July 2007 TheThe MackMackMonthly publication AttackAttack of Mack’s Lure, Inc. www.mackslure.com Mack’s Lure, Inc.. 2514 Easy St, Wenatchee, WA 98801 509-667-9202 THESE SPINNERS CATCH TROUT Tip of the Month AND THAT’S A PROMISE! by John Kruse Let ‘em Have It by Tony Glynn I’ve got to admit that when it for trout. Some of these lakes are al- comes to trout, I’m a spinner and pine lakes I fish in the summer We often hear or even read about spoon junkie. I can cast flies well months. Others are Eastern Washing- how difficult it is to catch walleye enough to fool the occasional cut- ton desert lakes that offer good fish- when they’re in a negative or neutral throat and can troll for rainbows as ing in the spring and fall. For both mood… Well, I say “Let ‘em have well as the next guy, but casting for types of lakes, I’ve often found I need it”. trout with spinning gear remains my a small lure I can cast a great dis- How often have you had your favorite way to hook into these fish. tance. The reason is simple, many of planer board flag or planer board It must be the way I was raised. these lakes are basin-shaped, start- My first lessons in trout catching oc- ing off shallow and slowly dropping curred on the off. The majority Poudre River in of the fish are Colorado, where hanging in I used spinners to deeper water and catch these sil- “As a Boy Scout, I you need a lure very fish while discovered the joys that can get out the grown-ups to them. cast dry flies. As of hiking to alpine I’ve been dis- a teen my father lakes; and catching appointed by and I would ven- several popular ture over to the fish with spinners spinners. They Yakima River for and spoons came work great for day trips where I small streams, would catch naturally.” but their non- twitch only to have no fish on the feisty rainbows aerodynamic other end, or worse yet, your night and whitefish with brass spinners. As shape or lack of crawler bitten off right at the back of a Boy Scout, I discovered the joys of weight works against them when it the hooks? hiking to alpine lakes, and catching comes to casting for distance. Be- This used to happen to me all the fish with spinners and spoons came cause of this I started fishing spoons time on the Saginaw Bay. I just fig- naturally. ured it was a perch or a gobie or some Today, I still enjoy fishing in lakes Continued on page two TIP... continued on page 2 TIP... from page 1 other small fish. Since the planer board just barely moved it couldn’t have been very big… or could it? I used to think nothing of it until one day last summer while fishing a popular local hot spot with my Dad. My Dad’s an old river rat, a beat the banks for bass kind of guy. He likes to hold the rod in his hand rather then use a planer board while troll- ing. I told Dad to send the lure back 35 to 40 feet and every now and then pump the rod and let out five to ten feet of line. Every time Dad hit 50 feet back on the line counter reel he would feel a hit. He would start to reel the fish in and a few seconds into the fight, the fish would pop off the hook. This happened four or five times before I finally told Dad, “The next time you feel a fish, just open the reel up and “let ‘em have it”. I’m not sure whether the look I received was from the frustration of losing the fish or Dad thinking I had finally flipped my lid, but… I was pretty sure that it was no time to laugh. Anyway, my Dad did follow my suggestion and he proceeded to put three nice fish in the boat just as quickly as he could put a fresh crawler on. Trout readily fall for the Promise Keeper spinner as author John Kruse Now, back to what I want to say has learned. about neutral or negative fish. Un- more and more. They were some- a stop and pause retrieve. Both ways stable weather, low barometric pres- times not as effective as a spinner, work well for drawing strikes from sure, no wind or bluebird sunny skies but at least I could get them out there. hungry alpine trout, big Lahontan are just a few things that will put fish A few years ago I discovered the cutthroat, or chunky 14-inch Dry in a mood that makes them hard to Mack’s Promise Keeper spinner. I’m Falls Lake rainbow trout like the one catch. Slowing down your presenta- glad I did. The 1/8-ounce spinner is I caught, photographed and released. tion is critical when the fishing is shaped in a way that I can cast it Promise Keeper spinners come in tough. Getting your planer boards much farther than any comparable a variety of colors and patterns. If one farther away from the boat than nor- spinner. This extra distance – coupled color is not working, don’t be afraid mal, dumping line at regular inter- with the nice spinning of action of to switch to another until you find the vals (stopping and starting your the mylar blade even at slow speeds pattern the trout are looking for. Look planer boards) and running your lures – has been a Godsend. I can cast it, for them at your local sporting goods at or near the bottom can be a big let it sink for a bit, and then either store or at the Mack’s Lure online reel it in at a steady pace or by using store (www.mackslure.com). TIP... Continued on page 4 Page two a 1/32nd-ounce jig does if the fish Stan’s Space are feeding at 25-feet. I recall fishing some bushes on a favorite lake that always hold crap- pie in the spring. The guy I was with Public Panfish #1 couldn't figure out why I was catch- By Stan Fagerstrom ing one fish after another while he wasn't getting a bump. I had given Part 4 him lures identical to my own. Finally, knowing something was You've managed to find spots float. Cast your float out where you haywire and wanting to see him get where the crappies are concentrated. know the crappie are holding and let his share of the action, I asked to see You've also been careful to determine it set. Now retrieve it a couple of feet. his jig. One glance was enough to dis- the exact depth at which the school Let it rest again. Do this all the way cover his problem. We were fishing is holding. Those two steps are es- back to your boat. water only 3 to 4-feet deep. While sential to successful crappie catch- Now and then, depending on how the miniature grub he had been us- ing. However, you're still not going rippled the surface is, many of your ing was the same as my own, the little to catch very many unless you know hits come while the lure is seemingly jig he was using it on was 1/16th of the speed at which your bait or lures dead in the water. Just the up and an ounce. Mine was only 1/32nd- must be manipulated to get maxi- down movement the float imparts to ounce. mum results. the lure as it bobs on the surface is His lure was falling so fast the What is the right speed? It's not enough to attract crappie. crappies didn't have time to get to it at all involved. What you need to re- Tiny tube lures, flies dressed with before it hit bottom. As soon as I gave member always is that you simply marabou feathers and miniature plas- him a leadhead the weight of my own can't fish too slowly if it's crappie tic worms are all super crappie baits. he started catching fish. To an inex- you're after. That sounds simple Use all of these lures with a leadhead perienced crappie fisherman that enough, but some would-be crappie jig of appropriate size and remem- slight difference in jig size might not fishermen never do figure it out. ber that the best size weight isn't nec- seem significant. It was and is. Little I’ve fished crappie a few times with essarily always going to be the same. things can make a really big differ- one of these guys. He's one of those I prefer to use the lightest leadhead I ence in any kind of fishing. The nervous individuals who is just not can get by with and still fish effi- sooner you make that discovery, the happy unless he's jerking and twitch- ciently. I say efficiently, because sooner your catches will increase. ing his rod tip and retrieving his lure while I might generally favor a 1/ If you have read my book, Catch so fast a starving barracuda would 32nd-ounce leadhead, I don't want to More Crappie, you will recall a chap- have trouble catching up with it. That use something that falls as slowly as ter in which I mentioned a man flat won't work named Tom Jones, of where crappies are Longview, Washing- concerned.