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 When
Fishing Is Slow Spread The Tackle
By Capt. Jim Hirt
 Captain
Jim Hirt operates his fishing business out of Milwaukee,
Wisconsin as
Blue Max Charters.
Now
is the time to think about changes to make your trips
more productive next season. There are many ways to go
on this subject. Over the next several articles I will
try to cover topics like rigging, tackle and
presentation. My goal is to provide information, which
should lead to more fish and less slow fishing.
In the last article we
covered Leadcore rigging and presentation. Let us
continue with rigging. The top fishermen know that when
the action stops or never starts its time to spread the
tackle and work all the different types of fish. If this
sounds strange, you may not have considered that each
species of fish likes different lures, presentations and
temperatures.
When I go out on any trip
I start with what I believe is the hot set up based on
the last trip. This works most of the time but when it
doesn't I spread my tackle out to cover all the types of
fish.
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I usually fish 100
feet of water or more because most days all five
types of fish are there. This gives me the most
possible opportunities to produce fish. Deep water
on summer days holds temperature changes from top to
bottom creating the correct conditions for all Lake
Michigan game fish. There are also some fish that do
not hold very often in less than 100 feet of water.
When talking to other
fishermen, they tell me they have never caught a
Rainbow or a Lake Trout. This is because they do not
fish all potential depths in deep water. As a
general rule Rainbows like the warm surface water
and Lakers prefer the cold bottom in 100 feet or
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When I spread tackle out,
I run a mix of different lures doing what I call mini
sets. This is what I might do in a summer presentation.
I split up my rods into three mini sets. On the deepest
lines in the coldest water, I fish for Lake trout. All
the deep lines are matched for speed, color and
preference of the target.
This is a good time to
talk about color as it relates to the amount of light.
You may or may not remember learning the colors of the
rainbow in school. The colors are remembered by this
acronym "ROY G BIV". These letters mean red, orange,
yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Most of the time I run
lure colors of red, orange, or yellow when that lure is
presented in the portion of the water column with the
most light. The other end of the rainbow, blue, indigo
and violet, are used in darker or low light situations.
You may ask what about
silver and white? I consider these as neutral or they
will work in any type of light. All the other colors
fall into either bright or dark. Bright lures are used
in bright light conditions dark lures in low light. Now
let's get back to setting our deep lines.
Go with colors for low
light that work well at a speed you intend to run and in
the size of the baitfish. Medium to large spoons, Opti-dodgers
with flies, or spin-n-glows and lake trolls work most
days. Look for temps below 48 degrees for Lake Trout.
The next mini set will run
in water above the deep lines. Fish the 48-58 degree
water spreading the lines to run about every ten feet of
depth. Here we are looking for Chinooks and Coho salmon.
I like a mix of opti-dodgers, flashers and flies with a
long lead spoon or two. The balance of my lines will run
in 59 degrees or warmer water looking for rainbows and
browns.
Depending on how much warm
water you have to work with you can cover it with long
lines, diving planers and lead core. The mini set in the
warmest water with plenty of light should have the lures
with fastest action and brightest colors.
When the fishing gets
tough, spread out your presentation and go deep.
Good Luck
Captain Jim.
Let's go fishing!! Jim
charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters.
He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site
at
http://www.bluemaxcharters.com
Copyright© 2006, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.
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