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Rainy Night Bite Jerks Limit!!

563K views 3K replies 285 participants last post by  The_Unicorn_Man 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Got out late this evening and hit a rocky area that I have not fished much lately due to wind direction and other fishermen near the spot!!;) Tonight had basically the whole lake to me except a couple of trollers trying to run aground. Was it a steady bite all evening with 13 bites on my Blue chrome #12 husky suspender? Caught 11 Saugeyes and a fat 30" catfish. Wow, did that hit wake me up! :D Ended up keeping 6 nice fat Saugeyes with the biggest right at 24" She was pretty fat and blasted husky right at the shore by the time I got her in one hook was in her mouth and thought for sure she would come off, but got her on the coast and grabbed her as quick as I could. Was pleasantly surprised at the water clarity south it was very nice.
 
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#1,125 · (Edited)
its the medium heavy rods that are probably getting you. I also lost alot of nice fish using medium heavy rods and found that the stiffness of the tip allow for too much leverage when the fish shake their head. I dialed back to a softer medium baitcaster with a more moderate action and have landed everything that has been hooked since. I use 40 lb braid and when the fish hits I try to give just a split second before a solid hookset, then just keep a bend in the rod during the fight and try to resist the urge to horse them in. I feel your pain lost some awesome fish before I switched.
I know several other that just throw them on medium weight spinning gear and dont loose many after hooked. I will chucking some tonight with a stinger since I had some huge hits lately that never got the hook at all and just give it the freight train swipe. I will report how it goes.
 
#1,128 ·
Are there any tooth marks in the bait? Tooth slashes can give you an idea of how and where on the bait it is getting bit. In the tail behind the hook? Time for a stinger. Minimal or no marks? The fish could just be nudging the swim. It's like they're testing it. If you can resist setting the hook (it's hard, I know!! You get used to it though.) keep reeling at the same speed and kinda jiggle the rod tip. Often a trailing fish will engulf the bait after it trips up like that. Fish rarely come back on the bait for me after ripping the bait away with a big hook set. I try to feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook. Bite makes a bump, then a moment of slack followed by weight....set!!! Bump, slack and no weight...keep reeling and make her want it...
 
#1,129 · (Edited)
Well the stinger on the j5 was money tonight and they were really on that bait for me tonight.
12 hits-
1 good hit missed,
1 little bump
10 hooked and landed.
3 on the main hook.
7 on the stinger.
I tied a #4 gama treble on a 1.5 inch piece of 40lb braid with a snap on the other end. snapped to the jig eye and putting the treble on the belly of the bait with one hook up in the hook slot and stuck in the plastic to stay in place.
They would give it a nice thump and I just gave a medium hookset and reeled them in steady. They were frisky thrashing on top of the water like bass tonight but they all stayed pegged. kept all 19-21" females. Heres some pics of how some were hooked and a 9" shad in a 20" saugeye lol!!!
Fish Bass Fish Fishing Northern largemouth bass
Fashion accessory Jewellery Pendant Metal Ring
Fish Fish Bass Coregonus lavaretus Perch
Fish Fish Fish products Red seabream Seafood
 
#1,133 ·
I'm always trying to think of something to discuss on this thread that hasn't been touched onbefore.....
The other nite I went out,it wasdead calm.no wind no dam drawncurrent. No left over currents. But I the pressure was right an weather was turning the next day. So new a few would b eating. So I started looking for ambush points that didn't involve wind. Transition lines like boat ramps,rip-rap to mud bottom,and shadows from over head lights.
And it worked. They don't seem to group up as good on these nites inthese spots. But you can pick them off. Then sometimes come back around later an there will be a couple more sitting in said spots.
What do you guys do onthose dead calm nights different to catch a few????
 
#1,137 ·
Never to old to learn something different. Guess I'll be tying a few of those stinger hooks up and give them a try.
The set up I use is a 7 foot med/hevy rod with 14 lb Nanofil. No leader. Jigs have a # 4'0 Aberdeen hook and my swimbait hooks are # 5/0. At times I'v cut the hook slot a little deeper when using those swimbait hooks. I do tend to hesitate a little before setting the hook depending on how the fish our hitting. They do tend to slam those J5's pretty good. My reel drag is set on the light side but I do put my finger on the spool when setting the hook. I do miss some but my hook up ratio is pretty good. The eyes like them just as well after dark as during the daylight.

On and off bite last night. 3.25 glow perch and purple flash with a pink glow jig. Around 2 1/2 hours to put 8 eyes on shore and kept 4 eaters. Nothing big.
 
#1,138 ·
it was flat still sat nite and I got nuthen except a rock bass or white bass, I didn't pay much attention except I wondered how the little buggar inhaled a 3.25 swim when he was only 6". Weird thing is every time I turned the headlamp on there was 2 or 3 24" eyes sitting there in 2 fow just staring at me. It got to the point I had to force myself not to turn it back on. I think I saw one of them laugh at me. If my shotgun was in the truck, I swear I would have shot him. I was about to give up at 1030pm or whatever when I snagged my 4th swim and I tried to do the 3 to4 quick snaps to knock it loose when I darn near lost my kids 6' medium spin. It ripped out 30 yds of line real fast. I cranked the drag and pumped and reeled it in for 7 mins. The beast was 8' from shore when her belly touched. She rolled and threw the swim at my head. Game over. all I can guess is 30" flathead.
 
#1,139 ·
Something different last night. Zero eyes for me. Just started casting at a spot when this old guy I've gotten to know the last few years walked down. 2 rod with 2 bobbers and his bucket of big chubs. I put my rod up and just started BS'en with him. Maybe 45 minutes later he has 2 nice eaters on his stringer when one of his bobbers goes down. He sets the hook and his rod about doubles over. Gets it to shore and I net it for him but he tells me to leave it in the water. He reaches in with his pliers and unhooks it then turns the net backwards and lets that big girl swim away. Now that eye was 8 lbs or better and 26 to 28 inches and fat as a football. He reels his other rod in then we just sit there BS'en and finish drinking mine and most of his coffee up.

Now I get out fishing quite a lot but it's nights like last night that I'll never forget.
 
#1,140 ·
Wow that's different. Honestly those big girls are not the ideal eater fish because of there acquired contaminants, although not really an issue unless you eat a lot of fish. But I at least want to have a good look at it and hold it! That's super cool though, way to drink his coffee up to lol
 
#1,149 ·
Fished for 15 minutes and had one hit and caught about a 15 inch saugeye. Then my wife called and said our daughters puking......

5" swimbait. Smoke color. 1/16 oz. on a windswept point.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#1,152 ·
Had a great night last night, didn't get started u till 1030 but when I got there they were waiting on me...got 6 in an hour and half, one on pink grapefruit 2.75 joshy slow reeled always in contact with the bottom. Switched to a lemon lime crush elite 8 and it was on...pull it under the surface and let the current work the bait...short twitches with 10 to 15 sec. Pauses and wham! Current was perfect and had the spot to myself...
 
#1,155 ·
Great job! Take it all in man!
I've come to realize my home lake isn't even close to what it once was. I kept holding out hope. But just need to accept it for what it is.
I set up in a area last nite that was just perfect. First cast got a fat 18" fish(pretty much the only yr class showing itself in this lake). An thought ok. Finally. Here they come. Only to get a fewmore all night. No need for a pic. Every fish in the lake looks identical. Either a 18" fat female or a 17/18" semi fat male. I've seen just a couple over this size all fall from here. There is no doubt in my mind 2 years ago I would of caught 30/40 fish last night. They are just not there like they once where.
It is what it is. I just need to approach this lake with a different mind set. Or make a long drive to fish an hope I learn these other lakes as well as I have this one.
If im right,it will take 8,9 + years for it to be what it was.
 
#1,153 ·
Well my fall season is in the books up here in Michigan. Gonna blow too hard the rest of the week with ice on the line being an issue, and then high temps next week not getting out of teens so the lakes will ice over. The fish bit very well in the past week. In 5 trips I took 26 walleyes from 20-24 inches which is a lot of fish for inland lake walleyes. Let most of them go. Looking forward to the spring bite. Jealous of you guys with your longer season.
 
#1,159 ·
I don't think there really is a right or wrong way to do it, more of a personal preference. I think you're on the right track if they are suspending correctly. I use wire and wrap it around the shaft of the hooks, like this...
Fish hook Fishing bait Bait Spoon lure Fishing lure

This is a bait that was snagged last night, it seems that someone was just using lead tape and wrapping it around the shaft of the hook. Very similar to the method I use. This bait was in very good condition still no rust and practically brand new, it had a size one snap attached to the front of it still so if anyone recently lost a husky jerk.....
Fish hook Fishing bait Bait Spoon lure Fishing lure

Just some food for thought, many different methods but as long as it's suspending correctly I don't think it matters all that much. I think the only issue with the suspend dots is they have a tendency to fall off so just check and make sure they are still attached!
 
#1,162 ·
Yep personal preference. Read back through an you will see tons of ideas... I wrap my suspend strips(lead tape) around shank of hook. Because more then likely a snag or fish won't knock it off. That an i check my baits at the lake as im fishing an it can be tough getting the tape to stick to the bait after it gets wet and/or cold. But if your wrap it on to itself it sticks....
Plenty of ways to skin this cat. None are wrong.
Last year I used snap rings snapped onto the existing rings holding my hooks. Seen the tip on here an didn't have any tape or wire inthe boat. Worked great
 
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