LAKERS AT THE GORGE ANY HELP?

[GORGEATTIC]

I HAVE FISHED THE FLAMING GORGE ON APRIL 10- 15 AND DIDNT SEEM TO CATCH ANY LAKERS ,AND IM USING DOWNRIGGERS TROLLING BUT WITH NO SUCESS .I WAS TROLLING AT ABOUT 1.5 TO 2.5 MPH AND HAVE WENT DOWN TO THE BOTTOM AND JUST BELOW THE SURPHASE.WHATS WRONG WITH WHAT IM DOING.ANY AND ALL HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED,THANKS KELLY
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Kelly, you ask a simple question, but there is not a simple answer. We have a lot of BFT members who love the Gorge, fish it a lot and still are left scratching their head sometimes. There is no set of standards that you can always rely on to always catch those fish. Even guys who live on the lake and fish it many times a year can get skunked. Fishing in general is like that. Flaming Gorge was formed to aggravate and humble fishermen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There is a lot more to fishing the Gorge than just trolling or jigging. Each method requires some specialized tackle and techniques, in order to be successful on any specific trip. It is a combination of both science and art. You have to really have a good sonar, and know how to read it, and then you have to know how to finesse the fish into yawning for you once you find them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The most consistently successful Gorge addicts have a lot of their own GPS spots that they guard with their lives. You either have to be able to pry these spots out of the pros or fish enough to develop your own. And, you have to know a lot of spots, because they are not always good. Some days the fish will be stacked up on a certain hump, and the next day there won't be any marks on your sonar at all.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You also can't be a "one trick pony" on the Gorge. Trolling can be good some days, and on other days it just sends the fish scooting away. There will be a lot of trips that you will go fishless unless you have the right gear and know how to vertical jig for macks. A lot of jiggers fail to connect and claim they never had a bite. If they are waiting for a smashing strike, they are probably right. But sometimes they will have a dozen light "whisper takes" and never realize they should have set the hook. Macks can be incredibly light biters for their size, and if you do not have the right gear and are not tuned in, you will miss many opportunities. The deeper the water and the type of line you use (mono vs braid) can make a big difference in how much you feel.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suggest that you go back through the Utah Archives and look at as many of the past threads on Flaming Gorge as you can get through. There is a wealth of good information in our past threads. Make notes of some of the members who seem to be "dialed in" and then send them a PM if you have specific questions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We are all here to help when we can, but trying to provide a universal solution to a universal problem, in one post, is pretty tough.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm sure you will get some more input. Don't give up yet. Until you have invested about a half a lifetime on that lake you are still a rookie.[/#0000ff]
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[Tarponjim]

What Tubedude said is right on. I live on the Gorge and even claim to be a lake trout guide, but those son-of-a-B lake trout make you old fast. Contrary to popular belief, the early season is the hardest time of year to find fish, though they can be very cooperative if you find some. They are spread out all over the lake, shallow and deep. I've caught fish the past two days in 42 feet of water, and 110! By mid-summer, they're easy to find because they're all deep on structure. I've struggled the past two days for a few fish, and I'm supposed to know where they are!

Once you locate fish, try trolling with your lure from 20-40 feet ABOVE the fish, not directly through them. If they're catchable, they'll swim up to your offering. I saw someone who I consider to be the best lake trout fisherman to ever wet a line on this lake catch several in a row trolling with downriggers today, but he fishes 60-80 days a year here, and has for a very long time. Be ready to put in some hours and bring lots of Advil and Rolaids.

[url "http://www.fishflaminggorge.com"]www.fishflaminggorge.com[/url]
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[kokeking]

Right on guys!! what you both have said is right on the money.As a person that fishes the gorge on a regular basis ,and has for over twenty years ,one thing i have releized is that it takes a life time to learn that lake.The best advise i can add is to go back though the old posts ,as tubedude suggested.Then either get a good guide or be perpared to spend a lot of time and money learning to catch big macks.
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[GORGEATTIC]

THANKS FOR THE INFO ,I UNDERSTAND I HAVE TO PUT SOME TIME IN TO CATCH ONE OF THE BIG BOYS,AND THIS WILL HELP A BUNCH THANKS,KELLY
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[GORGEATTIC]

WHAT IS A GOOD SPEED TO TRY MOST OF THE TIME ,IS 2.0 MPH TO FAST?
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[GORGEATTIC]

I NEED TO ASK YOU ,IM USING SPIDER WIRE TO FISH FOR THESE GUYS AND WONDERING IF THIS MATTERS WHEN COMPARING BITING ACTION,WITH MONO AND SPIDER WIRE,IS THIS PART OF MY PROBLEM?
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[Tarponjim]

I personally prefer to use mono, but I use rods with the braided line during all but the coldest months with all my customers because its easier for them to tell when they get a bite. If you're not totally tuned in to your line and lure every second of every minute, so tuned in that the rod and line become an extension of your arm and hand, or just lack a lot of experience with light-hitting fish vertical jigging, I'd say use the braid. Attatch a short peice of lighter mono leader to it so you can break that off when you get hung on the bottom instead of having to try and break the braid and leaving long peices of it in the water.
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[DonInDenver]

Hey Jim-

What braid are you using? I thought you were strictly a P-Line man!

What makes it easier to sense the takes with braid? Better transmission of the feel of the take through the line and rod? Or does it make it easier to see the line do something "funny" or the rod tip move?
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[GORGEATTIC]

hey thanks, that makes sense.ill give it a try next week
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[Tarponjim]

Don: The braided lines are much smaller in diameter, and therefore make less contact with the water, which is where the vibration is absorbed from your line as it works its way up from the lure to your rod tip. Less resistance in the water with braid results in a greater "telegraph" of the lure and strike. Some still claim that mono is less-sensitive because it stretches more in the water, which it does, but when a lake trout chomps a jigged lure the way we fish them, THERES NO WAY that it stretches the mono. The hits aren't nearly hard enough to stretch anything, and the fish sure doesn't pull on the line or lure enough. If these hits were hard enough to stretch even 2lb. mono, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

So, braid is more sensitive, but in no way related to less stretch. Thinner line means less water resistance, and better sensitivity. One thing to note, however, is that when you hook a fish, you have no stretch "insurance" against an error. The fish can and will shake and tear hooks out easier with mono if you don't match its movements with your rod. In my business, however, I'll take the extra strike detection at risk of the angler not being as able to keep a fish hooked. My fishermen have a far more difficult time detecting strikes than reeling up a lake trout once they finally hook one.

Personally, I still fish with mono. I know what a hit looks like! (notice I said "Looks" like, not "feels" like!)

Oh, for braid, I'm using 20# Stren and Powerpro. Can't tell them apart. I've heard the Sufix braid is wonderful, but haven't had a chance to try it. Don't like fireline or spiderwire.

Jim
[url "http://www.fishflaminggorge.com"]www.fishflaminggorge.com[/url]
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[GORGEATTIC]

wow is that what you caught was a 32 lb laker,jiggin for them.now thats a hog nice job
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[DonInDenver]

Thanks Jim-

Maybe I'll give braids another try, but I sure do like the P-Line. I'm still not sure I've "seen" a hit. I think with every fish I've caught I've felt a tiny "tick" when the lure got sucked in. Makes me wonder whether I'm missing hits and, if so, how many. Probably more than I want to know!

Yup, Gorgeattic, I caught that 32 lber jigging. It was great fun!
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[Tarponjim]

In calm water you can feel the ones that really bonk it, but you'll see it before you feel it, and therefore can set the hook a split-second sooner, and hook more fish. I'd say that over half the hits we get are visual-only though. When the line goes slack, most people don't feel that. When the rod tip just barely moves 1/64th of an inch, which is often, you can't feel that. The line touching the eyelets on the rod absorbs whatever shock is coming up the line. Also, if you're setting the hook on feel, you're late on every hook-set. You see it before you feel it. We're talking mili-seconds here, but that's the difference between hooking 7or 8 out of 10, or 1 out of 10. Believe me, I have nightmares every night about all the hits guys miss every day! If my customers could even hook half of the fish that hit our jigs, just half of them, we'd be turning this lake upside down. (Of course, many would not be hiring me if they were that good!) Take today, 2 for 10. Yesterday, 3 for 12. Saturday, O for a whole bunch! We should be slayin' 'em every day!!! Only the guys who have fished with me for many years, several times a year, can hook more than they miss. And they WATCH for their hits. They catch 'em when its freezing cold and they have gloves on, unable to feel anything.

Somebody ask Fishley about this one. He jigs up here as often as anyone and takes lots of guys with him. I bet he'd agree? See the hit or feel the hit?

Jim
[url "http://www.fishflaminggorge.com"]www.fishflaminggorge.com[/url]
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[DonInDenver]

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Only the guys who have fished with me for many years, several times a year, can hook more than they miss. And they WATCH for their hits. [/reply]


Well, then I must be getting hits that I'm not seeing and I try to stay 100% focused on that rod tip. Guess I'll have to keep that date in July to come up and fish with you again!
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[GORGEATTIC]

i know this is asking a little much,but do you usually hit bottom with jig then lift up so far or what can you tell me a couple tips on what i do with the jigs to have a good chance.or what if you want send info to [url "mailto:walleye4615@msn.com"]walleye4615@msn.com[/url] thanks gorge attic
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[pinksnapper]

And also, would you mind listing the GPS coordinates to all of your favorite humps...[]


Gorgeattic... This is pretty fun to watch, Jim is giving up some great info, but if you can afford to book a trip with him you should.

You will learn more in one trip on his boat than you will in a million posts on here, it is very well worth the $$$.
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[Cojones]

Any suggestions on what a guy should look for in a affordable jigging rod?
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[Tarponjim]

It would take several chapters in a book to describe the ins and outs and whys of my presentations exactly, and I'm not even sure that would do it. What I try and do is base general presentation on what I see the fish doing. Sometimes on the bottom, sometimes 30 feet above it, sometimes fast, very often VERY slow. I use slow bottom presentations most often, but as I write this the fish have become very accustomed to seeing that because me and a bunch of other good fishermen here are doing the same thing. I change up frequently. These fish will drive you crazy, and they know what's going on. Its a miracle we catch any of 'em with a jig.

As for waypoints, buy yourself a "fish-n-map" of this lake. The damn thing has topo lines, gps numbers, and even fish markers on all the major spots. I hate that map!!! Study the topo lines and you'll find unmarked spots to try as well.

[url "http://www.fishflaminggorge.com"]www.fishflaminggorge.com[/url]
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[Tarponjim]

Bass Pro shops IM-7 graphite "Tourney Special". $29.95!!! I have a dozen! Some are several years old, abused by customers, used in salt, used in temps. from 15 below to ninety+ above. I replace a tip once in a blue moon, but never broke one. Caught 100 pound tarpon on the heaviest models this winter in Florida. Best rod that $29.95 can buy.

[url "http://www.fishflaminggorge.com"]www.fishflaminggorge.com[/url]
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