McNary Full Moon Bite 10/19 - 10/20

[FEAR NO FISH!]

Yagermeister and I made a short night of it at McNary. I had to work dayshift today so we could only fish till midnight. Even though we fished for 4 hours, it was very productive. After trolling 15 minutes, I hooked and landed a 36.5 inch hatchery steelhead. 10 minutes later I nailed a 35 inch hatchery steely! So in a half hour I had limited and Gary was nervous. 2 hours later Gary boated a 34 inch hatchery steely. Gary's fish took off on a heckuva run, reversed course and ran straight into the side of my boat. Actually knocked itself out and with a quick scoop of the net, was in the boat. I am taking Dan(OR) from Ifish along with some of his crazed walleye buddies from Minnesota out tonight. Should be another good night with the full moon almost upon us. :grin:

[Mojo]

Changing out the hooks on my Vortex's right now!! Gonna superglue the bills in a little better as well... C'Ya tuesday!!!

[FEAR NO FISH!]

Mojo,
Epoxy works better then superglue. It holds up better in the water. Don't forget to bring the shrimp to put on the front treble! They like a bit of seafood as they bite the light. :grin:

[Mojo]

Cooked or raw? Colored or natural?

I like shrimp...Steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, baked shrimp...uh-oh! Bubba is taking over!

[FEAR NO FISH!]

Mojo,
We take coonstriped shrimp, add 2 bottles of beau macs instant dye, 2 scoops pro glow, 1/2 bottle of pro cure shrimp and prawn oil, 1/2 bottle of pro cure garlic plus, couple of squirts of pro cure kenai cocktail, 1/2 cup sea salt, a couple of shakes of garlic slamola powder, 2 capfuls of 200 proof ethyl alcohol and shake shake shake! The steelhead really dig that stuff! :cheers:

[Lepper]

pardon my ignorance, but I thought it was illegal to fish for salmon/steelhead after dark.. is this not true??
dave

[FEAR NO FISH!]

Lepper,
No problem, It is legal to fish for salmon and steelhead above some of the dams on the Columbia and steelhead above the dams on the Snake. It is not legal to do on the Oregon side of the Columbia, although they have not been enforcing it. So far we have had 57 on and 44 landed since Sept. 15. It is a really effective technique to pull lighted vortex lures at night . :cheers:

[Plugcutter]

Fear No Fish,

Please, let's back up a little. What are the modifications that you make to the Vortex and how. This sounds like too much fun. Do you ever fish these in the lower part of the water column for walleye?

Please e-mail me.

[FEAR NO FISH!]

Plugcutter,
First you have to understand that vortex lures are lacking a little quality. They can be one of the most frustrating lures in your tackle box. On the other hand they catch a ton of fish. The good news starting in December, is that Ray Scott is going to improve his line of lures. They will be completely sealed and activated by water. I just happen to have two of them and they are so much easier to use , I find myself thinking I'm dreaming.
Just about the only way I fish for steelhead is with lighted vortexes. I used to pull plugs during the day and also bobber fished with shrimp and jigs. I stumbled upon vortexes approximately 12 years ago. Since then I have become rather obsessed with their fish catching ability. I can't really give you a scientific reason why steelhead and salmon slam them, but they do. I don't know what they eat in nature that blinks bright red at a flash rate of 140 blinks a minute.
Vortex does make a minnow bait like a rapala. I have tried these for walleyes at night but only a couple of times with no luck.
I strip the plug right right out of the package by taking off all the split rings and hooks. They go to the garbage.
I then mix up epoxy and cover every seam and hook attachment. I also put it around the bill.
After installing the batteries I put a small amount of aquarium sealant on top of them and carefully screw the lid down until snug. I smooth the excess sealant around the lid also. I do this an hour or so before I go fishing. It will have set up a good bond by the time I get to where I'm going. I forgot to mention that I increase the size of the split rings almost double. I feel that by getting the hooks a little farther away from the body of the lure that it increases hook up ability. I also use Gamakatsu hooks in size 4. A little trick I do is to powder coat the trebles with the new glow in the dark technology. It glows 20 times brighter and 10 times longer as the old style glo paint. It works well.
I apply some special smelly jelly that I whip up on the body of the plug and bill. I then add a chunk of shrimp that has been doctored up onto the front treble. Put in on in such a way thet it doesn't effect the action of the lure much. Put it out 35 pulls and slowly troll around. I like to use an electric motor since it is really quiet. Wait for your clicker to scream then HAVE SOME FUN! :cheers:

[Vinny]

. . . . and the BAD NEWS is that there is no known cure for this neurosis.

In fact, it is rumored that it can grow into a full blown psychosis!

Now, I don't want to mention any names here,
. . . . but this condition is said to be contagious and a certain someone (that would be you, Steve :tongue: ) has gone terminal.

Did you say, "Vortex for 12 years?" Let me change that diagnosis to "Addictive Psychosis!"

. . . . . but who am I to argue with success! :cool:

[ 10-21-2002, 06:39 AM: Message edited by: Vinny ]