Spin Fishing
Finesse Spinning
These methods primarily target smallmouth and largemouth bass and walleye. Finesse typically involves light line. I use 6 or 8 lb. monofilament for the most part. I also use Power Pro braided line in 8 or 10 lb. with a mono or fluorocarbon leader.
Rods used with finesse techniques are rated light, medium light or sometimes medium for 4 to 10 pound test. I like 6 or 61/2 foot rods for these techniques. The reels I use are Shimano, Quantum & Abu Garcia, which hold about 175 yards of 6 lb. test.
Plastic Jigs
Jigs are one of the most versatile lures ever invented. They can be fished on the bottom, through the middle of the water column, fast or slow, shallow or deep; there is no situation that a jig can't handle. The simplest of rigs, a lead head jig is inserted in the body of some kind of plastic grub, tube, worm or minnow and fished on 6 or 8 lb. test around all manner of structure and cover. With a heavier jighead, this rig can be fished fast to cover water while searching for active fish. We slow it down to a crawl to entice inactive or neutral fish by going light. The most common rig I use is a 1/4 oz. jighead with a single tail grub, single tail hula grub or a tube. I'll go down to a 1/8 or 1/16 for slower presentations. And up to a 3/8 to cover water faster or to get a longer cast. Marabou jigs work well also with the added advantage of having a tail that can't be ripped off by a short striking or small fish. Tubes, straight tail worms, minnows and Ikas have this benefit too.
A word on hook size, I have found that 1/0 hooks work fine on 4” grubs or any small diameter bodied plastics. Years ago, after loosing fish after fish on an Ika fished on a 1/0 hooked jighead, I switched to a head with a 3/0 hook and every fish that took the Ika came into the boat. The difference was the larger diameter of the body compared to the 4” grubs I was fishing just before the switch to the Ika. The larger body didn't allow enough gap for the 1/0 hook to securely hook the fish.
Dropshot
Anglers on Lake Powell have been dropshoting with great success for several years. This too is a very simple rig. There are three components to this setup, the hook, the weight and the plastic lure or nightcrawler. The hook is tied on the line and a tag end of 6 to 24 inches is left on which the weight is attached. Hook size depends on the size of the bait. With smaller bodied worms I prefer a #4 short shank such as a circle or dropshot hook. On larger baits like senkos or small tubes I step up to a #2. The bait is hooked through the nose, which allows the point of the hook to be exposed for easy hooksets.
When fishing around weeds or trees an offset hook is used and the plastic rigged weedless. There are special weights for dropshoting. These are a weight with a crimped wire loop that allows the line to be attached without a knot. One advantage of this weight is when it gets hung in the rocks; a steady pull will release the weight and save the lure and hook. Bass casting sinkers, splitshot, or Mojo sinkers can be used as well. Just as with jigs, 1/4 oz. is my favorite. The presentation is usually vertical, but a cast and retrieve method is effective also.
Splitshot
This technique has been around a long time and still works like a champ. The same three components used in dropshoting are at work here too, just in a different sequence. The weight is placed on the line above the hook and lure instead of below.The hook type is either short shank like dropshot hooks or weedless depending on the amount of weeds or wood. Originally, splitshotting was done with just that, splitshot. Now, there are many more options for weights. I like the Mojo type system. This is a skinny and hollow lead weight used for Rooster Tail spinner bodies. The line is threaded through and then pegged with rubber to keep it in place while casting or dragging it across the bottom. The thin body hangs up less than larger weights.
Another option is to use a sliding sinker above a swivel with a leader and finally the hook tied off the other end of the swivel. I like this setup when I'm drifting the rig with the wind over long stretches of relatively flat structure. Walleye anglers use a similar rig with a crawler, minnow or leach. I usually fish this pretty slowly with 1/8 to1/4 oz. in depths down to about 20 feet.
Small Crankbaits
Small to me is any plug too light to cast effectively with a baitcast outfit. Smaller Rapala minnows and crankbaits often fall into this category as do lots of petite cranks and topwaters that are designed to be fished in ponds and other small waters. Since Lake Powell abounds with smallmouth bass, these little gems often perform even better than their big brothers. I often wade the sandy beach areas tossing mini plugs on my 51/2 foot crappie rod on 4 pound test. When the aquatic vegetation has had some time to grow during the spring and summer months, the smallmouth seem to cruise these beaches with grass on them and readily take the little cranks and topwaters. Of course, these are also effective when fished from the boat in similar areas. My favorite small cranks are size 4 & 5 Shad Raps, size 4 Risto Raps, 1/8 oz. Rattletraps. I usually fish these on the same old 6 lb. as the rest of the finesse techniques on a medium light rod, but like mentioned before; I will down size to 4 lb. and the ultra light rod for the fun of it.
Heavier Spinfishing
Heavier rods and lines allow us to use lures too heavy or lures that pull too hard to use finesse rods and line. We target stripers as well bass and walleye with these techniques. For bigger lures and fishing anchovies I use 10 lb. mono and 20 or 30 lb. braid with a mono or fluorocarbon leader. Rods are rated medium, medium heavy or heavy for 8 to 20 lb. test. Like finesse I like 6', 6'6” or 7” rods and Abu Garcia reels.
Reaction Lures
This class of lures is defined by their cast-and-retrieve nature. These include topwaters, crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and jigging spoons. Jigs and Senko type soft plastics can also fall into this category when fished quickly. The presentation is usually made across rocky or slick rock points, through saddles between humps, parallel to steep rocky structure, over submerged vegetation and around man-made structure.
Crankbaits
Crankbaits are very versatile lures. I use cranks to quickly search an area for active fish. It's important into bump into structure and get the lure to deflect and change speed; most strikes occur just after the bait has cleared whatever it ran into. This is not always a hard and fast rule; fish chasing baitfish in open water, especially stripers, eat cranks readily. There is an endless selection of crankbaits out there; shallow, medium, deep, lipless, suspending, wood, plastic, jointed, it boggles the mind. I admit to being a fanatical crankbait collector. I've never counted how many I have, but I could open a tackle shop. I tend to keep it pretty simple when I'm on the water though. For me, color selection falls into three categories; shad, crawfish and bluegill / baby bass. Diving depth is determined by the structure that you want to bump into or the level at which the fish are found. Color is chosen to match the available prey species at that location. Rod selection is 6', 6'6”or 7' medium or medium heavy action depending on the size of plug with 10# monofilament line. I typically don't use braid when casting crankbaits because of its buoyancy. However, I do use braid when trolling cranks.
Topwater Lures
Topwater fishing is probably the most exciting way to catch fish - period. There is nothing like seeing a fish explode on the bait. A lower light condition is often the key to success with these lures. I often use topwaters in the mornings and evenings, on cloudy days or in shade created by walls or overhangs. If you've read much about topwater fishing, the timing of the hookset is always an important topic. The splash of the fish eating the plug often triggers an early strike by the angler causing a missed hookset. Wait for a second or two after the splash is seen. This gives the fish a chance to close its mouth around the bait and the hookset is much more successful.
Softer rods like a 6'6” or 7' medium action are the best choice for topwaters. Line for black bass is typically 10# mono and 20# braid with a mono or fluorocarbon leader for stripers.
Jerkbaits
When I talk about Jerkbaits, I'm referring to hard bodied minnow baits and not Senko or Slug-O type soft plastics. I'll go over those later. Jerkbaits were my bread and butter as backseat angler when I started tournament fishing. Jerkbaits, like cranks, are good searching lures, meaning that they cover a lot of water. These baits range from 2” up to 6” versions or larger. They come in two basic styles: shallow and deep diving often called “spoonbilled”. Presentation is usually done with a sweep or jerk or two followed by a pause. My favorite and most successful rhythm is jerk, jerk, and pause. The hits almost always come on the pause when the bait is most vulnerable. I know many tournament anglers rely on them in the spring before the bass start to spawn. Later in the year, the smallmouth tear them up when they are in the mood to chase something fast. Shallow schooling or busting stripers eat jerks like crazy. The drawback to fishing stripers with these baits is that larger models used on stripers are usually equipped with three treble hooks. It just takes too much time to remove all those hooks from the fish before you are ready to make another cast. I prefer other lures for schooling stripers. I like 6' medium or medium heavy action rods with 10# mono for shallow jerkbaits. The shorter rod allows the lure to be presented with the tip aimed down at the water and the jerks or sweeps done from horizontal down to the water's surface. Longer medium heavy rods work better for deep diving models. Longer horizontal sweeps are normally used when fishing this type.
P.O. Box 4661
Page, AZ 86040
.jpg)
Copyright Ó 2007Lake Powell Anglers / All Rights Reserved.
Site designed and maintained by Kanyon Graphics
