Tech Tips

[Flatfish]

OK the tech tips thing was a ploy.But since most of you outfish me all the time. Here is some of the best advice I can offer."Keep your line in the water".And "Cover Water".Neither one is original.Here is what I can offer.Most folks tie up their rod(s) the night before and maybe have a couple extra leaders ready.But thats usually about it.In a given day I may bobber fish eggs,backbounce bait or plugs,cast plugs,pitch spinners and cast/troll wobblers.I tie up EVERYTHING I CAN the night(s) before.By everything I mean leaders from plug to mainline.This includes a snap on both ends.I can switch out 3 rods and be back to fishing in less than 2 minutes.All the plugs are wrapped the nite before and stored in the smelly bait cooler.My plugs get washed the nite before.
I run a snap to the mainline(which is always Tuf Line so there is always a swivel in there to clip my snap to)from the leader.If we do catch a fish I can rerig in less than a minute.This way I am not tempted to leave a leader on after it has faught/landed a fish.Weak lines lose fish.When the fish are on the bite I keep my lines in the water for as long as possible.Sometimes even during the fight of another fish i will keep other lines in the water as long as they don't look like they will foul with the line the fish is being played on.
My wobblers are pretied too.just clip and go.
Bobber rods are rigged regular.But I have been playing around with the snap/leader thing.So far it has shown a tendency to foul on the cast costing good fishing time.Heavier leaders(stiffer line)may help this.For this reason I keep seperate rods rigged with bobbers and dedicate them to this purpose.When I go fishing I take 8 rods minimum.The boat looks like a porcupine.I don't waste time retying or miss covering water well cause I have2 rods rigged and at the ready at all times.Some folks only bring 2 rods per person.Usually 1 for bobber and eggs and a backbouncer/kwikfish rod.With the snaps I can change from one to another in less than a minute.Add bait time and sharpening the hooks(haven't figured out how to do this at home)and I can go from backbouncing eggs to backtrolling kwikfish in 2 minutes.
Also put a serial number on all of your plugs and divers.I use a sharpie pen to do this.I record in my journel which plug/diver is the magic unit.This way I don't have to file hashmarks into plugs or try to remember which Silver/chartruse K-16 caught the fish last time.I look in the book and see it is Number 3.I tie on number 3 and put my best foot forward.Divers fish just like plugs.When you get a fish catcher,hang onto it.Number and track them.
If all of this sounds like a lotta worlk.It kinda is to start.I spend probably 16 hours every season getting ready for whatever season is approaching.Summer is tough cause it's plain busy.But winters are easier cause the rivers tend to blow out for a week at a time and that gives me time to get ready.
I store wobblers and Kwikfish leaders on a piece of plumbing pipe insulation.I have 25 wobblers and about 40-50 Kwikfish leaders pretied at most times.Keep some in the front of the boat for everyone up there too.Pipps dispensers for leaders under 3 feet.A paper towl dispenser wrapped in pipe insulation works swell for longer diver and bait leaders.Mooching rigs too.
Now since we all know that fish are pretty much a hours of wet hooks per fish equation thing I offer you this.How many hours in the next season/year do you spend rigging/changing terminal tackle,or anything except fishing.I can honestly say I gain a full hour per day fishing time every day cause I am ready for anything.I am ready for anything usually about 20 times.Time spent fishing equals time spent covering water and well you get the idea.So tie up some leaders and wash off those plugs before next weekend.That way when it gets here we can go out and fish the day well.
Good Luck.
Mark and the duckninja dog.

[dampainter]

hate to ask a stupid question, but what do you mean "wash off your plugs"???

[Vinny]

dp,
what are you doing up this early. I'm at work in PIT. It's 9:15 am here.
Been catching anything?

Vinny

[ampersat]

preparation is key to fishing for me. i keep more than a dozen leaders tied up for drifting. recently i've taken to sharpening the hooks on my leaders before i wrap them up for the leader wallet. my yarns are cut before they even go in the box. now that i think of it, i'm going to start tying up my slider weight drops ahead of time too. i usually try to rig up each of the rods the night before so i'm ready to go when i hit the water.

as for plugging, how do you rig up your rods for the quick switch? i've got some of the lock snaps, beads and swivels and want to rig up each of my rods so that the interchange is quick. do you just tie on your swivel at the mainline and then snap in whatever you want to fish? i thought about tying the snap to the mainline but having it there without a swivel just seems wrong to me.

[Steelie Steve]

ampersat,
What I have done is tie the snap directly to the main line and tie a plain swivel (no snap) to the end of the leader.

By the way. Enjoyed fishing with your yesterday. Wish we could have found the fish though. Let's try again sometime.

Steve :cheers:

[Flatfish]

To wash plugs simply use some clean water or better yet distilled water and lemon joy soap.I wear rubber gloves when I handle plugs cause my hands stink to fish.Then I wrap them with sardine or herring.After that they go into a clean cooler dedicated to the purpose of holding clean wrapped kwikfish.I also wash out my tackle boxes every so often.The cooler gets washed after every trip.
As for pulling plastic i tie the 80 tuf for Salmon or 50 tuf for steelhead (main line)to a swivel.Not the #12 size swivel, but the large salmon size(50 tuff will break a swivel under the right circumstances so i use heavy stuff).I want a swivel to be neutrally bouyant so it's own weight is a consideration.Then the leader to the plug I run 40 Maxima for Steelhead and 80 Maxima for Salmon.The whole sysem is based on the clip that you snap to the lip of the plug.I tie one on each end of the leader.This way I can change leaders/plugs quickly.Just snap on the plug and snap the other end onto the mainline swivel and I'm done.
It is really cool to do this on that one day of the year when you are really on the fish and retying is a pain.It is also real nice when I am testing new plugs.If I am sure there are fish in the hole and I blank,I row back to the top of the run and change plugs and run down the water again.I have a couple holes that I KNOW hold fish.If I get first water it is as simple as changing plugs til I find a winner.
The hook sharpening thing is for the times on the water when a hook is dull and needs to be touched up with the trusty file.They are also sharpened before we get to the water.
Hope this helps.
Mark and the duckwarroir dog.

[ 10-21-2002, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Flatfish ]