Interesting observations

Hey all,

Just had some observations from a Canada trip a couple years ago. A friend
and I were fishing a small lake that was gin clear. Just packed full of
smallmouth. Plus this lake had a slot limit , so we caught and released
over 80 smallies in one day between 14-17". Now that is not what this post
is about. I just wanted to share some observations I had while catching
these fish. I started using a zoom super fluke. I could watch smallies
inhale and exhale my bait without my line even twitch. I saw this happen
easily over a dozen times. It was interesting, because I feel I pay pretty
close attention to my line , and feel of the bait, and do not have a lot of
slack. I couldn't believe how fast they could hammer the bait and exhale it
without me even feeling it at all.
I also decided to pull out my fly rod and throw #8 Teeny Nymphs for
smallies, and they really bit well on those, but same thing, fish would
inhale and exhale without so much as make my line twitch. It was pretty
crazy, and made me think of all those dirty water tournaments that I fished
a fluke in , and the possibility of fish spitting my lure without it ever
even registering.
Just thought I would share.

Chris

I've always wondered how many bites I never detected, and even thought about
the size of the fish... it's very interesting.

When I fish a Fluke, I usually keep it in view so I can see the fish take
the bait. Very seldom do I ever feel anything with any floating plastic, so
being able to see it is critical to me. Smallmouths can be tricky anyway.
Either they'll slam the bait, or just do the inhale/exhale thing and unless
you watch your line, you'll never feel anything.


"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..
Hey all,

Just had some observations from a Canada trip a couple years ago. A friend
and I were fishing a small lake that was gin clear. Just packed full of
smallmouth. Plus this lake had a slot limit , so we caught and released
over 80 smallies in one day between 14-17". Now that is not what this
post
is about. I just wanted to share some observations I had while catching
these fish. I started using a zoom super fluke. I could watch smallies
inhale and exhale my bait without my line even twitch. I saw this happen
easily over a dozen times. It was interesting, because I feel I pay
pretty
close attention to my line , and feel of the bait, and do not have a lot
of
slack. I couldn't believe how fast they could hammer the bait and exhale
it
without me even feeling it at all.
I also decided to pull out my fly rod and throw #8 Teeny Nymphs for
smallies, and they really bit well on those, but same thing, fish would
inhale and exhale without so much as make my line twitch. It was pretty
crazy, and made me think of all those dirty water tournaments that I
fished
a fluke in , and the possibility of fish spitting my lure without it ever
even registering.
Just thought I would share.

Chris

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message SNIP

I just wanted to share some observations I had while catching
these fish. I started using a zoom super fluke. I could watch smallies
inhale and exhale my bait without my line even twitch. I saw this happen
easily over a dozen times. It was interesting, because I feel I pay pretty
close attention to my line , and feel of the bait, and do not have a lot of
slack. I couldn't believe how fast they could hammer the bait and exhale it
without me even feeling it at all.

***That's one of the reasons that I use PowerPro. I noticed when walleye fishing (with mono line)
that quite often I would bring in my jig/minnow, sans minnow! How they could get the minnow off the
hook without feeling it was beyond me. Once I changed to the no-stretch line, I could feel bites so
much better that my catch ratio went way up.

I also decided to pull out my fly rod and throw #8 Teeny Nymphs for
smallies, and they really bit well on those, but same thing, fish would
inhale and exhale without so much as make my line twitch. It was pretty
crazy, and made me think of all those dirty water tournaments that I fished
a fluke in , and the possibility of fish spitting my lure without it ever
even registering.

***I still watch line, but now, with a good, sensitive rod and PowerPro line, feel has become more
important and I will feel taps that I don't see on the line.

Just thought I would share.

***That's why we're here. Thanks,
--
Steve
OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com


Chris

I live on an 8 acre, clear water lake in the corporate limits of Houston, TX
( hard to believe, but true ). I watch bass, all of the time, take in all
sorts of lures and spit them out faster than my 64 year old reflexes could
begin to think about striking! We do NOT feel nor are we aware of many
bites every day we fish. RichG

Somewhere I read or somebody once said that the average angler only fees
about 30% of all bites. Anyone know if there is any truth to this?
"RG" wrote in message
.. .
I live on an 8 acre, clear water lake in the corporate limits of Houston,
TX
( hard to believe, but true ). I watch bass, all of the time, take in all
sorts of lures and spit them out faster than my 64 year old reflexes could
begin to think about striking! We do NOT feel nor are we aware of many
bites every day we fish. RichG

For me 30% might be about right, I hardly ever feel a senko bite, I
rely on high vis line to see the bites..My "feel" bites are with
crankbaits and spinnerbaits..





I fish therefore I lie

Charles wrote: "and unless you watch your line, you'll never feel anything."

To add to Charles's instruction for newbies:

Watching that line means a whole lot more than looking for side movement.
It's knowing how your line looks as the lure is sinking and what it looks
like at rest, or more importantly, as it comes to rest. So that if you are
in 12' and your lure comes to rest at 10-feet (assuming you know your lure's
fall rate), that you need to make a very quick weight check & hopefully a
hook set.

Flukes and other soft jerkbaits are very difficult to do this with, because
they are designed to drift in different directions at varying speeds. Which
is the reason why they are more of a sight bait - meaning you fish them at
depths where you can see the lure and the strike. Otherwise, be prepared to
make a number of false hook-sets, and it is always better to set the hook
into nothing, than miss a fish.

I remember setting the hook every time I felt a tap, thud, or weight until I
learned the difference between what was cover & structure and what was a
strike. Hell, I still can't always tell the difference and set the hook
when in doubt.


--
Craig Baugher (Bower)

alwaysfishking wrote:
Somewhere I read or somebody once said that the average angler only fees
about 30% of all bites. Anyone know if there is any truth to this?

Yes, that's right. I'm Average Angler, and a guy with a government grant
in his pocket once asked me what percentage of fish bites I felt
compared to the actual number of bites that I knew nothing about. I
didn't want to appear ignorant, so I told him it was 30%. He seemed
happy with the answer.

Average Angler wrote:
alwaysfishking wrote:

Somewhere I read or somebody once said that the average angler only fees
about 30% of all bites. Anyone know if there is any truth to this?


Yes, that's right. I'm Average Angler, and a guy with a government grant
in his pocket once asked me what percentage of fish bites I felt
compared to the actual number of bites that I knew nothing about. I
didn't want to appear ignorant, so I told him it was 30%. He seemed
happy with the answer.


I can see how you might set up an underwater camera to try to test this,
but I think to test it for a wide variety of conditions with a wide
variety of tackle with a wide variety of anglers would be a large task.
I'm guessing that many somebodies have said this, but they were just
guessing.

Henry wrote:
I'm guessing that many somebodies have said this, but they were just
guessing.

I'm guessing that your guessing about their guessing is a good guess.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing