this weeks fishing tip

[David Johnson]

This weeks tip-

Keeping your sand shrimp fresh and alive.

To greatly improve the shelf life of my shrimp I take a plastic tray (Rubber Maid) and line the bottom with several layers of papper towles and spread out the shrimp. You must change the towels two or three times a day. Don't put the lid on all the way tight either.

Doing this will keep them from dying from the ammonia build up caused by their urine.

I have had fresh shrimp last up to five days before. I usually get two or three days. And even if they die they don't smell too bad.

Also, I have sometimes caught fish on dead shrimp. Back in High School me and a freind would find them in the garbage at the Carver boat ramp and use them and some times catch steelhead or silvers. One time we also hooked seven spring chinook on eggs/dead shrimp.

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[David Johnson]

As I stated above, I have caught fish on dead shrimp, not often but it has been done.

Another thing about fishing sand shrimp is many guys pinch off the head and only use the tail.

I quit doing this after one day while fishing at the boat ramp of Oxbow park on the Sandy I caught a steelhead while I was using eggs. When I cleaned the fish it had four sand shrimp heads in it's stomach, some one had been using just the tails and tossing the heads in the water and this fish was filling up on them!

Since then I have been using the tail andthe head. When I pull off the head I leave the first section of tail on the head and then I pass the hook through the head and put the egg loop around the tail peice.

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[David Johnson]

Drift fishhing-choosing corkie size.

An important thing to remember when choosing your corkie and hook size is to make sure the gap of the hook is larger than the width of the corkie. This will keep the mouth of the fish from being deflected from the point of the hook. Also, you don't want to have a hook so big that it is too heavy for the corkie to float it.

I usually use a #10 with a 1/0 hook in all my fishing. When do I not?

High, off color water. I will use a #8 with a 2/0.

Low water with lots of angling presure. Here I will use a #12 with a #1 hook.

I will almost always use bait and/or yarn. This is what I have the most confidence in so that's what I use. You can catch fish on streight corkies though.

Good Luck,
David Johnson

[David Johnson]

Having good contacts-

In this world of fishing there is a real need to gather information. Both from a network of other anglers and from sources like the Weather Service (weather forecast and river levels), fishing reports from the internet, radeo and magazines and tackle shops.

I have a full arsenal of these contacts that I keep in contact with on a dayly or weekly basis. So get together your sources and get dialed in. Being able to get away on a short notice is also very helpfull. Especially durring the week.

I would bet that statistics show a lower catch rate on weekends than durring the rest of the week. Some of it is the pressure on the fish but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there are only going to be a set number of biters and they are going to get caught no matter if there are five or fifty boats, so when there are only five or ten boats your odds are much greater that you will be the one to connect.

I personally try not to fish on a weekend if I can help it.