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Fished Strawberry today with Tincanfsh. Started over near the Ladders and found the fishing slow. First tried vertical jigging with little success, then tried trolling and couldn't buy a bite. Moved over out from Mud Creek and found the fish. Tube jigs worked ok, but the hot lure was a Jigging Rapala. Lost far too many fish and far too many lures using my ice-fishing-baitcaster reel with 4 pound test line on my 7 foot jigging rod. I would forget and set the hook too hard. We would tip our lures with either a small fresh minnow or with a slice of minnow. At times they were hitting so fast that it seemed like perch fishing. Caught them in water between 30 and 33' deep, just off of the bottom.
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Just curious what type of rapala and coloring
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These were Jigging Rapalas. They are specifically designed to be jigged. Every color I tried worked (and I was able to lose most of them in fish). I used a rainbow, fluorescent red, glow, and Tincanfsh was getting hits on a chrome blue. In case you are not familiar with them here is a link to look them over:
[url "http://www.buyfishingstuff.com/rapalajigging.html"]http://www.buyfishingstuff.com/rapalajigging.html[/url]
They swim in a circle when slowly jigged and weave and dive -- much like an injured minnow. The pictures illustrate how the hooks are attached. Doesn't matter which direction the fish bites from. I have found if I add a filet on the treble hook it doesn't affect the action of the lure much. I also use Smelly Jelly. I haven't been using them very long -- Sawdustbob showed me some early this spring. I tried them at the tail end of the ice fishing season at Strawberry, and got hits using them through the ice.
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On our last two trips to the berry HA69 and I have found that certain areas around the ladders holds alot of fish. Lately you have to scout around a little harder to find the fish. The area you fished by mud creek is that the same area I directed you to a few weeks ago? When you where trolling did you use leaded line,down-riggers or try close to the surface?
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Yep, the area around Mud Creek is the exact same area you showed me last fall, and saw me fishing earlier this summer. We finished up (at 3:00 PM) fishing approximately where you were fishing north of us earlier this summer. Trolling we tried near the surface and all the way down to 36' -- all with downriggers. One exciting thing happened that I forgot to mention in my report above. Once I was using my right hand to help Tincanfsh land a fish, while holding my rod with my left hand. I got a bite and jerked the rod to set the hook, only to have my rod fly out of my hand. It was headed towards the deep when I was lucky enough to catch it in mid-flight. I have had several close calls with rods and reels, but so far I have been lucky.
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Those jigging Rapalas are new to me and I like the looks of them a lot. I've got to try them out this winter for sure. Does Sportsman's have them?
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A long time ago I used to use them at Willard through the ice. We'd catch eyes with them. And yes, Sportsmans does carry them.
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Hey Kent,
Thanks for the trip. You forgot to mention the jigging Rapala earing that you almost gave me. Like Kent has mentioned the fishing was almost nonstop action just before we had to go. All the fish were Cutts in the slot but one rainbow that became dinner.
Tincanfsh
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I called Sportsman's yesterday and they carry Jigging Rapalas only when they have their ice fishing tackle in. I ordered some new ones yesterday online.
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I was impressed how quickly Tincanfsh could move out of the way of that flying lure, but I was more impressed with my agility in the same situation. I was playing a large cutt at the boat and it did not want to come to the net. It made a quick run and the Rapala came loose and shot right at us.
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i love strawberry, and it sounds like u had an awsome day up there. congrats.
joe
what type of minnows were u using? chubs, or the red sided shiners?|
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[size 1]"what type of minnows were u using? chubs, or the red sided shiners?" Both. I prefer the red shiners (fished whole or filets) because the fish seem to also prefer them, but a large chub fileted into small pieces and used as flavoring on a jig works really well also.[/size]
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