2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

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LenH
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2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

Unread postby LenH » Mon Dec 27, 2010 4:21 am

Image
Leave your 2 weight fly rod in the car. Break out the 6/7 weight. Put on some braided super line on your spinning rod along with a stout fluorocarbon leader and hold on!


If you follow my writings at all you know I am a "Big Trout" junkie. I would trade 20 thirteen inch trout to catch one "20" incher. I have been doing some off season scouting and I like what I see. This in conjunction with reviewing my log books back to 1990 I have determined 2011 is going to be an "excellent" year for catching big trout.

When I reviewed by log books, I saw a trend in them. All the streams I fish have gone down in temperature at least six degrees. The temperature change will mean the trout's range is going to extend down in to what is typically considered marginal water. Marginal water means to me too warm of water and the water is loaded with log jams and tough to fish. When I trout fish in my home waters, I tend to migrate towards the small tributaries that feed the bigger rivers. With the temperatures going down these bigger rivers will also be teeming with trout now.

Bigger and deeper water is hard to fish with smaller gear. Deeper water rules out wading. Log jams usually mean no back casting room too. The log jams are a head scratcher also. I have done some research and spoken to a couple of my trout fishing buddies and asked for their input. It all points to making something old new again. What does that mean? I started trout fishing using night crawlers. I started my daughter the same way. I got away from using crawlers because of all of the studies out there that say the mortality rate using worms is off the chart. I then looked at the sources of those studies recently. They are all done by groups that "preach" strict catch and release. I decided I am going to do my own research.

Starting in May season here in Wisconsin I am going to actively fish night crawlers with my spinning rod and fly rod in down stream presentations. When I say "actively" I mean setting the hook on the first bite. I will fish with barbless long shank hooks. The crawler should be hooked only one time through the collar. My good fishing friend Ted Kirkpatrick showed me the ropes the last two seasons. He uses a crappie float and sets the float at just a little deeper than the water depth. He then puts two tiny split shots on the line below the bobber. Placement of the splits are key. One split about a quarter of the way down the line between the float and the crawler and the other split about 6 inches above the crawler. This technique brings the tempting meal directly in the trout's wheel house and brings the crawler to the trout without any slack in the line and helps with immediate hook ups without the trout swallowing the worm too deeply. This technique can also be used on a fly rod with small splits and with a properly placed Bio-Strike indicator. I will be sizing up my leaders on my fly rods and getting a new longer spinning rod like Ted recommended.

2011 year has all of the indicators of a banner year for "large" trout in my home waters. You too can turn 2011 in to the year of the large trout with your modification of your fishing techniques. Night crawlers are not evil. They can be a very efficient tool for catching the trout of a lifetime. When you are buying that longer rod you should also buy a larger net. You will need it.


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Spysar
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Re: 2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

Unread postby Spysar » Mon Dec 27, 2010 4:38 am

What a hog in that picture!
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
solocam88
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Re: 2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

Unread postby solocam88 » Mon Dec 27, 2010 5:23 am

Spysar wrote:What a hog in that picture!


x2 :shock:
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Singing Bridge
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Re: 2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Dec 27, 2010 7:25 am

Sounds like a great recipe, Len. Add a little rain/thunderstorm to the pre-fish mix, and I'm sure you will be scaring us with some giants... looking forward to it! 8-)
Wrinkleneck
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Re: 2011 Is Gonna Be A Good Year

Unread postby Wrinkleneck » Mon Dec 27, 2010 10:06 am

:o


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