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More Fish Leadcore Presentation The Answer

More Fish Leadcore Presentation The Answer

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
Here are some ways to present lures in spring. This time of year look for most of your fish in the top 50 feet. Keep your eye on your locator and also work deeper marks when you see them. My experience this time of year is the deeper fish are less active and tend not to bite. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Wake up the Fish

Most often you will not mark well above 30 feet because those fish are out side the cone of your locator’s transducer. The primary presentations I use at this time of year are Church Tackle Walleye boards, Divers and leadcore. If your budget allows, I would recommend trying a leadcore line set up. This presentation will work when all others are dead.

Basics

The basics of leadcore are simple. The most expensive part is the reel. It must have enough line capacity to handle the leadcore line plus Seaguar fluorocarbon and Power Pro 50 pound for a total of anywhere from 300 half core to 600 yards two cores. I run my half cores or five colors on a reel that holds 300 yards of 20 pound test. This is the smallest reel a half core will fit on. Line counter reels are not necessary. Leadcore sinks at a rate of 4-5 feet per color. A half core will run about 24 feet deep.

Loading the reel

When loading this reel, start with 300 yards of Power Pro 50 pound then strip the lead out of the end of the leadcore and tie a Willis Knot to the leadcore. Finish with a Willis Knot and 30 feet of a 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon to a ball bearing cross lock snap. You will need a heavy action 8-foot rod to work with lead. You may run this with a Church Tackle Walleye planer board if you are going to use multiple set ups.

Presentation Tips

Snap on your favorite lure and let out all of the line to the Power Pro. Then install your board so it does not release. I usually run them 150 feet off each side of the boat. Very wide turns and low boat traffic are a must to avoid tangles and getting run over. I set my drags light. When the reel starts to scream, adjust the drag as necessary. Reel in the line until you can reach the board and hand release it. Now the line is clear to bring in the fish. I don’t fish lead early in the morning. I use it when the early bite is over. Some of my biggest fish are caught on this presentation.

Hot spoon for Leadcore

If you would like to try the hottest spoons for salmon and trout in 2011 go to http://www.badgertackle.com Good luck. 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© 2012, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Presentation Tips For Cold Water

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
In many parts of the world Spring means cold water. As water cools presentation must change for you to be successful. Here are a few tips of mine to get these neutral or less active fish to bite. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Cold water…. Hot bite

In previous articles we covered general overview and the specifics of temperature breaks and their location. Now let’s continue with spring presentation and location. If your season starts early as we do at Blue Max Charters, you will be on Lake Michigan or your favorite water when the surface temperatures are below the preferred temp of your target species. Concentrations of fish on temp breaks can be great for action.

Breaks and how to fish them

I will cover late May and early June in this article. This time period provides great action on Browns and Rainbows. Browns, at this time of the year, will come on similar presentations, lures and locations as I described in previous articles. Look for temp breaks with bait fish and the warmest water. This time of year you won’t find water that is to warm for Browns. I like small Vulcan spoons with silver, green or white blades with green, orange or blue accent stripes. Work the top 25 feet of water.

Presentation for cold water

I set up 90% of my lines on Church planer boards working the top fifteen feet of water. The remaining 10% of my lines are on diving planers or downriggers for deeper fish. On all my rods in spring, I run a 20-25 pound test monofilament with a 12-pound leader. You need to go with a light leader to produce good action in clear water near the surface. Run the heavier test to a bead chain sinker or barrel swivel then an 8-foot leader with a cross lock snap. I don’t go nuts with Micro Filament or Super Braid lines because I think they are over kill for this application and add to expenses. Starting out this way I will have the rods loaded with the correct line for most presentations through out the season.

Speed part of the answer

I set my boat speed at 1 to 2 mph. Slow presentation is key in spring. The lures you run is all about the amount of light, baitfish size and the size of fish you are looking to catch. Mix it up! When one lure produces I would double up on that lure. For Coho I prefer 6 inch orange flashers and a variety of different colored flies instead of spoons. Adjust the length of the leader from the flasher to the fly to get the best results. The general rule is one and one half times the length of the flasher. My experience is the colder the water the longer the leader. Longer leaders slow down the action of the fly. There are times when I run up to three times the flasher length. Most Rainbows will also hit the flasher flies. When only looking for Rainbows, substitute bright color spoons for flasher flies. If you would like to try the hottest spoons for salmon and trout in 2011 go to http://www.badgertackle.com Good luck. 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© 2012, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Fishing Hooks Make the Difference

Fishing Hooks Make the Difference

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
The last article closed with a promise of exploring the different types of hooks I use on Lake Michigan and the techniques I use to sharpen them. Let’s get to it. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Inexpensive answer

This is a somewhat controversial issue for most fishermen. Everyone has an opinion I can only state what works for me. One thing I believe all will agree on is a sharp hook will catch more fish. There are many types of sharpeners out there. I have tried most of them. A simple $4.00 file is the system I keep coming back to.

How to start

Start with a check of the point by trying to stick the tip into your thumbnail. A hook that slides off your nail needs some work. Do not shortcut this process 10 hits and 9 fish is a good day 10 hits and 2 fish you wasted your time coming out on the lake. File three sides of the point and test again.

Check new hooks

New lures do not always have sharp hooks! After you have boated a fish check the hook for sharpness and that it didn’t get bent out of shape. A word of caution if you loose the tip of the hook from repeated sharpening it’s time to replace it. This is the first step for any type of fishing and I guarantee it will improve your number of fish in the box.

Hook shopping

When you shop for hooks buy quality extra strong hooks. It should say 2x or 3x on the package. There are cheap hooks that bend easily and won’t hold a sharp point look for the best. A recent trend is to use red hooks this makes sense. Red will trigger most fish to bite. Badger Tackle includes VMC red hooks on all of their spoons. You may purchase them at http://www.badgertackle.com

Singles or trebles

Always replace hooks with the same size you removed or the action will change. This leads us to the big question single hooks verses trebles. My rule is this stay with the original manufactures recommendation, they do the testing and that’s good enough for me. Good luck. 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© 2012, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Go Slow For Spring Brown Trout

Go Slow For Spring Brown Trout

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
Spring can be Brown Trout a plenty with the right presentation. Allow me to break it down and offer some suggestions for tons of Browns wherever you fish. Let’s discuss presentation, lures and location to jump start your spring. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Smaller Is Better

The last several articles we covered some options for spring presentation with a focus on temperature, planer boards, lines, terminal tackle and lure selection. Let’s continue with lure selection, colors, boat speed, and lure action for spring. The cold water slows down the metabolism of the fish; this in turn requires you to slow down your presentation. I select lures that are small and work well at slower than normal boat speeds.

Check The Temperature

Your adjustment to these variables is different depending on the preferred temperature of the target species. Brown trout like the warmest water of the five game fish in Lake Michigan. They are looking for above 60-degree water. When you find 60 plus water, fish them as you would in summer. Below 60 degrees the way you fish should be adjusted. Most Browns will be found in the top 20 feet of water where bright lures should be best.

Watch The Speed

I slow my boat speed to below 1.5 mph. The small lures become very effective and run well at this speed. Does your boat troll at 1.0 to 4.5 mph? If it doesn’t, you will find it difficult to produce all the types of fish in all types of conditions. Most boats have trouble trolling slowly. When I purchased my new boat, the Blue Max with two 454 engines, trolling slowly was a problem for me. I then added a drift sock to slow down my presentation. Without this tool you will not be successful every trip out.

Caution Too Slow May Be Bad

If you adjust the idle down too low on your motor, you will most likely have spark plug fouling or lubrication issues. Slow trolling is the way to go in spring or any time the water temperature is below the temp range of the fish you are after. In spring keep it slow, small and bright to increase your catch.

Hot spoons for spring

I keep talking about Vulcan spoons and more anglers are finding out that this spoon will out produce most spoons in their tackle box. Reasonably priced and nearly indestructible they just keep on producing. The regular size is a good bet for spring. Vulcan spoons are sold by http://www.badgertackle.com

Next Up

Note don’t forget to sharpen those hooks. In the next article I will go into hook types, sharpening techniques and the pros and cons of trebles vs. singles. Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2012 James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

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