Fishing Technique Page 2

Drop Shottin For Bass
by G. Wayne Byrd

In this article, I would like to introduce Drop Shot fishing to you. Many of you might be aware of the powerful potential of this method, while others may have never tried this technique. Drop shot fishing is one of the best "go to" techniques to use when the bite seems to be a bit slow or the fish are all suspended and will not strike anything else. When reaction baits are not working well, I tend to rely on dropshotting. The drop shot technique will work in stained water, but I find it to be more effective in clearer water. I use this technique in all depths of water from 6 feet to 60 feet.
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A drop shot rig tends to work most of the year for me, although it works extremely well during pre-spawn and early Spring as well as the hot days of Summer for a variety of reasons. The bass may be deeper because they are keying in on bait moving off of the bottom and they have been living deeper due to the cooler weather. The bass may also be inactive during the daytime and need to be finessed. Dropshotting can be used to fish fast or slow, depending on what the bass want. The drop shot is also a wonderful technique for a vertical presentation. Bass will sometimes be as deep as fifty feet in summertime, and drop shot is the method I rely on to catch those deep lunkers. I usually catch most of my fish in ten to thirty feet of water, and I locate them using a fishfinder. You can use a fishfinder on a boat or the "Smartcast" type from shore.

The rod I use the most for dropshotting is a 7 medium lite action baitcast rod. If I am dropshotting in shallower water, I might go to a 66 medium light baitcaster. Because this technique is a finesse situation, I like to use a 8lb to 10lb fluorocarbon line with a 1/8 to 1/4oz weight. If you find that the bass are not responding to this presentation, you might switch to a 66 spinning outfit with 6lb to 8lb fluorocarbon. The lighter rig is good for most applications including finesse fishing with smaller worms.

There are many advantages of fishing a Drop Shot Rig. It is much easier to cast than a Carolina Rig, cast as far as a Texas Rig and also sinks faster. The bait is always suspended and easy to adjust depth for suspended fish. You are also able to feel the fish much better because of the weight being on the bottom as well as you can feel bottom better. Disadvantages include heavy line twist, and your plastics and weights will get hung in heavy cover. Putting a swivel on the sinker helps slow twist.

What type bait is best? Smaller slim type baits are best in clear water. Plastic worms in the 4 to 6 range with tapered or straight tails are ideal such as a Roboworm . In clear water this is a great finesse technique. When fishing any structure the Drop Shot Rig should be a consideration for a presentation option. This technique is extremely effectivewhen fishing structure. When fishing muddy to clear water at any depth, this is a technique that will catch fish. Any structure free of heavy cover is an easy place to learn to fish this rig.

Why choose this rig over a Texas Rig? When fishing a Drop Shot Rig the bait is always suspended just off the bottom putting the bait at eye level or just inches above when the fish is on the bottom whereit prefers to stay. This also gives an angler the ability to keep the bait in the strike zone longer.

How do you rig a Drop Shot? Tie a Palomar knot leaving 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet of extra line. Thread the loose end back through the eye of the hook so the hook stands point up. Tie on weight preferably with a swivel about 12 to 18 inches below the hook. Most hook manufacturers are making specific hooks for Drop Shotting. I like the Gamakatsu because I think it is the sharpest hook right out of the package I have found. Weight size range from 1/8 to 5/16. A lot of anglers simply use bass casting weights. The weights I use and prefer are made by Magnum Weight Systems and they are basically a hollow brass pod. One end has a swivel and the other unscrews so you can add weight or take it away depending on your fishing situation. The weight that you add is in the form of small brass balls. This also allows you to shake the rig a bit to produce a rattle sound similar to a Rat-L-Trap. This feature will help to attract fish! The pods come in three standard sizes and are available at many tackle shops and online at Cabelas.

The deeper you are fishing the longer the leader up to about 4 feet long. When you are fishing deep with lighter line, this lets the bait fall faster giving a better feel of the bait and strikes. When fishing shallow water heavier line and a baitcasting outfit can be used. Lighter weights may be better for fishing on lighter line sizes on any type of outfit.

Presentations vary from casting to vertical jigging. Casting Drop Shot Rigs is similar to casting a Texas Rig except into heavy cover. This rig can be used as a swimming rig, hopped, crawled, or dragged. You can even fish as a stationary rig on bedding fish. One of my favorite methods that I call the Texas Drop Shot is absolutely deadly on bass. Instead of putting a weight on the bottom, put a 1/8 oz jig on bottom and run your drop shot hook with your worm as normal. Who knows, you might just catch 2 fish at once. If you have any futher questions on this technique, please e-mail me.Thanks!

Drop Shot Rig

Do Scents Really Make Sense?

by G. Wayne Byrd

With over a hundred brands of formulas, gels, lotions, sprays, cremes, gravies and so-called Fish Attractants on the market, whether or not to scent your lures can be a very perplexing topic. The first age old question I usually get isDo scents or attractants really work? The answer isYes, they do! Now, with that being said, lets break this topic down a bit and discuss how and why they work so that you can better understand the mechanics. You might even discover that they work in an entirely different way than you thought they would.

You woke up this morning and the weather outside was beautiful so you decided to go fishing. You rummage around the kitchen for a while and put together a quick breakfast, eat, grab your gear and you are out the door. Did you wash your hands yet this morning? You probably sweated and scratched yourself during the night and why would you take a shower at 5am just to go fishing. The omelet you made contained cheese, eggs, ham, onions and hot sauce--all of which you handled. You get into your vehicle and head to your favorite fishin hole. All of a sudden, you realize you forgot to get gas yesterday and might not have enough to make it back home after the fishing, so you stop and fill the tank up. As usual, the gas splatters on your hands and you get petroleum products all over your hands from the gas nozzle, but you just wipe them on your pants and go on about your business. Perhaps you light up a cigarette or take a chew on the way to your favorite destination as well.

You are now standing on the shore of the lake, trying to figure out which lure is going to haul the hawg in today. One pole has a 5" watermelon colored plastic worm that usually produces a few fish. You know the worm Im talking about--its the one thats been hanging from your pole in the garage ever since your last fishing trip a few weeks ago. Its the same one that got dragged all the way down the driveway this morning because you were trying to carry to much stuff all at once. The other pole just has line hanging on it because you had to break it off last time you went fishing. You go through the tackle box and find a nice crankbait to tie on. Of course, you rub it around in your hands for a while and it takes about 2 minutes to get it attached to the line because you missed the loop when you brought the tag end back around.twice! Finally, you fished for 6 hours and told everyone you didnt understand why the fishing was so slow today!

The Science behind the Scent

First things first I will use bass as an example because that is the species I primarily fish for and have studied for years. A bass has a very small brain in comparison to the human brain; the fish isn't dumb, but it's not smart either by the human definition. It has three purposes in its lifecycle--eating, surviving, and reproducing. Bass simply interpret environmental stimuli, and then react to it. They are territorial by nature, but also very alert to changes in their environment. This same creature is also capable of conditioned behavioral responses. Dr. Loren Hill studied and documented conditioned behavior in bass while he was doing studies for the development of the Color-C-Lector. Bass are undoubtedly very complex creatures.

Reactions to any environmental stimuli including artificial lures can be directly related to three senses. These senses are mechanoreception (the use of their lateral line, hearing, and touch senses), photoreception (their use of vision), and chemoreception (use of their senses of smell and taste). Biologically speaking, chemoreception is further broken down into two categories: olfaction (sense of smell), and gustation (sense of taste). Can bass smell different odors? Yes, they can, as do other species of fish. Bass however, don't depend on scent as a major factor in foraging. Sight and sound seem to be much more important. Compared to some of the super-smellers like catfish, salmon, or carp, a bass's sense of smell is a great deal less sensitive. Nevertheless, I can't ignore the capability they do have.

Let's analyze the subject matter of fish olfaction (their sense of smell). Bass have two nostrils on each side of their snout. One is the anterior nostril and the other one is the posterior nostril. Water will flow into the anterior nostril, over the olfactory nerves, and back out through the posterior nostril. There is no link between these sets of nostrils and their throat. As the water flows across the olfactory nerves, a message is sent to the brain, where the scent is then interpreted as either a positive or a negative scent. As fish mature, their senses of smell and taste become even more sensitive. Fish use their sense of smell in many different ways: to locate spawning areas, feeding areas, predator awareness, and even their schoolmates in open water.

Positive Scent vs. Negative Scent

Have you ever been catching schooling fish, then have one hooked deep enough that it was bleeding when you released it? Most often in this case, the school probably stopped feeding shortly after you released the fish. Do you know why the frenzied fish stopped? The schoolmate released a chemical known as schreckstoffen. Schreckstoffen is sensed by the other fish in the school through chemoreception and interpreted as a negative scent by the brain.

The scents that we purchase to help us catch that hawg" have ingredients that are interpreted as a positive scent. I dont know of a single body of water in Colorado that has a growth of garlic or anise under the waters surface. Just like we, as humans, like to spice our food with salt and pepper because they are appealing to us, fish enjoy spices such as garlic, anise and salt as well as a multitude of other spices. Take a handful of unsalted peanuts and pop them into your mouth. They are not nearly as good as the salted ones and you might even spit them out. Imagine a bass swimming up to a sinking unsalted soft plastic worm, he takes a small taste and does not taste it again. Take the same type of worm and impregnate it with salt, the fish swims up to taste it, he then locks down on the worm and wont let go. If the worm were also coated with a scent, the fish probably would have been more aggressive in taking the bait earlier.

Scents such as garlic and anise have another great purpose as well. The purpose is to mask the smell of offensive odors, kind of like the odor on your hands that you rubbed all over your lures this morning. First, let me explain the importance of "Fish Attractant". A bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth, or Spotted) will usually spit out bait within two or three seconds if the bass doesnt accept the taste (if it picks up the bait at all). On the other side of the coin, if a bass likes the scent or attractant, it can hold the bait up to as much as thirty seconds or more before it spits the bait out. Fish Attractant does not really "attract" fish, but your odds on setting the hook will be greater by using it rather than not.

Spending Your Cents on Scents

Now, let's talk about marketing. The companies that manufacture Fish Attractants or Scents want the anglers to "Use it by dousing the bait with it." Well, if you have lots of money, go right ahead! Most tackle shops that I've been to have a variety of Attractants and Scents, and they cost the angler anywhere from $1.99 up to $10.00, and when an angler "Douses the Bait" several times, he or she is ready for another bottle, and that can get expensive after awhile. Most plastic baits on the market today are manufactured with a "Scent" already put in the bait. Why would you want to douse this same bait with additional Fish Attractant? It really makes no sense at all, does it? However, there is a reason why one would want to buy and use Fish Attractant. Just think of this...a bass can sense 1-200th of a drop of a substance in about 100 gallons of water. Wow, what an acute sense of taste! This just goes to say that whenever you go fishing in the morning, "Gas-Up" the night before and wash your hands.

Some of the most popular scents on the market today are
Berkley, Bang, MegaStrike, Crave, Kickn Bass, Liquid Lure, Mr. Goop, Dr. Juice, Fish Formula, Scientific Bass Products and a host of others. My scent of choice is by Basswax . Its in a big tube like Chap Stick and has a beeswax base so it stays on the lure or plastic worm for a long time. The stick is available in garlic, crawdad, sardine and salty shad. It will not drip, leak or spill and get all over your boat carpet or inside your tackle box. Scent can make a small difference in the numbers of fish you catch under certain conditions, but remember it will never completely make or break your day of fishing!

Crawfish & Their Behavior

by G. Wayne Byrd

The imitation soft plastic crawfish or hard plastic crawfish crankbait can be one of the most powerful baits you can throw, depending on the time of the year and how its presented. Many anglers today use these imitations and do not really understand why they are using them and quite possibly how to use them properly. Imitations come in all shapes, sizes, materials and colors. We will take a look at the selection process and determine when the best time to throw imitations would be as well as explain why and how you should use them. Once you understand the mating and molting rituals of crawfish, you will definitely have the upper hand when using these imitation baits.

There are plastic imitations starting in the range all the way up to 6. Some have multiple legs and pinchers, while many are very authentic and they can differ greatly between models and brands. As a matter of fact, there are companies that have taken actual crawfish and made molds of the creature and reproduced an exact replica in soft plastic. Some of the most popular brands of plastic crawfish are: Gambler Worms, Magic Worms, Zoom, Nichols, Mad Man, Strike King, Tiki Sticks, Storm, Culprit, Lake Fork, Berkley and Gary Yamamoto just to name a few. My personal choice is the Gambler Crawdaddy in the 4 model. I have tried many different types and brands and the Crawdaddy consistently produces the most strikes for me, When it comes to hard crankbaits (molded hard plastic or wood) there are many companies out there making crawfish patterns as well. A few that come to mind would be Rapala, Storm, Bomber, Yo-Zuri, Manns, Rebel, Smithwick, Rat-L-Trap, Cotton Cordell, Berkley and Daiwa.

I think to truly understand when the best time to use a crawfish type bait, you must first understand why bass eat them and when they find this type of forage the most appetizing. Crawfish are located just about everywhere: from flooded areas to agricultural fields to muddy ditches and of course ponds, lakes and reservoirs. There is not a state in the contiguous 48 that doesnt have millions of crawfish swimming around and providing a nice feast for the local bass populations. The more knowledge you possess about crawfish, the higher catch rate you'll enjoy after practice and proper usage. I think its time we go back to science class and educate everyoneabout this awesome little beasty. Like any creature on our planet, crawfish are bound and determined to eat, mate and protect themselves from predators. You must understand how this process works to maximize your catch, while using imitation lures.

Late March through May is the first major period of crawfish activity. Now, this may change one month forward or reverse depending on what State you live in and otherdetails such as water temperature and conditions. Crawfish usually start to come outwhen the water reaches 50 degrees. This is the time in which they are in the wide-open areas looking for receptive females for mating purposes. Most importantly, this is the first time that the males are out walking around on the rocks, exposing themselves to feeding bass. When the crawfish walk on the rocks, they make a clicking noise, which is intended to attract females, but it will also attract bass. Keep in mind rocks are the #1 place that crawfish get picked off by bass. Look for rocks that are fairly clean and free of foreign debris, as crawfish do not have the ability to clean off the rock like a bass can usingits tail to sweep a spawning bed nice and clean. Crawfish rely of currents and wave action to sweep the rocks clean for them. Crawfish are also very light sensitive. If the water is shallow, your chances of catching bass are much better in low-light conditions such as early morning or late evening. If the crawfish are walking around on rocks in 30 feet of water, you can fish for them about any time of the day.

After the mating process takes place, the females will disappear back into their little holes and caves to fertilize their eggs with the sperm that has been deposited on them by the males. The male crawfish will then molt and their calcified sexual organs will fall off. (Ouch!) When this happens, the males will try and hide. This is the time that many anglers think that bass will gorge themselves with crawfish. This is true to an extent, but not for the reasons you might assume! After the molt, the males start to retreat and are less accessible to the predator bass. The crawfish will spend most of their time in their caves and holes trying to find enough to eat without coming out into open water. They will however come out of hiding during low light conditions and when this happens, the chance of getting picked off by fish is much greater. During the molt process, the color of the crawfish will change dramatically. They will usually go from a camouflage brown/olive color to a bright red or orange color. This color change will make them much more visible to hungry fish cruising along and this explains why the bass tend to feast on crawfish during this stage.

Depending on the water temperatures, the females will begin to hatch their eggs, usually in about 30 days. The hatchlings will stay attached to the female and depending on the crawfish species, the hatchlings will molt every 2 to 7 days. They will then fall off their mother after the third molt and will be approximately long. The females will then molt and go into a low light feeding process and stay in their caves and crevices as much as possible. The little crawfish will molt several times and crawl around in the cracks and crevices and feed as much as possible until fall. During this period, the small crawfish are more susceptible to bottom feeders rather than bass. When fall arrives and you are throwing craw pattern crankbaits, be sure to revisit the same rocks you fished earlier during the year. Often ignored by most anglers, the fall mating season or cycle is the most intense. Fish your fall craw imitations the same way you fish your spring craws and you will produce dramatic results.

I think the best way to fish either hard plastic or soft plastic imitations is to work them parallel to rocky banks. Try different depths and always remember to bounce, hop, jig, bump and run your bait over rocks as this is the area the bass will be keying in on looking for crawfish. In other words, always keep contact with the rock structures! If you are using a soft plastic craw with a bullet type weight, be sure to tap and clack that weight against the rocks, as this will definitely imitate the clicking sounds that the crawfish makes. When using plastic or wood crankbaits, use models that contain a rattle device, as this is an excellent imitation as well. If you are very serious about matching the hatch, try my method. I will go down to the shoreline the day before I am going to fish a body of water and dip a crawfish trap in the water. Wait a while until you catch several crawfish. You can then study these creatures and when you get home, you are able to take your soft plastics and match the colors of the present live crawfish. This might require that you purchase a few jars of soft plastic paint or several colors or fingernail polish, and touch up the claw tips and various parts to get an exact match. It you have any further questions, please contact me at bassmasters65@yahoo.com.

Fishing for Giant Flats by Charlie Crider

I thought I knew what a big fish felt like on my rod and reel, but I was mistaken. Now I am hooked. I have reeled in Northern Pike over 40 inches and a few just under 50, but until I landed an enormous flathead last summer, I had not experienced the ultimate battle! When it was all said and done, I couldn't move my arms...I was one giant noodle.

I have spent many hours fishing for catfish using stinkbait, worms, cutbait, live shad, dead shad, half dead shad, crawdad, both dead and alive, and every other bait you can imagine. My success rate has been great, but I've never landed the big one.

Last summer I was sitting in my blue chair two fisting a beer in one hand and a quart in the other, watching an In-Fishermen special, and saw a guy catching large flatheads on some southern river. He was using bluegill hooked through the back with a 7/0 hook, and was catching some descent sized fish, but none of 20 pounds or more. I though to myself I can do that and probably better. So that very next day I went to the local farm pond caught about 20 bluegill in 20 minutes, put them in my Jerry rigged five gallon bucket live well (With a handle), then headed off towards my favorite fishing hole.

I set up one pole with 50 pound spider wire and a 1 ounce flat sinker. I placed a bead in front of the sinker following a swivel snap, attached to a leader made from the same line, about 18 inches in length, which was tied to a large hook....

By spending much time on this particular river and placing what we call diddy poles out, using any kind of bait possible in the area, whether it be leopard frogs or clams, I have had an extremely high success rate catching large fish that I could have never caught with a fishing rod. I had always placed these poles above and below deep holes that held large amounts of debris or big log jams. Flat heads like to move in and out of these holes to feed. They also move from log jam to log jam using the deepest path possible. On this river that means 2 to 6 foot channeled grooves that are only 2 to 10 yards wide. This makes it possible to strategically place yourself in the pathway of a lunker.

I placed myself right below one of these giant log jams on a bend in the river. The depth was about 10 feet, and there was another log jam 40 yards down river. On the right side of the river the depth was only 3 feet deep. So, I knew I was in a natural funnel for these large fish. I placed that bluegill on my hook by hooking it through the back. This allows for the bluegill to move fluidly through the water, and the one ounce sinker holds it in a general area.

Maybe 30 seconds after my bait hit the water, which is time enough to let the bait settle, my rod damn near flew out of the boat. I set the hook into what felt like the next log jam below the river and my drag started screaming as my line ripped out of the my rod. Then all of a sudden, snap my line broke. I can't believe what just happened. This fish was actually big enough to snap 50 pound spider wire like it was nothing. No way anyone would believe it, but luckily I had two good fishing buddies there to attest to it.

I then rerigged my pole, and within 20 minutes I set into another lunker that felt like a ton of bricks. I fought him for 20 minutes, all the way to the boat. The fish actually tail walked like a muskie across the water. As soon as it did this, all of us were in shock, because we couldn't believe the size of this aquatic beast. After placing the measurement on the fish it was 56 inches long and weighed an estimated 60 pounds.

I am now hooked on flats and can't get enough. For those of you who love to muskie fish, and say they're the king of the fresh water system, I say hook into a Flat and you'll be ever chasing this elusive creature which I hope isn't so elusive since I've given you a great new way to fish'em. CatfishCharlie Crider

Keep Your Mind's Eye Open by Charlie Crider

Springfield, MO
summer 2023

Last summer, on one of those scorcher days, when it feels like the sun is hovering just over your head...like you're in a microwave with a wet towel, and the humidity level is set at hell, even a cold beer cant quench your thirst, no matter how many you suck down. The only thing keeping you fishing is the slightly less than bathtub water system you're standing in, known as the JAMES RIVER, which is located just south of Springfield, MO.

A good friend of mine and I were wading this hard bottom river for smallies. We were using crankbaits and spinners. The only thing we caught all day was a cotton mouth I had snagged with the crankbait. Just to liv'n things up a bit, I began dangling it over a guys' head, who is extremely petrified of these little "nightcrawlers".

After casting what seemed like 200 more casts a piece, we reached a portion of the river that had a deep hole about 100 yards long and 75 yards wide. I thought to myself, this just looks fishy. No more than three casts later, using a Model A Bomber, I set into something that felt like a world record smallie, and my line started flying out of my reel like ribbons getting ripped off a newly divorced woman's settlement package. After just a few seconds of holding on, my lure tore out of what ever it was.

I was disheartened and terribly vexed. So, I did what any other fishermen would do...swear a bit, and get back at it.

After about 15 minutes of fishing, I hooked into another "what ever it was" and this time my lure didn't pull out. After about a 15 minute fight, I saw a spoon bill breech the top of the water as if is was looking to propel itself to the moon, before it settled back down. When I got the large spooner in to the bank, my buddy helped me grab it by the tail. The only reason I got the giant fish in was the fact my Model A bomber was wrapped around the fish's tail and rehooked itself to my line acting as a slip knot or noose around the huge creature's tail.

We immediately quit fishing for smallies and went back to a friend of mine's bait shop, which is located just a mile south of Bass Pro Shops, in Springfield, MO. John Moonie, the man, knows fish'n, and he's also ornerier than David Dukes at rap concert. But, if you can talk fish'n, he'll point you in the right direction. Just so happens that's what I like to do...talk alot.

He rigged us up some snagg'n hooks and sinkers and some larger line, and even told us about a couple of spots upstream where he used to catch spooners, when he was a kid. We went back and caught about 10 more, all weighing between 10 and 70 pounds.

The lesson I learned is that no matter what your fishing for, always keep your mind's eye open for other fish activity. Even on the worst smallmouth days, just changing your presentation can help turn that bad day into the most productive crappie day you've ever had.

Earlier this year I was out bass fishing up in some flooded timber. I hadn't been doing well, but I noticed there were lot's of big bluegill making spawning beds. I just happened to have my fly rod with me that day, and caught just under a limit of 7 to 9 1/2 inch gills. Keep your eyes open, and all the while have an open mindset to catch a variety of fish, even if you have to come back later with the equipment to make a successful day out of nothing. Catfish Charlie Crider