Fishing Michigan

Ok its raining,  and in the Tigers game with Cleveland things aren’t really going to get interesting until Bonderman hands over the ball to the relievers, so here is a self-help blog topic.

The word recycle usually isn’t associated with fishing.  Well maybe you are one of those folks who turn in their used up line at a recycle station at your local angling store.  Good example would be the box provided by Berkley at the fishing dept. in Cabela’s,  which is then picked up by the sales reps, and mailed back to Berkley.  If you do it, keep it up, but thats not what I am talking about.

For some goofy reason the last few years, lure prices have gone nuts, and just seem to be going up and up.  Some people call me cheap, but I much prefer the words my mom had for it, either frugal or thrifty.  Lets face it, in the world we live in, where a muskie lure can cost 50 bucks,  that ol’ Rapala standard in your box is up around 8 dollars, and crawler harnesses are selling for $3.49,  its not such a bad thing to recycle the parts off of your older lures.

First of all, get yourself an empty plastic plano tray.  If you are really active, set one up for pike and muskie, another for bass, and yet another for walleye or salmon….etc. 

That old crankbait you have been using for years and years, has seen better days, and the paint is just about bubbled or peeled off.  At that point, strip everything you can off of the plug.  Hook connectors, split rings, hooks, basically everything that isn’t glued or painted on.  Even then if the eyes are something special, you might want to pop them out too and glue them on another lure to experiment a little.  When a hook breaks, or another component fails,  dig out your kit and replace it.  No additional cost to you, and your fav lure is ready to go again on the next trip.

That bass spinnerbait chewed up a little?  You can change out the skirt if thats the only problem.  Northland and Terminator both sell replacements.  If the arm is all twisted and mangled after a period of use, or just one good fish, you can pull off the skirt.  Take a pair of wire cutters and save the clevis and the blades for replacements when needed again.

Ok, paying $3.50 for a lure that is basically a throw away bait is just NUTS.  Its worse on Ebay!  Thats basically what a crawler harness is, a bait you can only use for one good day on the water.  Think about it, you have been catching fish all day,  then you started to notice that the line begins to twist, and you have to pull it apart each time you bring it back to the boat.  Or you notice a little nick on the line,  always check your line after each fish!  Run your fingers around the line where the hooks are snelled, and above the blade.  Could have been the teeth of a fish, or a clump of zebra muscles. If you feel anything at all, scrap it.  One good fish that got away because you were too willing to give it one more try, could have been that big, big fish of a lifetime.

This is your basice harnesses recycle and repair kit. From left to right in the picture: knot glue, bead and float assortment, small wire snips, empty plastic container, replacement hooks, and fresh line.  I take my used up harnesses and put them in the plastic container,  in this case an empty “moose tracks” ice cream pint.  You can use cool whip, butter, any dish that has a top, and sizes can vary.  When I get home, I take the wire snips and cut the line, then save the beads, the hooks, the clevis and blade.  I then strip the hooks and retie or snell a new harness.  Sometimes a hook breaks, or is mangled or just too rusty to use again.  Then I use some hooks that I had purchased for just replacing those on the harness.  Most common sizes are going to be either size #4 or #2.  Mustad makes an excellent hook and I look for the chemically sharpend ones, Ultra Bites.  If a bead is cracked, I have some ready to replace it, and I lock my snells in with a head cement or knot glue that can be bought at most fly shops.  Would suggest you use a line rated between 14 and 20 lb.  Those that I make up are with 20 lb Trilene Big Game.

Now you have just saved that harness that had a color pattern that was really doing well for you.  Replacement cost?  A little time and roughly 30 cents depending on the damage!

Recycle, so you don’t have to pay more!

Good luck!

I had a really good question tonight, and sometimes what may seem obvious after some experience using planer boards, really isn’t when you first start employing them into your fishing strategy.  So, this topic will be a “how to” in the use of boards in helping to increase your catch rates.  When, how, why and how can you tell when you have a strike.

There are several types and manufactures of planer boards.  There are those that run off of mast and reel, and employ clips on the line, spaced out out to the board.  For the sake of an introduction, we will talk strictly about the use of the inline variety.  Some of the manufactures include; Offshore, Church Tackle Walleye Boards (Michigan company), and Yellow Bird.  I run the orange Church boards,  and to a large part its just a matter of choice.

Why use the boards at all, can’t you catch fish without them?  You bet,  but the boards allow for several factors that will put more fish in the boat on a more consistent basis.  First of all, in shallow water, like early spring walleye bites,  the small boards,  do not look like a large boat going over the top of skittish fish.  It is more of a stealth approach.  Second reason to use the boards is get a wider spread of lines when there are number of anglers in your boat.  One day this year we were running three boards on one side of the boat, two on the other, plus two rods dedicated to bottom bouncers off the sides.  Not one tangle in 6 hours of fishing, and 49 fish landed.

On the how of running these boards, start with a linecounter reel, a medium action rod with a length ranging from 7 ft 6 inches, to 9 foot.  I personally run 40 lb Power Pro, because of its 10 lb diameter that most of the trolling guides use in measuring running depths of the lures.  If you prefer monofilament,  choose a good 10 lb line that resists abrasion, example being Trilene XT or Big Game.  The nice thing about the Church boards is that there is an adjustable lead weight, that will slide back and forth along the keel, to adjust for the drag of what you are trolling. One guy I know actually will run 4 oz bottom bouncers off his boards.

Select the lure or diver, and release enough line to reach the fish’s location in the water column.  Might be 30′ or could be 220 ft, then attach the inline board with the clips that come with it.  Release another 50 to 150ft of line to get it to the desired distance from the boat.  *Helpful hint, you are fishing by yourself,  and you want to keep an eye on both lines out at the same time.  Choose the side you want, either port or starboard, and run two boards on the same side.

Ok, the last part,  how to tell when you have a fish on the other end.  Here is a pic of Adam Marchbanks, of Kawkawlin, Michigan.  He fished the Linwood Classic on Saginaw Bay Saturday and caught this 29 inch plus, 8.21 lb piglet on his boards.  We go back and forth on yahoo messenger several times a week, talking dogs, fishing walleye, salmon and through the ice.  So I asked, what happend to the board,  and the reply was, it went down deep, totally submerged!  Usually on a 28 inch or larger fish that is the way you tell if you have a fish on.  24 to 26 inch and the board will leap back 4 or five ft.  Smaller fish and the board will stick up with the backside down in the water.  Fish that are barely legal will just tug on the board.  Perch and small silver bass, can be a little harder to detect, or weeds even,  sometimes you have to notice when the boards are sweeping back in an arc towards the rear of the boat.  Reel up and check your lines when this happens.

If you really aren’t comfortable in your detection skills, you can purchase tattle flag kits for the Church and Offshore boards.  I know on the Church boards, you can set the flag to either be raised or pulled down on a strike.  When you do get to the point where you can tell the difference,  its nice to keep the flags on, in an upright position on your outer boards, just so other boats can spot them easier as they go by.

Good luck!