It's that time again. If you're like me the boat is ready and in the water, I hope, for as I write this for the May issue it's the middle of March. l have checked the tires on the trailer, added air and greased the wheel bearings. Reels are cleaned, oiled and greased. Rods are checked for loose guides, guides checked for nicks, cork handles cleaned, line checked and new leaders attached. Hooks are sharpened, tape replaced on spoons, flies sorted and new leaders tied on. Stick baits touched-up. Flares checked for dates and life preservers cleaned and ready to go. Radio checked, radar checked, CD player checked, underwater camera checked and the batteries charged. Oh yeah, don't forget the digital camera. And the million other things on the check/get ready list, done. So as I said, I hope I'm ready to go.
And if you are like I was you already know what bait you're going to start with and just where on the lake your going to set up. That's right, was. A couple years ago I knew exactly where I was going to set up and what my spread was going to be. And then as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men..." That year the Coho didn't show up as in past years. Oh, some were there but not like before. The first couple of hours were tough. Frustrated, I remembered something my grandfather told me years ago: "When things get tough, try something different." But what? I had already run through most of my "proven" set-ups and was getting tired of changing baits, speed, direction and depths. You have probably been there - done that.
Rummaging through a tackle box I found some plastic bass baits. That's right, bass baits. So I thought "Why not?" Some of the plastic baits were scented, some not and there were all kinds of colors and shapes. And as you know, necessity is the mother of invention. So here's what I did. Choosing a "minnow" type plastic bait I put it in a clear cut bait head just like you would a herring strip, and attached it about 2 feet behind a dodger. Because I was fishing water around 40 feet I let out about 100 feet of line and sent it down 30 feet. I did the same on another rigger only with a different colored minnow. And you guessed it, as I was dropping the 2nd one the first one got hit. The first fish was a small but nice Coho. As I was resetting the dodger and minnow the other set-up got hit and another nice Coho. Two fish inside of 5 minutes whereas previously we were lucky to have one every half hour or so. As they say, success breeds success, so next were the in-line boards. Running 3 per side, on the outside line I left a dodger and fly with a trolling keel. The middle line had a small stick bait and the inside line I reset with a plastic minnow in a cut bait head and a ½ ounce twist-on sinker about 5 feet above the bait head. Both sides were the same except for colors. The first hit was the port side plastic. And if I remember right a dodger and fly was next. The next 2 fish were on plastic. That's the way the rest of the time on the water went.
The picture shows some of the plastic baits and bait heads I have run in the past. The first one from left to right is a Banjo Minnow, the next five I don't remember what they are, the seventh, eighth and ninth are Bass and Walleye Assassins, tenth is from the bass assortment by Hookmaster Pro. Number eleven is a Flippen Rainbow Trout from Gambler with Shad oils. Above the plastic baits are some of the cut baits heads I use. And of course the old, old standby, the squid and another bait I have no clue on the name. (You will notice that I use circle hooks. If you aren't you should, for your hooking percentage will go up and you will have less tangles when netting fish. 99 % of the fish will be hooked in the corner of their mouths so that removing the hook is real easy.) I have tried lizards (trim off the legs), crawfish (also trimmed), swirl tail grubs, you name it I have probably tried it. Do they all work? I wish I could say yes, but some did nothing. It seems that the best ones are minnow imitations. And I'll bet you can guess why.
Some of the plastic baits will have to trimmed to fit into a bait head. You rig the plastic just like you would cut bait. I also use scent if the plastic is not scented. I run them just like you would cut bait. Sometimes a long lead from the attractor works and sometimes shorter leads are better. I have run them without attractors especially when I'm in real shallow water, 20 feet or less, using the new Rotary Fly Heads from Bechhold and Sons. In shallow water, the further back from the boat the better. The reason I don't run dodgers in real shallow water is that dodgers with long leads from the downrigger ball have a tendency to plane to the surface. I've run plastic with lead core, wire, dipsies, twinkies and long lines. And have caught fish on all of them. But it seems that they work best off of downriggers in deep water and off of in-line boards in shallow water.
The point is that there are lots of baits designed for other species that work on the Great Lakes. And if you don't try different things, you're stuck in a rut. Think about it: Who would have thought that a West Coast system, cut herring and a special bait head towed behind a funny looking piece of plastic would catch fish? Is plastic the panacea for a full cooler every time? No. But you never know, and its fun. I'll bet that many of you, if you got this far and don't think I'm completely nuts, fish for other species and have loads of plastic baits of all kinds of shapes and sizes in jars, boxes, and tackle boxes. Some, if you're like me, you've never used. Why not dig them out and give them a try.
I have caught coho, chins, browns and lakers on plastic bass and walleye baits, as the picture with Cindy holding a 15 pound chin shows. The bait, if you look close is the lime green Banjo Minnow. The attractor is a "Smart Fish" from Legendary Products. Big John of Big Jon downrigger fame owns the company. By the way, the Smart fish is adjustable to give you different rotations. And yes it does catch fish.
Has plastic replaced cut bait for me? No, I still use herring strips, and alewives if I can get them. (Here's a tip for you: Sometimes I can't get frozen cut bait, so I stop at my local super market and pick up a pound of smelt for about 5 bucks a pound and use them in place of herring.) So try something different. Give plastic a try and let me know how you do. E-mail me a photo through my web site and I'll post some of the photos. Oh yeah, good luck.
For pictures of the baits and fish go to our web site at www.gobblywabblerdistributors.com and click on "Outdoor Writers Page." Be patient the pictures are in great detail and takes sometime to load
About the Author
George Hampel was a charter captain for a good number of years in Up-State New York and has fished all of his life. He currently writes articles for outdoor publications and gives seminars on all kinds of fishing. He also owns a web store at www.gobblywabblerdistributors.com that sells outdoor equipment for most every kind of outdoor activity and specializes in fishing. He currently fishes the Great Lakes, mostly Lake Michigan and inland wat
