One of the big take-aways from last season's deep fluke season was the dawning (on me) of just how deadly a properly-spec'ed spinning outfit can be in relatively deep water. In truth, I do doubt that spinning will ever be able to replace a proper baitcasting/conventional outfit on a deep, fast-moving drift. But for those slow-to-no drift days, spinning gear really does shine brightly.
My thoughts on this subject were well covered in the "Hands-on Tackle Reviews" thread, and so I'm not going to replow that ground here. Instead, I would like to discuss and get some member feedback on the following "issue" I've repeatedly encountered while casting bucktails in the deep. And admittedly this is really a "First World" problem, seemingly minor in nature at first blush, but frustrating to experience when encountered.
Over the course of the recently past fluke season we ran into several instances of slow drift and so out came the spinner and it did make a difference in filling the box. My lure of choice was a bare 2oz "Ultra Minnow" head (a kind of Spro clone), carrying a GULP! bait, either a 6" jerk shad or 5" jigging grub. This is the same jig head upon which I base all my various-size bucktail builds. I buy from Clint at HTLureco, who has always done a fine job for me, for many seasons. I like his jig heads, because he utilizes the same 5/0 black nickle wide gap hook from the 2oz size, all the way to his 8oz bottom thumpers. Very nice hooks that stick and hold well - on the drift.
However, when using those same heads with their wide-gap 5/0 hooks while casting, I've experienced a good amount of misses; meaning I could feel the fish's weight, but failed to hook MANY. A bit of further explanation is needed, in order to provide a clear picture of the issue.
On the drift (especially a quick one) a decent fish will generally give an aggressive wack at the jig - pretty much guaranteeing a shot at a solid hook-up. If not, a series of rapid sharp jig motions will generally get the fish to come back and take another attempt at his own demise.
This, I have found, is not normally the case when casting/jigging/retrieving in a "slack drift" situation. Instead, what I've repeatedly experienced is a quite subtle tap, followed by the famous "dead weight syndrome" of the fish laying there, with the bait in its mouth, I suppose trying to decide whether or not to further inhale it.
A deceptively tough situation - I've tried many differing hooking methods to deal with this: the old "five-one thousand" count, tried swinging immediately, tried swinging hard, tried gently lifting 'til he bites down on the bait, just about exhausting the gamut of hooking machinations - with decent results, I guess. However, I do feel strongly that the number of misses experienced is just not acceptable. Not to me anyway. I did find that my best results came while using the "wait and slow lift" method, kind of lightly trying to pull the bait away from the fish - I suppose imitating a bait that's about to escape Mr. Fluke's clutches. Even so, more misses than I'm comfortable with. And to further add to the frustration, slack-drift fish do not seem to come back to a bait, once you miss on the hook-up. This is the big difference between a decent-speed drift bite, versus what I've experienced on the slack drift.
So further thought on the subject has lead me to re-evaluate my jig-head choice, with particular attention to hook size. This in turn lead to a discussion with Clint/HTLureco, who agreed with my thinking that perhaps the wide-gap 5/0 is not the best choice for the far more indifferent bite that I see on the slack drift. Could it be that the large hook is inhibiting the inhalation of the lure, when fluke are in the "tap-tap" mode? Maybe. But certainly a worthy problem for which to attempt a remedy. Hey, what else is the off season for?
So in order to make the jig/GULP! combo a bit more "gulp-able," we've selected a slightly smaller 4/0 jig hook, with a much different gap profile. The new hook looks much like the ones that are now routinely used in the manufacture of tog jigs - except that it features a longer shank. This, I believe, is a good thing, as it allows more of the long-ish GULP! baits to slide up onto the hook's shank, placing the business end of the hook further back in the bait. Here, take a look, new vs old:
I've also made a change to the head shape, thinking that perhaps the original head is tending to lay sideways on a slower jig-and-pop retrieve, which of course a ball head will not do. Plus, I had Clint paint them in glow white, which should also help a bit in generating fishie interest.
So in truth, who knows if any of this is an answer, part of an answer, or of no help at all? But I'll tell you one thing, I will be evaluating these in a big-time way, starting around Memorial Day. You can (Cholera) bank on that!
Your thoughts are solicited and appreciated.
My thoughts on this subject were well covered in the "Hands-on Tackle Reviews" thread, and so I'm not going to replow that ground here. Instead, I would like to discuss and get some member feedback on the following "issue" I've repeatedly encountered while casting bucktails in the deep. And admittedly this is really a "First World" problem, seemingly minor in nature at first blush, but frustrating to experience when encountered.
Over the course of the recently past fluke season we ran into several instances of slow drift and so out came the spinner and it did make a difference in filling the box. My lure of choice was a bare 2oz "Ultra Minnow" head (a kind of Spro clone), carrying a GULP! bait, either a 6" jerk shad or 5" jigging grub. This is the same jig head upon which I base all my various-size bucktail builds. I buy from Clint at HTLureco, who has always done a fine job for me, for many seasons. I like his jig heads, because he utilizes the same 5/0 black nickle wide gap hook from the 2oz size, all the way to his 8oz bottom thumpers. Very nice hooks that stick and hold well - on the drift.
However, when using those same heads with their wide-gap 5/0 hooks while casting, I've experienced a good amount of misses; meaning I could feel the fish's weight, but failed to hook MANY. A bit of further explanation is needed, in order to provide a clear picture of the issue.
On the drift (especially a quick one) a decent fish will generally give an aggressive wack at the jig - pretty much guaranteeing a shot at a solid hook-up. If not, a series of rapid sharp jig motions will generally get the fish to come back and take another attempt at his own demise.
This, I have found, is not normally the case when casting/jigging/retrieving in a "slack drift" situation. Instead, what I've repeatedly experienced is a quite subtle tap, followed by the famous "dead weight syndrome" of the fish laying there, with the bait in its mouth, I suppose trying to decide whether or not to further inhale it.
A deceptively tough situation - I've tried many differing hooking methods to deal with this: the old "five-one thousand" count, tried swinging immediately, tried swinging hard, tried gently lifting 'til he bites down on the bait, just about exhausting the gamut of hooking machinations - with decent results, I guess. However, I do feel strongly that the number of misses experienced is just not acceptable. Not to me anyway. I did find that my best results came while using the "wait and slow lift" method, kind of lightly trying to pull the bait away from the fish - I suppose imitating a bait that's about to escape Mr. Fluke's clutches. Even so, more misses than I'm comfortable with. And to further add to the frustration, slack-drift fish do not seem to come back to a bait, once you miss on the hook-up. This is the big difference between a decent-speed drift bite, versus what I've experienced on the slack drift.
So further thought on the subject has lead me to re-evaluate my jig-head choice, with particular attention to hook size. This in turn lead to a discussion with Clint/HTLureco, who agreed with my thinking that perhaps the wide-gap 5/0 is not the best choice for the far more indifferent bite that I see on the slack drift. Could it be that the large hook is inhibiting the inhalation of the lure, when fluke are in the "tap-tap" mode? Maybe. But certainly a worthy problem for which to attempt a remedy. Hey, what else is the off season for?
So in order to make the jig/GULP! combo a bit more "gulp-able," we've selected a slightly smaller 4/0 jig hook, with a much different gap profile. The new hook looks much like the ones that are now routinely used in the manufacture of tog jigs - except that it features a longer shank. This, I believe, is a good thing, as it allows more of the long-ish GULP! baits to slide up onto the hook's shank, placing the business end of the hook further back in the bait. Here, take a look, new vs old:
I've also made a change to the head shape, thinking that perhaps the original head is tending to lay sideways on a slower jig-and-pop retrieve, which of course a ball head will not do. Plus, I had Clint paint them in glow white, which should also help a bit in generating fishie interest.
So in truth, who knows if any of this is an answer, part of an answer, or of no help at all? But I'll tell you one thing, I will be evaluating these in a big-time way, starting around Memorial Day. You can (Cholera) bank on that!
Your thoughts are solicited and appreciated.
