Tested/Testng New Tackle

[TheBigGuy]

Well this seasons pretty much a wrap. Did you test any new/different/ unusual tackle this season. Are you planning on trying any new tackle out in the spring.

I haven't tested any new tackle yet, but I am planning on trying out the plugs made by King Kandy from Washington State. I've read some good things about them on the American forums, and bought a couple of them a few weeks back in Campbell River. I hadn't seen there products here on the mainland.

I purchased one of the King Kandy Cut Plug lures, and a King Kandi whole herring lure. Has anyone tried these and had any luck on them in BC?

Can't say as how I remember testing out any new gear this year, just trying out combinations of old gear that I hadn't used in a long time. It was a very different summer and I resorted to having to try a lot of different stuff out to have any luck.

Some old gear that produced was the plastic apex spoon which I rarely ever use in the chuck anymore, and the old half and half (chrome/brass) Tom Mack spoons.

I tested some new/old gear combinations out on the Chums in Brown Bay that worked quite well. I ran a Glow Head Micheal Bait hoochy inside an Oki Crazy 8 hoochie action head with a 6 foot leader. The crazy 8 heads are hoochie actionizer heads similar to the jugheads, designed for full size octopus hoochies. The glow head Michael Baits fit snugly inside the head and it gave the smaller hoochies a great wagling action at the slower chum trolling speeds. I ran it behind a purple Oki miniflasher and it worked quite well. Lots more fun playing the Chum on a mini flasher. I think that rig might have caught well without a flasher at all above a dummy flasher, but I never tested that out.

 

[bones]

Bacon wrapped tomic plugs and peanut butter spoons....... Or a tom mack spoon naked at 50'

 

[fishin solo]

ive got a few fishinator plugs that arrived today and cant wait to try them out 4.5''-5.5'' sizes.... custom colours... already feels like its gonna be a long winter lol

 

[TheBigGuy]

ive got a few fishinator plugs that arrived today and cant wait to try them out 4.5''-5.5'' sizes.... custom colours... already feels like its gonna be a long winter lol

Those plugs look very similar to the Lyman plugs also produced in the interior. Lyman's are one of my favorite plugs to use in freshwater. Is this a different company, or has Lyman changed ownership and names of their plugs.

Were you planning on trying the smaller size plugs for the winter fishery fishin solo.

 

[fishin solo]

I won't use them for winters cause there not glow and also I love my kingslayer spoons for winters they haven't let me down yet lol here's a pic of the plugs. they aren't the same company as lyman completely separate.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I won't use them for winters cause there not glow and also I love my kingslayer spoons for winters they haven't let me down yet lol here's a pic of the plugs. they aren't the same company as lyman completely separate.

Those do look different than most Lyman. They look a little more suited to saltwater Fishing. The slender profile would probably allow them to be trolled at the faster speeds we usually use in the chuck. As well as being more of a slender anchovy/needlefish type imitation. Hope it works well for you.

 

[advTHXance]

Not by choice, but during a derby this summer one of my friends wanted to try some off-the-board fishing tactics, which included:

-army truck hootchie tipped with half a hotdog
-AP "firecracker"spoon with a 14' leader (yes... 14 FEET)
-hotspot flasher and a 4" 602 tomic with a 3' leader
-5 lines (3 riggers, a 1# ball, and 1 surface line)

Shockingly we didnt get a bite, which was probably a good thing. Imagine 4 guys fishing 5 tickets trying to net a fish with a 14' leader on a 15' boat...

 

[Rayvon]

Last summer we fished 3 downriggers while in Bamfield,the outside 2 we fished our usual bait heads and the middle we would experiment with.We tried spoons,hootchies,plugs and a large chrome Apex.The Apex caught as many springs as the bait setups with no flasher.You just never know,so it can pay to play around sometimes.

 

[Ryan A]

I just ordered some MC Rockets ( artificial herring strips) from Ontario. I'll keep everyone posted on how they work this winter when they get here.

 

[spring fever]

I just ordered some MC Rockets ( artificial herring strips) from Ontario. I'll keep everyone posted on how they work this winter when they get here.

The McRockets work very well especially if you put scent on them like smelly jelly or anchovy

 

[RogersonCrusoe]

I have been tossing around the idea of designing / testing a quick-change hootchie system so I can change out only the bodies of hootchies using the same hooks/beads/leader. The thinking behind it is I can just keep a couple of set ups in the box and a few bags of different unrigged ones that I can slide on if I want to change - thus keeping the tackle box a bit cleaner and tangle free.

Aside from that, I want to test out jugheads/crazy 8s vs the traditional.

And strips.

 

[Ryan A]

The McRockets work very well especially if you put scent on them like smelly jelly or anchovy

Thx Spring fever I will do that! RC I used strips a lot near the end of summer and they produced well for me, better than anchovies on most days

 

[spring fever]

Had decent fishing from the nano Jugheads and jughead needlefish-those are the made up ones-some great colours-I always fished them behind a regular flasher on a 36 to 40 inch tie--never tried them alone.

 

[Gear'n'beer!]

I put some serious hours on a bare Lady Gaga plug on the third rod this year......nada

GnB

 

[CIVANO]

I tried AP Tackle herring spoon and many days it out fished bait. Flasher and 60" leader

 

[fishin_magician]

I focussed on acquiring more relatively known tackle which I know works well and is more durable...

I pass on fishing new stuff and stick to fishing that tackle which I know outproduces most of what has yet to be proven...with a few rare exceptions.

I tend to focus on trends and patterns and getting those patterns on different tackle. I usually try to observe or get information from those who fish it or try it more than me.

I had a guide friend try a newer well known pattern on the North Coast which is not commonly fished up there and it was was killer...even a few of the guides rubber necked and took interest...that's confirmation. I have since increased the collection.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I think a lot of guys were digging deep in the tackle boxes this year. The fishing in a lot of places was very frustrating this summer. So, I kind of had the feeling a lot of different gear got washed.

I had some luck on strip this summer, but probably nowhere near as good as last year. I modify my teaser head with different color tapes and eyes, as well as drilling new line holes to vary the action.

I'm going to start experimenting on modifying the Brad's Super Cut Plugs, as I still think they have potential here. In my experience they spin too quickly and I'm going to try some modifications to slow the rotation.

I'm going to try drilling new line exit holes at the head, as the position of the hole dictates how fast the lure spins (the same as with strip teasers). Larger test line and hooks will slow the spin as well. I've had lots of luck on the old Les Davis Cut Plug lures and they are very similar to the Brad's.

I have used the Baitrix artificial Strips and have caught fish on them, but the were nowhere near as effective as the real thing. I don't run much bait these days, so I'll only bother to run strip for a small portion of the year. It's just too much of a pain cutting your own. I'd rather catch my fish on artificial lures and not contribute to the decline of our herring stocks by having to run bait.

 

[Dogbreath]

I want to test out jugheads/crazy 8s vs the traditional.

A tough comparison because Jugheads really only work well when you golikehell and much traditional tackle is meant for a more sedate presentation.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I'm not sure the crazy 8 heads are still being sold anymore. I might have seen them listed on one site online. I've used the crazy 8 heads on full sized hoochies and to tell the truth I never had that much luck on them that way. I just threw some in with my gear on the way up to Campbell River at the last minute. As it turned out it was a good choice because it's always nice to widen your tackle options.

Truth be told almost anything probably would have worked the day I tested them out. The fishing was so good everything I tried but one rig caught fish. The nice thing about rigging that way was I got to play the fish on a smaller flasher instead of the full size. The extra resistance of the crazy 8 head on the line was also just enough drag to stop the small flasher from revolving. Chum and sockeye prefer a dodging action instead of a revolving spin on the flasher, so that was an added benefit to that rig. On the down side the long leader with the action head sometimes led to cross ups as the gear tended to wander more.

When the current got too strong on the last day the action head caused the hoochy to spin quickly. That was useless for catching Chum, so when it got like that I just took it off and put a standard mini back out. We were trolling on the main motor for boat control in the wind, so we couldn't adjust the speed down at that point.

In the limited testing I did with that rig I'd say it has huge potential. Funny thing is in the 20 years I've had those heads the thought never occurred to me to try them out with Michael Bait lures for Sockeye. I only have a small number of those heads, and usually I had them all rigged for full size hoochies. I finally gave up on them and took all of them off the octopus hoochies. I was packing gear to test on the Chum, that's when I noticed the loose crazy 8 heads and thought what the hell maybe they'll work better on a mini. I used the clear plastic heads with the glow head bubble gum pink with glow stripes Michael bait. Thats not one of the more recommended chum lures, but it's always been one my favorites for Sockeye, so I thought I'd give it a try. I have green crazy 8 heads as well but I never tested them on the Chum. Not sure if there were other colours in those heads, pink would definitely be a good choice if it was made. Tyee tackle might still have them on their website, I haven't seen those heads in stores in years.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I also experimented with adding other colours to the mini hoochies on the chums. It seemed to work quite well. I took a couple of strands of blue or black strands off full size hoochies and added them under the skirts of the pink hoochies. They seemed to like that.