Anglers Line

A Bigger Catch

   by Jim Porfilio

   “Your bobber’s moving. Light a smoke or take out a stick of gum. Wait until he gets it down. Now, set.”

   Those used to be familiar terms when fishing with large chubs or minnows. We had to wait until we knew the large northern, bass, or trout had our live bait crossways in the mouth, then turned it, and then swallowed it before we set the hook. The result was a landed fish with the hooks embedded deep in the gullet.

   If the catch was undersized, the fisher did a number of things. They either tried to save the five cent hook by yanking it out of the fish's stomach resulting in a dead fish, or cutting the line and leaving the hook inside of the fish.

   There is a better way if we use the “quick set” technique of gearing up with live fish as bait. Not only can we increase the weight of our stringer, we can return the fish alive to catch another day when it is bigger.

   The “quick set”, or “European method”, is a combination of using a hook harness and setting the hooks the second you see your bobber move.

   The first step to this style of fishing is to make your leader. You can start with braided, single strand, nylon covered wire; or one hundred pound test monofilament. My personal preference is nylon covered or single strand 25# test wire.

   Hooks are the first consideration. Number 6, 8, or 10 treble hooks are the next ingredient. Don't be fooled by the seemingly smallness of the #8 hook. That small treble hook will hold a very large fish.

Creating a Leader

• Attach one of the treble hooks to the end of a 20” strand of wire using a simple hay wire twist. Most leader wire packages have a diagram of this twist on the backside.

• After the first hook has been connected, slide a second hook on your piece of wire and secure it with a simple overhand knot two inches above the bottom hook.

• Now attach a barrel swivel on the opposite end with another hay wire twist,

• You now should have about a 16” piece of leader wire with two hooks attached on one end and a barrel swivel on the other end.

Baiting Up

• Now comes the judgment. You must decide what size fish you are going to use for bait. I personally like a 6” bluegill because a 6” gill is very wide. Only the larger fish are capable of swallowing this bait. (Yes, panfish are legal to use as bait in Wisconsin.)

• Hooking the fish should follow a sequence. Place one of the three hooks of the upper treble through the upper lip. Run the wire back toward the dorsal fin and place the end hook in front of the dorsal fin. The reason being that when you reposition the bait, the fish will be retrieved in a forward normal swimming fashion. It will not be stressed by having water go through the gills backward.

   The bobber is our next consideration. Don't use a baseball size float just because you are going for large fish. Use the smallest one you can that will float your presentation.

   Cast into a likely spot, the edge of the weedline for the most part. Now comes the hardest part — watching for a constant movement.

    A northern pike will take that offering crossways in his mouth and swim away. Sometimes this species will dive as it swims away with your bait, and at other times, it will swim at a level that your bait is at. The crucial point here is to think new. The minute you see that action, there is a strong possibility that one of those two hooks is in the fish's mouth. Set.

   Your fish should now be hooked someplace near the front of the upper jaw. You have a fish to keep or a live one to catch another day.

Good quick string, Good new thinking, and Good fishing!

Watch for interesting and informational articles in this section. They are designed for all levels of fishers, starters to pros.

Tournament Tips

   by Jim Porfilio

    Shore lunch after a fishing tournament is always a special event. But having lunch with the winners, plus interviewing them, was even more rewarding. The golden fried fish were good, and so were the tips and techniques the winners passed on.
    Recently, the Long Lake Fishing Club held its annual   Fall Classic Fishing Tournament on Long Lake, Fond du Lac County. Daybreak started with dense fog, so thick one had trouble keeping directions clear. When the fog lifted, the day became one of those beautiful fall outings that many of us enjoy. It was still windy, but beautiful.
    My wife, Sharon, and I did not have too much luck. We were after northerns because most of our competitors go for the more abundant bass. A respectable legal size 26" northern pike, may well win the tournament. There is less competition in the category.
    Using a golden shiner and a European treble hook rig in 18' of water produced one shiner with gigantic teeth rakes and another undersized northern for Sharon. I zeroed out completely.
    At weigh-in time, I was amazed at the number of bass that were brought in. All but a few were released back into the lake. My only concern was for the 2000, five to seven inch walleyes that the Club stocked that same day. But many of the experienced tournament fishers assured the doubtful that the released fish would be in no mood to do anymore eating that day.
    After the weigh-in, Mark and Paul Hruz, both top winners in the Club tournaments were eager to share their winning tips with "Anglers' Line" readers.
   Weather conditions play an important part of the overall strategy in any tournament. The day started with dense fog and gusting winds of 10 mph.
   The wind factor made drifting fishing a problem. A pontoon boat acts similar to a sailboat with that much wind, so anchoring for half hour intervals was the best strategy this day. Fifteen to eighteen feet of water, just outside of the weed line, was the starting point. One partner casted into the wind while the other casted with the wind. On the second cast of the day, a large northern was attracted by a medium sized, copper backed Daredevil. After a good fight, the line was either broken or there was a cutoff. This first spot also produced the winning large mouth bass of the tournament at 6:15 AM. The team had started at 5:30 AM., and they were off to a good start.

After trying a variety of lures, they settled on a floating jig that trailed a night crawler or leach. In fact, that lure had brought in the winning seven and one half pound northern for Martin the Glenn Hennig Memorial Tournament. The rig was weighted enough to carry the lure near bottom. That seemed to be the winner for the conditions of the day.

Structure on a windy day became a matter of searching, anchoring, fan casting, and trying the inside and the outside of the weed line. When the fog finally cleared, an entirely new set of conditions arose. More positioning and more anchoring were needed because when the sun came out, conditions took a pleasant change. That wind was still there though.

Both Paul and Marty have enjoyed tournaments this year very much. They have six tournaments under their belts and credit the Long Lake Fishing Club and especially the former Glenn Hennig, for their success. Before working with both they couldn't catch a fish.

Marty has now become the Northern Black Hat winner. His fish was the largest in the recent Glenn Hennig Memorial Tournament earlier this year. Paul has won the largest bass of the Fall Classic.
    Another tournament tip from Marty is that when fishing with minnows, whether they be on a jig, trolling, or soaking, use small red tailed chubs. Most of us seem to try to match the bait fish. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Long Lake has hundreds of thousands of those shiners that look so attractive to us anglers. The small red tail attracts more attention in a situation like this. Marty uses no other type of minnow on this lake.
    George Hudson, the all summer 1992 Bass Black Hatter tournament winner, stopped to have fish lunch with us and shared some of his tournament winning techniques. George starts the early morning by fishing in the shallows, five feet inside the weed beds. He uses a Haden Tiny Torpedo, any color, or a Power Crawler-Red Shad. He has settled on these two baits as sure winners in most conditions. After 8 a.m. George moves his efforts to the deep side of the weed beds in 15'-18' of water.
    When asking their feelings about fishing tournaments, all agreed because most fish were caught and then released. "We even go so far as to cut a line near the fish's mouth rather than killing it. We let it go for another day."
    When they want a meal of fish, most stick with gills and perch or they buy their fish at the local market.
    Our winners pass on a tip for November fishing. Start inside the weed line for those large 8" to 12" jumbo perch. They fish the perch the same way that they fish the walleyes, but, they only use half of a night crawler on a weighted line. The retrieve is slow. Most times, during the fall of the year, they will find one small spot 4 to 5 ' in diameter. A large school of jumbo perch will be gathered in that one area.

These tips from the Black Hatters should make for some interesting fishing in the future. Thanks for the tips fellow anglers.

Good dog days of fishing.

Taken from the Anglers Line:
Country Gazette Magazine 11/95

Don’t Clean Your Shoreline Too Well

by Sharon Porfilio

Protecting our shorelines is just one area that we can protect a lake. Fallen logs and trees are very beneficial for a healthy lake or river. Just think of the food chain. First of all, there is a variety of organisms from mayflies to muskrats using this woody cover. Many tiny aquatic organisms use this woody cover for a place to live and grow. Our panfish, the bluegill, sunfish, pumpkin seed to name a few, not counting the crayfish and turtles, need this cover to feed on those small organisms.

The bass often use this coarse woody cover to find food. These predators know where to find the best deli.

The turtles and ducks need the exposed parts of the trees and logs for loafing sites. They themselves like to perch on parts of the tree as much as the muskrats like to use the lower half as a feeding platform.

I guess if you get my drift here, do not clean up your shoreline as much as you do. Take the time to understand the whys. After all, you are invading another life’s lifeline.

Chum Bags – Use liver, meat, fish parts or whatever can be pulled out of the lake as attractors. Anything that dissolves cannot be used.

Fish Consumption Advisories

What is the advice for your fish?

Choose Wisely

Watch for interesting and informational articles in this section. They are designed for all levels of fishers, starters to pros.

Watch for interesting and informational articles in this section. They are designed for all levels of fishers, starters to pros.

Watch for interesting and informational articles in this section. They are designed for all levels of fishers, starters to pros.

Watch for interesting and informational articles in this section. They are designed for all levels of fishers, starters to pros.