Something I want to focus on this year is catching fish on suspending and slow sinking baits like the 17mr and others. Who on here has some advice for a brother? Never really had any luck on hardbaits, other than topwater.
Colors?
Sizes?
Method of retrieval?
Where do you fish these?
If anyone wants to take me out and show me how it is done, I won’t object!!!
DD
“Hardbaits” is a very large category that 95+ percent is dedicated to the bass fishing market, but IMO grossly under-utilized for reds and trout. Last year, when the water was super cold, a suspending jerkbait (Lucky Craft Pointer) out produced everything in my box for reds for an entire month. The reason was it was erratic, but could be held in place for long pauses. The fish were cold and grouped up but didn’t move far once spooked because of the frigid temps. It was all reaction strikes. Topwaters for reds and trout obviously will improve as the water temps. warm, but you never know. I’ll always try a topwater first early to see if I get any reaction, and some days reguardless of temperture, you will get lots of interest. Check out the video Tails of the Trail and you will see they used shallow cranks to catch what they did. Like fishing any artificial, you have to make sure you are getting the lure in front of the fish, then check their reaction. No reaction, change lures. Reaction but no take, change colors or retrieve.
i fish a topwater and have yet to land one. but one time i was fishing a yellow tiny trout sinking twitchbait mirrolure at the folly boat landing and 5 cast with nothing… all of a sudden BAM!! something slammed that bait so hard it was ripped off my line as soon as i jerked the tip and started to reel. i also have a slow sinking natural croaker badonkadonk that once the water warms up im gonna throw at everything it looks great. i know its not much advice but i cant wait to try it out this year
There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the mud minnow.
Hard baits can be a very useful bait in your tackle arsenal. I will be doing a seminar on them at 9am on March 3 at The Charleston Angler Spring Fling Expo West Ashley location. Come on out. Capt. Tucker Blythe and Capt. John Irwin will also be doing seminars throughout the day. Look forward to seeing all who come out.
Capt. Stephen
www.redfishcharleston.com
Silver RattleTraps are great for speckled trout. They are sinking lures and really do the job if you can locate a school.
PioneerLouie
Pioneer Venture 175, Johnson 90
Summerville, SC
I have fished MirrOlure primarily for trout with good success. The model I had the most success with is the TT series. I use a slow steady retrieve over oyster beds. A friend of mine turned me on to the bait over 10 yrs ago and I still throw them today. MirrOlure has a hook replacement kit that allows you to swap out trebles.
17 MAVERICK HPX-V
I fish the Mirrolure TT series as well. Mostly fall and spring don’t use them this time of year. I also fish them the same way INSHORE LTC does with a slow steady retrieve, which is not really the way they are designed to be fished, but they are deadly that way here. I talked with the owner of Mirrolure and he could not believe how well they worked for me fishing them that way. He said in Florida if you are not using a twitching type retrieve you will not catch anything. I have outfished live shrimp with them in the fall. I’ve also had good luck with some of the suspending like the mirrolure and Bomber Badon-a-donk SS baits. Like Raddaddy I’ve had some better luck with supending when the water was cold, sinkers not so much because you have to keep them moving and cannot stay in the middle of the water column without moving it pretty quickly.
i’ve been throwing a floating, shallow diving plug like this one, it has been drawing reds up to 30" this month. i like it because it will get down to the fish’s level to annoy them, but doesn’t get deep enough to hang up on heavy structure like oyster mounds.
the TT has been killer for me on trout in inlets during the fall, too.
You got it Barbawang. The usage of sinking lures for me has always been for trout that are hanging from 2-8 feet and they are deadly at times, but when you need to keep a lure in front of shallow fish and don’t want to stay snagged up, a floater/diver is the way to go. You can manipulate how fast the lure floats back up with the usage of small strips of lead tape found at all golf supply outlets. I’ve found that as the water warms, they like a lure that pops up quicker as I guess they like the “chase” more.
quote:
Originally posted by barbawangi’ve been throwing a floating, shallow diving plug like this one, it has been drawing reds up to 30" this month. i like it because it will get down to the fish’s level to annoy them, but doesn’t get deep enough to hang up on heavy structure like oyster mounds.
the TT has been killer for me on trout in inlets during the fall, too.
Thanks guys. The suspending lures make sense with sluggish fish.
For those of you that are using mirrolures, are you fishing the “full size” or having more luck with the smaller mirrodine size? My biggest issue with the smaller lures is that I have a hard time “feeling” the lure, unless I am retrieving it to fast. I guess I need to practice some more.
Annoy a Liberal, Work Hard and Be Happy!
TT26 and 52M my favorite.
Stonoman
TT808 my go to lure in the fall.
I’ve always used mirrolures for Spanish around the jetties during the summer
Three-fourths of the Earth’s surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn.
That 17MR is a bad azz machine! I catch lots of trout on it and have had good luck with reds especially in muddy water.
Reel Shallow Charters
Capt Justin Hubbard
843-327-7563
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reel-Shallow-Charters/285675628125080
http://www.haddrellspoint.com
www.Zmanfishing.com
I murder the trout in the winter on the 17MR. Silver with green back. Deadly bait, absolutely deadly.
I have caught a truckload of specks over the years trolling the TT series. They are harder to find but I like to troll the lipped MirroLures too. A friend of mine limited out on trout with the 17MR in electric chicken yesterday way up in a creek.
quote:
Originally posted by barbawangi’ve been throwing a floating, shallow diving plug like this one, it has been drawing reds up to 30" this month. i like it because it will get down to the fish’s level to annoy them, but doesn’t get deep enough to hang up on heavy structure like oyster mounds.
the TT has been killer for me on trout in inlets during the fall, too.
Who makes that lure?
Smithwick Suspending Rogue in the clown color.
Bob Sanders
FishingWithBob
Edisto Inshore Charters
Big Fork Farms LLC
Real Estate Sales
803-300-2780
803-259-1374
bob@fishingwithbob.com
www.fishingwithbob.com
www.southcarolinalandonline.com
Ratl-trap Slap-Stik is my favorite and has caught many fish, can fish like a topwater or dive down couple feet.
I fish Paul Brown lures alot as well and do well on them. Mirrolure bought them out and now carries them. The original or fatbaoy suspending. Cast out, small twitch, get a dip or smoke, twitch again, fish as slow as your patience will allow. Hot pink is a large trout favorite.
Bomber Badonkadonk is amazing for trout. My all time favorite.