Action, Sound, Get Wet -- May 12, 2008

[Capt. Bruce W. Shuler]

If you want to improve your presentation and increase your catch rates substantially, think about these three things sound, action, and smell.  Try these simple tricks and see if you get results.

Many of you have that have fished with Get-A-Way Guides or me know we are sometimes unorthodox with our approach and presentations.  Here are a couple of our tricks and ‘secret’ methods we use to put you on fish in the lower Laguna Madre.  We do not commonly use leaders here.  We do not have oyster reefs or rock piles like the upper coast.  Thus, this does present an environmental abrasion problem when using 10 or 12-pound test lines.  However, one cannot tie a loop knot and expect to throw the lure for hours on end without wearing an abrasion part in light lines.  To get circumvent the problem; we doctor our top waters and soft plastics as well.

Our most common top water baits are Zara Spook Jr.’s, Super Spooks, Top Dogs, She-Pups, and skittle walks.  To get the same action as a top water tied with a loop knot, we add a split ring to the eye of the lure.  To entice the fish into a real feeding frenzy, we turn the lure eye 90 degrees.  By turning the eye 90 degrees, the split ring rests in a vertical mode that allows us to fish a high rod tip.  With the rod tip high, the lure jumps across the surface.  Furthermore, when the water gets choppy we can fish our rod tips parallel to the water and work the bait flat on the surface.  Working the rod tip parallel to the water allows us the ability to punch the lure through the face of the wave and give the fish a very different presentation.

To compensate for the lack of a loop knot on soft plastics, we attach swivels and split rings to our jig heads.  The additional swivel not only stops line twist but also adds noise when working the bait. 

When not using a leader, take care if the fish takes the bait deeply.  Saltwater fish can and will fray your line.  So stop and retie often.  If you are unsure if your knot is ready to retie, do so.  I often run my lips over the last six inches of line leading to the hook eye.  If my lips feel any type of fray, I retie. 

Good luck and let us know how these helped you.

[TarponWes]

Bruce/Brandon,

Thanks for sharing your secrets to success--my experience has been that the details are the key to successful catching.  I guess I am surprised to hear that you do not use shock leaders at all--especially for trophy trout time.  Do you prefer a particular type of line in a certain pound test and a particular knot?  I have used 8# P Line  copolymer line in green and Sufix Performance braided line, also in green.  With both, I tie on a long flourocarbon fly shock leader usually in 17 lb test--the fly fishing leader materials are smaller diameter than the conventional shock leader material, it is more expensive because of this.  Anyway, I have lost fish, usually reds, that swim down into the grass and so use shock leaders pretty much everywhere I go.  I am interested if you have that experience or if you have a method for not losing fish that try to bury themselves in the grass.  Thanks again for the great info--especially the two methods for topwaters depending on water conditions.  The low rod position to counteract strong wave action makes me think of Cordell Broken Back Redfin--the first topwater I caught a good-sized fish on anywhere (it was a slot red in Mansfield).  The fish surfaced behind the lure (orange back and belly with gold sides) and swam down a wave and nailed the lure--I was hypnotized and didn't realize it was hitting my lure which was a good thing since I surely would have pulled the lure away from the fish before he could eat it.  It was a windy afternoon north of the East Cut and we had switched to broken backs.  Good fishing to you all.  I hope to be down there soon.

Wes Pullen

[ChasinTail]

Capt Shuler... what type of swivels are you guys tying on and what size of split rings! This is all great info that will give me a edge next time fishing next to my buddies!! After i take them to school with these new tactics...I'll share the wealth!   

[Capt. Bruce W. Shuler]

Chasintail
Looks like the Kids (Capt. Brandon) idea has generated more traffic on the site! I just hope with fishing everyday we can post ideas and tips on a continual basis. Remember this old fart just can't fish all day and two finger type every night.
Now in response to your question:
I use Berkley 25# Ball Bearing Swivels and the smallest split ring I can see to attach to our jig heads. I will post a photo in the next few days.
Now some folks will use Quickswirl, Norton quick locks and or the Brown twist locks, in lieu of taking the time to put a split ring and swivel on each jig head. All those products are good systems: but I just prefer to attach each component separately. I can assure you it’s a pain in the ARSE to sit and attach two different components on a jig head, but when you are anal retentive you sometimes think out of the box and use the down time rigging as therapy.
Now to Wes’ question I use 12# Big Game in the bay. Do I sometime loose fish? Maybe BUT TODATE NOT A LARGE TROUT! A copout to my statement is: I retie often and ALWAYS check for nicks.
If I have a big fish dive in the grass I will back off and give it its head, have lost very few fish doing that. Hope this covered your questions, feel free to ask more we will get back as soon as we can. Again thanks for using the forum for its intended purpose.