Plastics In Rocks

[AaronM]

All the shows I've seen, or the reports I've heard, people are always having success with plastics. I live up on Lake of the Woods, and can't imagine every trying to rig up a jig and grub for smallies without getting hung up on rocks every cast. How do you do it? What kind of presentation would you use? I'm a crankbait guy, but I'd love to add another weapon to the arsenal. Thanks for any replies!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Frenzy- Thats a very good question.. and its really going to depend on the rocks and how deep you are fishing. IF your fihsing shallow, soft plastic jerkbaits and swimbaits are great for catching smallies. And because the lure never comes in contact with the bottom, you dont get hung up. Wacky rigged Comida(senko)tyle lures also are great. If fishing deeper, your options do down. Some jig heads do a better job on not getting hung up. Fish with the lightest jig head you can get away with as these also will get hung up less. A texas Rig with a craw or tube might be a good option as well.

[uwecsteeple]

I think this a great place to use tubes. Using a tube with the weight(jig) embedded will really help in the rocks.

[Central Bassman]

You can also use a spinnerbait, Lipless crankbaits and jerkbait to cover a lot of water. Ones you find them i would which to slower presentation like a wacky rigged senko or tube.

[Daze Off]

Having just returned from Table ROCK I learned that if you are weighting anything it should be with a football jig or if using a split shot rig then use shot w/o the fins or a mojo type sinker. Nothing will prevent hang-ups but these will reduce them. And, bowstringing really works to get them out - at least some of the time.

Daze Off

Daze Off

[Wayne Ek]

Frenzy: I've fished the Canadian side of LOW for over 20 years now, targetting smallies. We go up 2 or 3 times per season starting in June and ending in Sept. One of our go-to presentations is a jig/grub. And since you like to throw cranks this should work just fine for you. We use Gopher mushroom head jigs and Kalin single tail grubs (smoke). This is just like cranking smallies, make your cast, count it down a few feet then just start a steady retrieve back to the boat, don't get fancy with twitches and jerks, just a steady retrieve. Good luck.

[Ray Esboldt]

I've fished Lake Vermilion for I don't know how many years. It rivals LOW in rocks. That's basically all there is on the main lake shorelines. But, I fish jigs the bulk of the time, and I do fish them as slow as possible. I want to make some bottom contact, but you can't let the bait sit or you will be hung for sure.

It's hard to describe how to keep the bait out of the rocks and fish slow. You really need to anticipate the next time it will touch bottom. I've went days were I concentrated hard and lost maybe 3 jigs. But, I've been out there in the wind and lost 50 in 8 hours. If you're not getting hung up, you're fishing past fish. On the flip side, it's darn hard to catch one with your bait lodged between two 500lb. boulders.

The only thing I can tell you that will ease some of the frustration is learn how to bow-and-arrow your jig out of hangup. I think Deitz described it real well one time. Deitz, can you give her a whirl again?

[Fluker]

Hi Ray,

I think I can describe for you.

Grab line towards first guide.

Pull a little slack and grab again.

Point Rod towards bait that is hung up fairly shallow (Under 8 feet).

Push rod down line towards bait.

POP!!

Baits pops right off.

And rod tip breaks.

Atleast that's how my first couple experiences went!!! I didn't actually break the rod, just the guide. Ha ha, I just need more practice!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I dont risk breaking a rod to get a lure back... If bow stringing the line doesnt work and re-positioning the boat doesnt work.. Tah tah lure!...I think the key is.. when you feel the lure start to get hung up, dont pull to hard, often times you are just setting it in there to hard to be able to get it out. As soon as I start to feel it get hung up, I let off on the line, grab the line by the first eye and put some slight pressure on the rod bending it. Then let go of the line, this should throw slack down the line that sometimes will jar the lure loose.

A semi large 'O' ring with a larger sinker on it can be placed on the line and then shook down the by the lure as well..I have heard some use old spark plugs too, but I would feel bad about littering the lake bottom with old spark plugs if I didn't get it back.

[AaronM]

Thanks much for all the replies! It sounds like more of a trial and error thing, get out in the boat and start castin' away. I'm pretty excited to get going and try this out. Cranking is always a blast, but there is nothing like setting the hook with a jig on!

[bronzeback01]

Maybe I just fish different or something but I don't get hung up that often. I fish the River for smallies all season long nearly every day. The only real smallie structure is rock points,rip rap, and wing dams. I fish a lot of tubes and creature baits all on texas rigs (3/16-1/4 oz) and they do get hung up a lot more than a small jig. I fish a hand made finesse jig exclusivly in 1/4 oz and I bet I havent lost five or six of them in the last two seasons. With the current being so strong on the river it is a must to maintain constant bottom contact or else you are fishing right over the fishs' heads. What I've found to be the key is two things. I use a jig with a 30 degree hook eye, this allows the jig to slide right through the rocks insted of wedging in the cracks like a football head. and the biggest key is use a bulky fine cut skirt. I use 80 strands versus a standard 40-60. the skirt cusions the jig head from wedging in the rocks. I've tried football heads and just about everything else and nothing works quite like what I just described.

Also, when I feel tention like I'm getting hung up, I just give my rod tip a good pop and it frees it every time.

[Ray Esboldt]

Post a picture of it. I would be interested to see your design.

[Central Bassman]

yea me to

[tearin' lips]

I fish the lakes in the area all the time and my #1 go-to is a plastic. If your having problems try fishing them weightless. Simple weightless rigs on tubes will drive smallies crazy, it will also increase the longevity of your jig if you are worried about gettingg hung up.

[bronzeback01]

Weightless plastics are great in lakes. But they are rendered useless in rivers. The current would put the bait way over the fishes heads.

[river rat316]

hmmm fish a weightless wacky rigged stick bait all the time in rivers with lots of current and do pretty good

[Central Bassman]

Im with river Rat on this one... Sometime i have fishing weightless lure just so the current will take it down stream and make it more realistic

[tearin' lips]

I have fished wieghtless rigs on both rivers and lakes, in both cases they have proven to be a good techniques.

[bronzeback01]

By river I'm refering to the Mississippi river. In small shallow rivers and streams they work great in current but not with any depth.

For example, the lightest weight I have ever been able to use on the river in current is 3/16, the majority of the time I need to use 1/4 just to make bottom contact. Yesterday was tough, I was out on Pepin fishing some points and because of the wind and current I had to go all the way up to 3/4 just to even hit the bottom in about 8' of water.

I get what you are saying about drifting the bait and all, but I've tried that and unless there is a good topwater bite, that senko isn't going to do dump in the current without a weight on one end. I too use stick baits a lot and they work great where there isn't much current. But in rivers where the fish are in 6'+ they relate to bottom structure to excape current and If you don't put that bait right in their face they arent going to eat it.

I will extend an invite though, If you want to show me how that stick bait will get down in heavy current, nows the time, the rivers flowing hard. Look me up and we'll go fishing.

[bronzeback01]

I recant, I figured out how to do it. I figure that if I can cast my bait about 100 yds. up stream by the time the bait gets to the wingdam it will be smack dab in the strike zone. Now I just need to go buy a 12' surf rod that will cast a senko so I will be able to cast 100 yds. Do you think 15lb florocarbon will get my bait down quicker? Now the only problem in getting the bait down when casting down stream and retrieving up ( that does work no matter what the magazines say, fish don't always sit facing up stream).

J/K LOL all. I'm just in a wierd mood this morning. I'm not trying to be a jerk.

[river rat316]

.....

[river rat316]

I fish up to 12-15 feet of water with a weightless "senko" in current in the Mississippi.... not all brands will get down there but some will, I actually like them better now with out salt on a light shakey head

[bronzeback01]

I fished the FOM tourneys a couple years ago with a guy from Up north. He really turned me on to

stick baits, except he always used weight on them and he usually whacked em'. Just something about the profile of those baits that bass cant stand. He fished them in current too where I fished a jig but he always had to use a weight.

I guess maybe I should try weightless again but not until the flow comes down a bit because it's at like 6,000 right now.

[Great Outdoors]

I'm a walleye person and cannot believe that I'm posting on a bass forum.

However, after running out of leeches last August, I had no choice but to try plastics, which I despise. I had a chartreuse and green 1/8th oz jig on, to which I added a chartreuse double twister tail with green specks, & took off trolling at a rapid rate, but not crazy. Within a half hour, I had four fish, 17,18, 20, and 21 inch smallmouths. They truly pound this combo on the lake I was fishing. Give it a try and see what happens.

[bronzeback01]

Twin tails are a classic killer for smallies!!!