as a bull on steroids. I've watched him tote railroad ties around that made my back hurt if I just looked at them too close.
Mike lives in Longview, WA. I helped him get started in this business of bass fishing when he was still in grade school. He has grown up loving to fish as much as I do. I mention Mike because he has accompanied me on recent trips to Mexico's El Salto Lake. I keep mulling over the experience we had on the latest such fishing adventure.
I insisted that Mike take the front seat of our bass boat and stay there on our last trip. I wanted him to have first crack at the different kinds of cover we fished. Mike had been with me when he'd caught his largest bass ever and I wanted to see him break his previous record. I'm pleased to say he did exactly that on the last trip.
Boating his biggest bass ever left Mike with a smile as big as his biceps. But there was another aspect of the El Salto trip we made this year that didn't make either one of us happy. Mike, you see, hooked his share of fish but too darn many of them came unpinned before he got them into the boat.
There had to be a reason for that. I've already pointed out it certainly had nothing to do with the way he sets the hook. Nor, for that matter, with the way he plays the fish he has on. Mike hits 'em hard and fast and plays them well. I've been attempting to analyze his problems ever since we returned from Mexico. I think I've got it figured out. I'm convinced Mike had more problems losing fish than I did because our approach was slightly different.
http://www.ifish.net/sfelsaltomike.jpg
Big Mike Pedersen, of Longview, WA, got this dandy Lake El Salto bass into the boat. He wasn't as fortunate with some of the others he hooked.
I used only Power Pro 30-pound test braided line on my reels. Mike used monofilament. I used a scent on the Outlaw Baits tube lures that caught most of my fish. Mike didn't use any scent at all.
Some of our best action on the most recent trip in May came in water that was often 20-feet or more deep. Make even a fairly short cast and you'd wind up with 30 to 50-feet of line out by the time your lure settled to the bottom. My low diameter, smooth spooling Power Pro line had almost no stretch. That wasn't true of Mike's monofilament. Though I didn't have anywhere near the power Mike did when he slammed the hook home, my Power Pro line, with no stretch, more than made up for it.
In recent years I've been using scents on all of my lures. I also make sure I get the stuff on my hands before I make my first cast. The scent I use is Smelly Jelly. The last couple of trips to Mexico the scent I've used most is the Smelly Jelly crawdad/anise combination.
http://www.ifish.net/sfsmellgrub.jpg
The application of scent tends to make the fish that pick up your lure chomp down harder and hang on longer.
I'm not saying that scent makes bass jump in the boat. But what I think it does do is make them hang onto a lure just a heartbeat or two longer and perhaps chomp down on it a tad harder---both of which help you get a good hook set.
I'm convinced those two factors---a line that didn't stretch at the strike and a scented bait---were the reasons I didn't have the same problems Mike did down there south of the border.
http://www.ifish.net/sfclosepro.jpg
A no stretch line like this Power Pro makes for a solid hook set.
Mike agrees with me. He'll have Power Pro line on his reel and some Smelly Jelly in his pocket next time we fly south. My guess (and hope) is that he'll be so successful I'll have to kick him out of that front boat seat at least part of the time!