Finally had sucess w/ a spinner bait

and it was a SW!

Went to Lk Zumbro this morning w/ my son Alex and a neighbor. Zumbro
is a older (dammed in the 1930's) impoundment in SE MN, about 4000
acres in size. It holds both LM and SM, as well as several other
species.

We start off on a steep bluffed shoreline - lots of rock / boulders in
the water, along with a good amount of wood extending from the
shoreline. I use a 3/8 oz Rock Craw (old body style), that I bought
from Bob R. some years back, w/ a single #5-6 gold willow leaf blade.

We started off near a twin floating dock, where I threw several times
- had a hit, but no hook up. Working down the shoreline a little
later, there was a sensation of weight on the line, I set the hook,
and the rod bowed. Several runs later, I brought in one of those
"other" species - a 30" N pike. I released this one. Guessing the
weight at 6-7#.

I know its not a bass - sadly - (no other activity) - but I've not
had any sucess w/ spinner baits in the past - so this summer I'm
forcing myself to use them. Fished for another 1.5 hours on this
shore - nothing doing, so we moved to a small bay with a creek
entering it. Also tryed some xyz brand soft plastic baits T rigged -
no joy that way either.

We had spotted some fish on sonar in 14-15' of water - so we
made several sweeps over them drifting. I had switched to a
crappie pole tipped w/ a leech on a #6 gold hook, as my neighbor
got a couple of nice panfish on the previous drifts. I felt a solid
hit - and thought bass - I set the hook, and the pole bent, but the
rod tip didn't come up. I kept steady pressure on the rod, and slowly
my fish came up - it turned out to be another N Pike, about 25" long.

The line (#6 test) was so taunt you could could here it vibrating /
humming. The fish basicly went were it wanted to - to the extent of
the line I had (about 14'). Got it to the boat - made a net attempt -
missed - so we started over - and finally got to the boat and netted.
That was fun! This one went home for the frying pan. This one
weighed 4# on a spring scale, the weigh w/ a ruler charts say
4.5-5#.

Did see another fisherman pitching / flipping(?) a skirted jig at the
shoreline - he did bring in a LM of about 14" - if nothing else - it
was a good practical demo to me on how to do it w/ a baitcaster.

J.

Sounds like fun. Those northerns save the day many times up here in the
Frozen North. I was on a spot that I killed the LM bass on a few days
before....but then, on this particular day...nada ...Switched to a small
crankbait and caught 4 NP to 28 inches. OK by me. Its not a tournament, is
it???

I find a spinnerbait to be easiest of lures. Throw and crank it back most
of the time. Vary the speeds and sometimes trigger a strike. Better yet,
stop the darn thing ten feet from the boat and watch some big hump in the
water catch up and kill it! Slow roll and stop and go for variety if the
direct route isn't exciting the fish. Keep trying

RichG

-- manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners

On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 23:52:04 GMT, "RichG"
wrote:

Sounds like fun. Those northerns save the day many times up here in the
Frozen North. I was on a spot that I killed the LM bass on a few days
before....but then, on this particular day...nada ...Switched to a small
crankbait and caught 4 NP to 28 inches. OK by me. Its not a tournament, is
it???

Rich

Nope - not today. I will be fishing this lake later this summer in
small tournament. Today was for fun and to start learning some about
this lake.

Jim

Your spinnerbait luck is my crankbait luck. I'm going to fish with Andrew
some time. I hear he likes crankbaits : )
"Jim Laumann" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Jun 2004 23:52:04 GMT, "RichG"
wrote:

Sounds like fun. Those northerns save the day many times up here in the
Frozen North. I was on a spot that I killed the LM bass on a few days
before....but then, on this particular day...nada ...Switched to a small
crankbait and caught 4 NP to 28 inches. OK by me. Its not a tournament,
is
it???

Rich

Nope - not today. I will be fishing this lake later this summer in
small tournament. Today was for fun and to start learning some about
this lake.

Jim

Congratulations, Jim!

--
Bob Rickard
(AKA Dr. Spinnerbait)
www.secretweaponlures.com
--------------------------=x O')))

"Jim Laumann" wrote in message
...

and it was a SW!

Went to Lk Zumbro this morning w/ my son Alex and a neighbor. Zumbro
is a older (dammed in the 1930's) impoundment in SE MN, about 4000
acres in size. It holds both LM and SM, as well as several other
species.

We start off on a steep bluffed shoreline - lots of rock / boulders in
the water, along with a good amount of wood extending from the
shoreline. I use a 3/8 oz Rock Craw (old body style), that I bought
from Bob R. some years back, w/ a single #5-6 gold willow leaf blade.

We started off near a twin floating dock, where I threw several times
- had a hit, but no hook up. Working down the shoreline a little
later, there was a sensation of weight on the line, I set the hook,
and the rod bowed. Several runs later, I brought in one of those
"other" species - a 30" N pike. I released this one. Guessing the
weight at 6-7#.

I know its not a bass - sadly - (no other activity) - but I've not
had any sucess w/ spinner baits in the past - so this summer I'm
forcing myself to use them. Fished for another 1.5 hours on this
shore - nothing doing, so we moved to a small bay with a creek
entering it. Also tryed some xyz brand soft plastic baits T rigged -
no joy that way either.

We had spotted some fish on sonar in 14-15' of water - so we
made several sweeps over them drifting. I had switched to a
crappie pole tipped w/ a leech on a #6 gold hook, as my neighbor
got a couple of nice panfish on the previous drifts. I felt a solid
hit - and thought bass - I set the hook, and the pole bent, but the
rod tip didn't come up. I kept steady pressure on the rod, and slowly
my fish came up - it turned out to be another N Pike, about 25" long.

The line (#6 test) was so taunt you could could here it vibrating /
humming. The fish basicly went were it wanted to - to the extent of
the line I had (about 14'). Got it to the boat - made a net attempt -
missed - so we started over - and finally got to the boat and netted.
That was fun! This one went home for the frying pan. This one
weighed 4# on a spring scale, the weigh w/ a ruler charts say
4.5-5#.

Did see another fisherman pitching / flipping(?) a skirted jig at the
shoreline - he did bring in a LM of about 14" - if nothing else - it
was a good practical demo to me on how to do it w/ a baitcaster.

J.

"alwaysfishking" wrote in message
...


Your spinnerbait luck is my crankbait luck. I'm going to fish with Andrew
some time. I hear he likes crankbaits : )

Yeah, you could definitely say that... It's funny though. I was out on a
~150 acre trolling motor only lake yesterday. Caught a couple on a popper,
couple on a crankbait, couple on a split shot rig, then I pulled out the
spinnerbait to run it down a couple logs. Bam... Third cast. Small fish,
but it made me stick with it a little longer. Ended up catching 13 all day,
6 off of the spinnerbait. Unfortunately, the keeper fish are keeping their
distance from me, since I only connected with one...barely 14".

If you really want to learn how to fish a crankbait, try this. Go out and
buy a Bill Norman Professional Edge Middle N crankbait. In a light shad
pattern (pick your favorite back color, I prefer grey or purple) for a
clearer lake, Blue and Chartreuse for a stained or muddy lake.

Fish it all day, in every way you would try to fish any other bait. Slow
around cover, shallow or deeper on windy points, outside weed lines, over
submerged weedbeds, across shallow flats, around current breaks, etc. Fast,
slow, erratic, whatever. Over weeds takes a little patience, but with the
rod tip held high, you'll get it back once or twice every five casts without
the weeds. The trick is to not lift the bait straight out of the water when
it comes back with weeds, but kind of quickly reverse it's course, right
before lifting it out. Many times the weeds stay in the water, and the bait
is clean.

Anyhow, write me back after you do this, and let me know how many you
catch... I bet you'll be surprised...

Oh, and I'd love to get the opportunity to fish with you. Your enthusiasm
far outpaces any deficiency you might see in your fishing experience...

--
Andrew Kidd
http://www.amiasoft.com/ - Software for the rest of us!
http://www.rofb.net/ - ROFB Newsgroup Home

I'm going to try that sometime this week. It worked with the jig and god
knows I have the crankbaits : -0
"Andrew Kidd" wrote in message
news:YFLDc.127485$0y.72995@attbi_s03...
"alwaysfishking" wrote in message
...


Your spinnerbait luck is my crankbait luck. I'm going to fish with
Andrew
some time. I hear he likes crankbaits : )

Yeah, you could definitely say that... It's funny though. I was out on a
~150 acre trolling motor only lake yesterday. Caught a couple on a
popper,
couple on a crankbait, couple on a split shot rig, then I pulled out the
spinnerbait to run it down a couple logs. Bam... Third cast. Small
fish,
but it made me stick with it a little longer. Ended up catching 13 all
day,
6 off of the spinnerbait. Unfortunately, the keeper fish are keeping
their
distance from me, since I only connected with one...barely 14".

If you really want to learn how to fish a crankbait, try this. Go out and
buy a Bill Norman Professional Edge Middle N crankbait. In a light shad
pattern (pick your favorite back color, I prefer grey or purple) for a
clearer lake, Blue and Chartreuse for a stained or muddy lake.

Fish it all day, in every way you would try to fish any other bait. Slow
around cover, shallow or deeper on windy points, outside weed lines, over
submerged weedbeds, across shallow flats, around current breaks, etc.
Fast,
slow, erratic, whatever. Over weeds takes a little patience, but with the
rod tip held high, you'll get it back once or twice every five casts
without
the weeds. The trick is to not lift the bait straight out of the water
when
it comes back with weeds, but kind of quickly reverse it's course, right
before lifting it out. Many times the weeds stay in the water, and the
bait
is clean.

Anyhow, write me back after you do this, and let me know how many you
catch... I bet you'll be surprised...

Oh, and I'd love to get the opportunity to fish with you. Your enthusiasm
far outpaces any deficiency you might see in your fishing experience...

--
Andrew Kidd
http://www.amiasoft.com/ - Software for the rest of us!
http://www.rofb.net/ - ROFB Newsgroup Home