Pineview Nightshift

[obifishkenobi]

Good job, Shaun! 

Last time I was there I was all over fish that weren't biting, so I guess the less suspicious fish are farther out.  I never mind walking, but in past years I was fishing blind (no sonar), so I always assumed finding fish was the problem.  I feel pretty confident I have bite detection worked out, so I learned something, and now I hope I've learned to things.

The only dilemma is:  the first two trips I caught a bunch. Last time, only 5, but they all went 10-1/2" instead of 9-1/2". so...................

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Shaun, question, though.

I have never fished much with a flasher (like you had a gold Castmaster inline, 8" dropper, right?).  With such a light bite, I have always just relied on 2 lb test line and as big a jig as I can get away with, but as small as I have to, to get bites.  I always seem to be fishing a pretty small jig, pretty deep, over-all at PV.

PROFILE-wise a Gizzy Bug on a1/32 jighead isn't TINY, so it's nice to know I'm not really over-sizing my jigs, but I guess I always assumed that having something (like a flasher) between my jig and my spring-bobbers or (slip bobbers) would really interfere with bite detection.  I have no real problem with bite detection with a home-made Hali-jig type (cheap spoon with a swivel and hook), and I'm often surprised how well I do with fairly large jigs at PV, but sometimes I feel I need to downsize.

I'd be MORE than happy not to have to feed line slowly down a hole with a jig that will barely straighten line out, so a little extra weight would be good.  Between the cold night-time temps and the darkness, especially when I was forced to be outside a shelter, I DO feel like I spend a lot of time managing line; getting it own a hole and untangled from the ice chips around the holes, etc, all of which is easier with something I can FEEL on my line, if only subtly, BUT..........I also pick up plenty of fish on "negative" bites on the drop or jigging, and I know a lot of takes are just little sideways movements of my jig (where I feel like the fish would feel the spoon before I see it).

Usually if I want more weight, I tie a short dropper ABOVE my main jig and add a smaller jig of a different type, but honestly, I almost always catch fish on the "main" jig and seldom on the addition.

So, what's your take?  It obviously works for you.  Is it just worth it, having the line down the hole more of the time?  Does a gold flasher do much in the dark?  Does it change the way you jig, the way jigging feels, or the way jigging looks to the fish?  How big IS this spoon?  Is there something I haven't even considered about this?

Thanks.....

The 1/4oz. Kastmaster serves two purposes, It does add some attraction for sure drawing the fishes curiosity to my much smaller jig, it does not need to be gold, I also have a glow perch pattern, I use some times, more importantly it allows me to get down to the fish much quicker in deep water, it would take forever to drop 1/32 oz. jig down 40'.  One modification that I do is, remove the split rings and hook and tie directly to the spoon, I believe this helps to make a more direct connection to my jig with less slop. I don't use a spring bobber or float, all of my rods have a sensitive enough tip to detect bites. The difference between catching a few fish and a lot of fish regularly is recognizing when you are getting bit and putting the hook to them which means that I swing and miss a lot, but what I've learned is, if you miss drop it right back down, they will hit it again, I have missed the hook set a half dozen times before connecting on many occasion. Jigging technique is another big factor in getting bit versus just looked at by fish, My most common tactic is to jig to bring the fish onto my screen then dead stick in my hand at the level of the fish and watch for the lightest of bites, rarely do I try and set the hook on the first tap, I try to anticipate the next one and pull up as the fish pulls down. Side note while there are times to jig several feet of the water Colum like when drawing fish in from a distance, most jigging action is in the wrist and hand, small movements shaking the jig more than anything. In fact I think most people jig to aggressively, I watched a video recently of people fishing with an under water camera they where fishing for trout with a number of fish on their screen and they where catching fish but all I kept thinking was stop jigging, the fish are on your stuff, you would get bit a lot more if you just hold it still. Another commonly missed bite is the slack line bite if your dropping down and your line go's slack before you hit the bottom lift up same if your dead sticking and it goes slack a fish has picked it up. You will catch fish constantly jigging and it may be a good choice for people that are not capable or attentive enough to detect subtle bites because you will eventually lift up as a fish grabs your jig on the drop just less effective.