Experimenting with bass rigging?

[sbasser]

Whether I'm on the water or not, sometimes an idea hits me like a bolt from the blue. I guess I really like to experiment, with a large part of the goal being to just "show the fish something different".

Trying a Zoom "Trick Worm", I was having no luck with the hook I was using (installed amidship in the worm), so I put the 3/0 EWG hook in the nose, and a #8 x 1.25" decking screw in the tail. I wasn't sure what would happen, but the worm sat nicely with the tail on the bottom and hook floating at the top. I was using braid (which floats), so the result may not be the same with fluorocarbon line (which sinks). This is a very snag resistant rig, perfect for reedbeds, rip-rap and especially for fishing from shore. I use it on a pretty stout spinning rod (GLoomis SJR843) with straight 20 lb braid, and it casts well enough that I think it would cast ok with a suitable baitcaster. And yes, it catches fish just fine!

Lately, I've been Dropshotting with two variations. One rod is an old Berkley Series 1, 7' Med., fairly powerful spinning rod, with 20 lb Power Pro Super Slick line, tied to one of the smallest sized Crane swivels, and a 10 lb test fluorocarbon leader about 6' long. I use the Crane swivel because It allows me to use knots I know, mostly. The Crane swivel is rated a lot stronger than a barrel swivel for the same size and $$$...you can look that up in the big BPS catalog. At the bottom, instead of a weight, is a finesse jig (currently experimenting with different jigs) of 3/8 to 1/2 oz. Above that, I've got a Roboworm hook or an EWG tied on, with various DS types of plastics. So far, I've only caught two fish on the jig at the bottom, but I haven't got a lot of hours using it. There is no way of knowing if I would have caught them on the hook above or not. I tend to look at them as bonus fish, of course!

If you want to try this, you want jig with a smallish, light wire hook of top quality. I've got a lot of Milfoil to contend with, so I stay away from football jigheads, but otherwise, it seems like there are a hundred alternatives. The 3/8 to 1/2 oz weight is good for me, but I also got one brand/model of 3/8 oz jigs that seem to be very light. I have a feeling that this is going to take some testing, so I'm encouraging folks to try it and share info. I have so far avoided using a trailer, because the Rock Bass and Perch would likely drive me bonkers, jerking on the trailer. This also reflects the preference of my OFB and myself when fishing spinnerbaits...no trailer. The logic is that the trailer causes short strikes, and we don't want that! Our hookup rate is really good with spinnerbaits, so it seems logical to me to not use trailers on a jig? More stuff to experiment with, for sure!

The other dropshot rod is a 7' ML, Lamiglas S-601, pretty soft tip, a typical DS rod. It's setup pretty normal, with 15 lb Power Pro braid a swivel, and a FC leader about 6' long. But I've got two Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hooks tied onto the leader. Two lures, maybe same, often different. Might tell me what distance off the bottom the fish want their lunch, or which bait they prefer, but the other thought is that if I get a SM on and there is a "follower", that second lure might just result in two on at once. That ought to be interesting! Since I can legally fish with 3 hooks, at some point, I might tie on a third circle hook. Why circle hooks? Because the fish will pretty much set the hook themselves, allowing lighter leader and line. This should be fun!

[Amx]

Yup, the screw would be what we call 'nail weighting' the worm. They make 'barbed nail weights' for that technique.

Now back to finish the post. :-)

[Amx]

Using a jig for the bottom weight on a drop shot rig works great for other people. I've not tried it, but keep using it, you'll get even more fish, and sometimes 2 fish at the same time.

[Amx]

2 hooks on the same line above the weight would work great. Now you need to tie the jig on the end of the dropper/leader, there is your 3 hooks per line.

[sbasser]

The jig wouldn't work so well with circle hooks, since you wouldn't know which hook was getting chewed on. The jig will need a fairly stout hookset, thus the heavier (Medium power) rod and 20/10 lb line leader combo. The lighter rod works great with circle hooks, and yes, it will set the hook on the jig at least some of the time. But what happens when you have a fish on the jig and another fish hits the other hook? Not much hookset force would be available then. These are the sort of things that need to be sorted out.

I think the jig & hook need to be matched to require similar hooksets. The jig with the circle hook won't work, because you wouldn't know whether to do the hard (jig) hookset or the mild (circle hook) hookset. If you haven't used circle hooks before, this may not make sense. But for a circle hook, you just reel down, load the rod and "lean into the fish". That's probably not going to get it done on the jig, and if you use the typical hard worm/jig hookset, and the fish has hold of the circle hook, you won't get anything at all. Takes some theorizing to come up with a combination of stuff that will work together.

Three circle hooks would work, no doubt. The problem comes when you get 3 SM in the net or in the boat, and the dog is going nuts and you've got fish flipping and flopping all over. I think two circle hooks might be pushing my luck. It's already gotten interesting with two hooks and no dog/fish interactions. Gotta keep the hooks out of the dog. She's already had a spinnerbait flat in her mouth...but she also let go immediately when I yelled at her, and no harm done. Scared me, tho!

[sbasser]

Yup, the screw would be what we call 'nail weighting' the worm. They make 'barbed nail weights' for that technique.

Now back to finish the post. :-)

Yep, I know, and I've got some lead "nail weights". I like the idea of using real nails, etc. For one thing, there may be a "click" when the hard screw head hits a rock...tho I have some doubts about that on silty bottom and a slow falling worm. I'm not a big believer in rattles and "brass 'n glass". I have seen fish run the other direction from a tube with a rattle in it. I have also seen fish go directly toward the tube/rattle, but what I do is let it drop to the bottom, give it a small hop to click the rattle and let it sit and wait for them to go get it. They're curious. They hear the splash, they hear the click, and they go investigate. A lot of nutso hopping, clicking, and such doesn't usually do much good in our relatively clear water. IMO. But then circumstances change daily. Who knows for sure what fish will do?

Bubba and Elroy's definition of "clear water" is much less clarity than mine! I've fished Dale Hollow, Table Rock, Center Hill, and some of the others from Roland's song. Not Bull Shoals, Barkley or Kentucky, but I'm quite sure they're much the same. I've seen a #11 pork frog on a jig, tails wiggling, on the bottom in 22' of water on Riffe. Yes, I mean that I could see the tails of the frog wiggling when I jiggled the rod tip. That would be easy enough at Silver Springs, FL, but impossible on any of the others. The fish are the same, but the water conditions are often significantly different, resulting in very different behavior by the fish!

[Amx]

Yup, I've seen the weight of my slip shot but couldn't see the little skinny worm. Said to my fishing partner, in the club tourney back in the early '90s, " Where's my worm". Then I saw it sticking out of the smallmouth's mouth. Set the hook and fish on, got him in the boat too. Was on Roosevelt, over 20 foot of water, and the fish was close to the bottom. Was funny - "Where's my worm". lol We still laugh at that.

[sbasser]

I tried "Mojo Rig" and have done a lot of splitshotting and before that, what I call "Light Carolina Rigging"...a lot of folks up here call it "splitshotting", but it isn't. On the Mojo rigging, I couldn't keep the weight in the place I wanted, even with a bunch of extra rubber strip pulled inside the weight, so tried splitshotting (bought the book, too), and fell in love with it. I guess I get on a technique and work with it for a few years and then get onto something else, etc., etc. I can always pull one of those older techniques out when the situation presents itself.

Haven't fished any of the various "Roosevelt Reservoirs" (there's one in AZ). Been on Elephant Butte, but was a toddler at the time, and only have vague memories of it. Want to fish Roosevelt (Grand Coulee), but the water conditions (low) haven't cooperated with our desires, so stayed on Banks. It hasn't always cooperated either. Last trip, launched the boat and by the time I got the truck parked (45 seconds?) a hailstorm hit with thunder & lightning up on the bluff/plateau. We went fishing anyway. Got wet, but caught fish.

What club are ya in?

[Amx]

Not in a club anymore, but was in Kent Bassmasters. It went defunct a few years ago, maybe 13 or so.

[sbasser]

Me too. Was in WBC for a long time, and Castmasters for a few. I knew a few guys in Kent.

[sbasser]

Met a (younger) guy at a recent WBC meeting I went to, who had been in Kent. Asked him about Jim Owens and Hal (?). Hal used to come repair some of our broken CNC milling machines, back in the days when I used to waste my daylight hours in Auburn.

I started going to an occasional WBC meeting this summer. South Auburn isn't convenient for me. The club has changed a lot, although there are a few guys I know still there.