BOB@BBT
05-30-2004, 10:36 AM
Bob G, Jason from the store, his buddy and I went out the other day. Here's the tale as told by Bob G...
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1085514027128290.xml
Best way to catch big trout is with big plugs
Sunday, May 30, 2004
By Bob Gwizdz
GRAYLING -- Every once in a while, anglers experience a moment of clarity, when they realize that something they suspected -- or maybe even half-way believed -- becomes undeniable.
I experienced one such moment on the Manistee River recently, when the plug I was jerking stopped cold and something threatened to pull my arm off. That "something" turned out to be a 24-inch brown trout, fat from nose to tail and tall from belly to dorsal.
"That fish has got some shoulders," said Jason Frank, who was rowing the drift boat for Bob Fisher, Steve Martinez and me. "That's a hog in my eyes."
"That's a hog in anybody's eyes," Fisher said.
Yes, it was. It was perhaps the largest stream brown I'd ever caught (I've caught bigger lake-run specimens, of course) and it grabbed a Lucky Craft Pointer 78, a jerk bait that is the nazz on the bass-fishing scene right now.
(I'd love to show you a photo of the giant, which we released immediately, but unfortunately, I'd dropped my camera into the river just a little while earlier while photographing an 18-inch brown.)
"That fish was worth the trip right there," Frank said.
Well, that was the point of the trip -- to catch big fish. I've been making this trip with Fisher for three years running and, we've not failed to boat at least one 20-inch-plus brown trout every time.
Fact is, Fisher had already boated a 21-incher that morning. He'd been struggling, not drawing any strikes on his No. 13 Rapala (that's about 5 1/2 inches long), when a big fish darted out from under a brush pile, swapped ends and disappeared, only to swap ends again and inhale Fisher's plug.
Over the course of the day, I'd caught several fish that way, too. I'd see a flash in the water, it would retreat, I'd give the bait another jerk, and the fish would come back and take it. One 17-incher changed its mind twice, connecting on its third charge when I gave the Pointer still another enticing jerk.
All of which leads me to the point: The best way to catch big trout is with big plugs.
Oh, you can stumble upon them with a big streamer, when the conditions are right, or get them on Hexes or big splashy mouse patterns under a darkened sky. But this monster came at 11:45 on steamy morning under a bright sun. That is not when, according to conventional wisdom, big fish come out to feed.
And that's the point: Big trout don't get that way eating caddis flies. Big fish eat little fish and they eat them whenever they have an opportunity. That is how the world works.
I've used plugs for trout for years, but generally, small ones: No. 7 (or smaller) Rapalas, tiny Flatfish, little crayfish crankbaits. It wasn't until I met Fisher, who mentored me into the big-bait club, that I started using bass-size baits on trout.
Fisher, oddly enough, says he started the same way.
"I always thought that trout fishing was little teeny stuff," said Fisher, who is a partner in Baldwin Bait and Tackle, a sporting goods store fast by the Pere Marquette River. "Little No. 0 Mepps spinners. I don't know why I thought that. I was wrong."
But Fisher said someone told him to start using big baits and, when he did, he started catching big fish.
"I always thought that a Rapala was a bass or walleye lure," he said. "I don't think if someone hadn't told me, I'd have ever put two and two together."
The technique is similar to bass fishing in some regards; you want to cast as close to the cover -- deadfalls, brush piles, whatever -- as you can. But unlike bass fishing, you don't want a nuanced retrieve. When it hits the water, start reeling, start jerking and don't stop until you're ready to throw it again.
Fisher recommends Fireline because it has no stretch.
"When fish hit the plugs, they hook themselves," he said. "With mono, which has a lot of stretch to it, you get a bump and often he's gone."
By day's end, Fisher has switched to an old Magnum Rapala, which looked more like a pike bait than even a bass bait. He caught two browns on it, 14 inches and 16 inches.
Meanwhile, Martinez started using a three-inch Rapala. He caught a 10-inch brook trout.
Moral of the story? Big fish eat little fish. That's the way it is.
2004 Booth Newspapers. Used with permission
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1085514027128290.xml
Best way to catch big trout is with big plugs
Sunday, May 30, 2004
By Bob Gwizdz
GRAYLING -- Every once in a while, anglers experience a moment of clarity, when they realize that something they suspected -- or maybe even half-way believed -- becomes undeniable.
I experienced one such moment on the Manistee River recently, when the plug I was jerking stopped cold and something threatened to pull my arm off. That "something" turned out to be a 24-inch brown trout, fat from nose to tail and tall from belly to dorsal.
"That fish has got some shoulders," said Jason Frank, who was rowing the drift boat for Bob Fisher, Steve Martinez and me. "That's a hog in my eyes."
"That's a hog in anybody's eyes," Fisher said.
Yes, it was. It was perhaps the largest stream brown I'd ever caught (I've caught bigger lake-run specimens, of course) and it grabbed a Lucky Craft Pointer 78, a jerk bait that is the nazz on the bass-fishing scene right now.
(I'd love to show you a photo of the giant, which we released immediately, but unfortunately, I'd dropped my camera into the river just a little while earlier while photographing an 18-inch brown.)
"That fish was worth the trip right there," Frank said.
Well, that was the point of the trip -- to catch big fish. I've been making this trip with Fisher for three years running and, we've not failed to boat at least one 20-inch-plus brown trout every time.
Fact is, Fisher had already boated a 21-incher that morning. He'd been struggling, not drawing any strikes on his No. 13 Rapala (that's about 5 1/2 inches long), when a big fish darted out from under a brush pile, swapped ends and disappeared, only to swap ends again and inhale Fisher's plug.
Over the course of the day, I'd caught several fish that way, too. I'd see a flash in the water, it would retreat, I'd give the bait another jerk, and the fish would come back and take it. One 17-incher changed its mind twice, connecting on its third charge when I gave the Pointer still another enticing jerk.
All of which leads me to the point: The best way to catch big trout is with big plugs.
Oh, you can stumble upon them with a big streamer, when the conditions are right, or get them on Hexes or big splashy mouse patterns under a darkened sky. But this monster came at 11:45 on steamy morning under a bright sun. That is not when, according to conventional wisdom, big fish come out to feed.
And that's the point: Big trout don't get that way eating caddis flies. Big fish eat little fish and they eat them whenever they have an opportunity. That is how the world works.
I've used plugs for trout for years, but generally, small ones: No. 7 (or smaller) Rapalas, tiny Flatfish, little crayfish crankbaits. It wasn't until I met Fisher, who mentored me into the big-bait club, that I started using bass-size baits on trout.
Fisher, oddly enough, says he started the same way.
"I always thought that trout fishing was little teeny stuff," said Fisher, who is a partner in Baldwin Bait and Tackle, a sporting goods store fast by the Pere Marquette River. "Little No. 0 Mepps spinners. I don't know why I thought that. I was wrong."
But Fisher said someone told him to start using big baits and, when he did, he started catching big fish.
"I always thought that a Rapala was a bass or walleye lure," he said. "I don't think if someone hadn't told me, I'd have ever put two and two together."
The technique is similar to bass fishing in some regards; you want to cast as close to the cover -- deadfalls, brush piles, whatever -- as you can. But unlike bass fishing, you don't want a nuanced retrieve. When it hits the water, start reeling, start jerking and don't stop until you're ready to throw it again.
Fisher recommends Fireline because it has no stretch.
"When fish hit the plugs, they hook themselves," he said. "With mono, which has a lot of stretch to it, you get a bump and often he's gone."
By day's end, Fisher has switched to an old Magnum Rapala, which looked more like a pike bait than even a bass bait. He caught two browns on it, 14 inches and 16 inches.
Meanwhile, Martinez started using a three-inch Rapala. He caught a 10-inch brook trout.
Moral of the story? Big fish eat little fish. That's the way it is.
2004 Booth Newspapers. Used with permission