Lake Perris 1/29

[baitmaster]

Hit Lake Perris with Mealworm, LedHed and Jr (not on this site). We had to suffer the horrible January Southern California weather (just kidding). The water was in the low 50's, the air was in the low 70's. Could not have asked for a better day. Too bad LedHed had to cut out early, the bite did not turn on until 1:00 in the afternoon (LH thinks we held out on him). All fish caught in 40'-50' of water with cricket and mealworm tipped jigs. Boat total was 15 fish.
View attachment 7

 

[Hawnjigs]

Jeez, you can feel a tipped light jig that deep? Are you adding additional sink weight?

 

[baitmaster]

Hawn,
No additional weight added to jig. We do use heavier jigs in the 1/16-1/8 range, but it is hard. IT sometimes takes upto 2 minutes to get to the bottom. Mealworm and LedHed always seem to out fish me as they have both had many more years to tune in their skills.
I can tell you that rod selection is key. Last season I broke my custom wrapped UL St. Croix with an ice chest sliding across the bed of my truck. Since then I have been fishing with a St. Croix Triumph series 4-8#. I have missed lots of bites with it. This week I finished building my replacement rod and it worked great. A 2-6# 7' UL St Croix SCIII. I was able to feel much more with the new rod.

 

[ScottV]

Good job guys.

 

[mealworm]

I fish with a 2-6 UL and let the jig go to the bottom. When you jig at that depth the tip of the pole has the same motion every time you lift the jig. Watch for anything different in the action of the rod, nothing but the fish will make the rod react different. Reel down and set the hook

 

[baitmaster]

Mealworm out fishes me almost every weekend (I did beat him once in 3 years), so his method must work!

 

[Hawnjigs]

Does braid work better than mono at that depth?

 

[mealworm]

I've tried it with little success.

 

[JSC]

Good Fishin Guys

JSC

 

[Ron Don]

Wow nice fish! Next time let Led catch some.

 

[LedHed]

RD - that's what I'm talkin' about!!!!!

We been usin Yo-Zuri Hybrid ultra soft - 2 lb. It's a fluro carbon / nylon blend - don't think it stretches as munch as mono. Using the stuff for about 2 years now and we like it. For the deep stuff we use mostly 7' rods - G Looomis, St. Croix, and Phenix. I like to use Kencors and some other UL custom wraps also.

The clincher is the jigs...

 

[Hawnjigs]

Regular Yozuri Hybrid has been my line of choice for years, mostly for abrasion resistance. I guess it does have less stretch, but being stiffer compromises manageability.

Not being a smart a**, but perhaps the best way to feel takes & hookset quickly would be handlining. I used to handline small snappers for live bait in 20-40' directly from the line spools, but eventually quit because the spools would get ripped out of my hands by surprises.

I know you're basically sighting the rod tip for take signals, but would a shorter rod increase felt sensitivity?

 

[baitmaster]

Hawn,
I have never handlined and can't even imagine fishing wihtout a rod.
I have only been fishing UL (2-6#) for about 2-3 years now, so I have not had much time to experiment with different set ups. Prior to pan fishing with LedHed and Mealworm, I was one of thise 6-10# bass rod kind of guys.
I do have a 5'6" rod that I use also, but the 7' seems to give more clues to the strike. The shorter rod in the same weight seems a stiffer to me, so I feel it's less sensitive. I think LH fishes with a few shorter rods so maybe he can comment. I am in the process of building a G. Loomis 6' UL (2-6#) but, maybe a 5', 1-4# would be good to test your theory. Talk to you later......you just gave me a good reason to stop at Mudhole.com for another new blank.