dreamcatcher
05-12-2006, 01:48 PM
My Michigan brothers I am sad to report that I have been doing it totally wrong all these years, and if the alternative was a pit viper I would of been dead a long time ago!!!:005: :005: :005: (No, not the glass fishing rods, saltwater reels, fighting belt, and shark hooks; those are here to stay:0a1: :0a1: :0a1:).
I am talking about the presentation, so the bite rate will be more frequent and aggressive. This has been spoken of many times on this site in different threads, but it either didn't stick or I simply chose to keep doing it the way I had chosen. That all changed yesterday after talking to our Kentucky brother Griz(Patrick Price). Griz is one member that I listen to intently, and am always trying to pick his brain in chat. If I were you I'd listen to him too, because he is always catching big fish!!! To his credit he is always willing to share his knowledge. Oh, another thing: he catches most of his fish from the bank!
Guess you can tell I'm a Griz fan. Well, he told me about the three way rig, and now I'm telling you so that you can improve your hook up rate and potentially catch a limit(I haven't done it yet, came close). My hope is that it improves my chances of catching a big fish (dogfish, catfish, carp, sheepshead, I don't care ROTFLOL). You see, I've been using the Carolina rig for all of my catfishing situations when I'm tightlining.
The only time I have switched is when I use a bobber, and even then it is sort of like a carolina rig depending on how I rig the float. Sometimes I rig the bobber with a stop and a bead, with a small weight above a two-way swivel, and then attach a twenty four inch leader with a shark hook. LOL. The bobber is running free on the main line, with the bead above it. The "stop" is a piece of fishing line/thread that is set at the desired depth. The weight is there to keep the line taught with a cut bait presentation. When I use live bait I still use the weight unless the float is sinking from the baitfish. The other way is clipping the bobber to the leader between the hook and swivel. You just need to make sure the float is big enough to pick the bait up.
However, my revelation came with my tightlining. If you throw a regular carolina rig out there the bait is going to be right on the bottom. I knew that part, but the part that I didn't realize is that a catfish is not designed to pick up bait off the bottom. I know what you're thinking,"I catch catfish all the time like that!" Well, I have to through the sheer will of the fish. A catfish has to get in an inverted position to get that bait out of the sand, silt, vegetation or what ever is down there. This isn't such a bad deal for a place like Saginaw Bay that has silty bottom, and no structure, but what if you fish in Belleville Lake that is all rock? If your bait lands in a crevice, there isn't a catfish in the world that's going to waste energy digging it out. I know many of you have reeled in your bait only to find it covered in what I call moss/algae. If you get a cat to hit that smorgasbord good luck. Then, you have the heavily structured areas where your bait is sure to be sitting in between root systems, and other submerged paraphenalia.
Even if you are fishing live bait I am told that sucker isn't as lively as he is when you reel him in to check his energy level, especially small bait fish. They may not be able to take line off the spool to hide, but they can, and probably do play "possum" on the bottom. I know I'm on the other end thinking the bait is thrashing about in the silt, and all it's doing is remaining motionless. When I reel it in, it magically comes to life. LOL. Come to think of it I have never caught a cat with a live bait fish on the bottom. Griz informed me that the little tapping that we experience before the freight train run is the fish attempting to pick the bait of the bottom. Once done, of course it's going to take off, or drop the offering. Why not make it easier to get?
Three way rigging is with a three way swivel (hopefully a sturdy one; Catfish Connection supposedly sells Gamakatsu three ways that are stout; I haven't checked yet), or you can tie your own with the line. For now, I'm going to use the hardware to explain the rig which is a simple concept. With the 24 inch leader(or your preference) tie a Palomar knot to one of the loops in the swivel. This line should be a significantly lighter test than the main line in case you get snagged. With a significantly shorter length of line tie another Palomar knot to the other loop on the swivel. As for the actual length of this line I would say that you would want it long enough so the fish can take it without interfering with the main or drop line, but not so long that it doesn't stay off the bottom. The test is the same as when you use the two-way rig. For me, it will be with a fifty pound mono leader.
Tie the main line to the remaining swivel loop with a Palomar knot. I have held off on tying the shark hook, and weight on at this time, so it makes it easier to tie this Palomar. Afterwards, tie on your hook with a Palomar knot on the shorter length, and your weight to the longer, lighter test with a cinch knot, or your preference. The idea is that the bait will "float" off the bottom, and away from the other lines. The disadvantage to this system is the fish will feel the weight, but I think it's a tradeoff that I can handle, especially if more fish can get at the bait.
If you search the library you will see a diagram of this I'm sure, and other ways of getting it done for different conditions, but it just didn't hit me until Griz told me about it yesterday. Well, what are you waiting on? Go get that bait off the bottom!!!:0a1:
Vic
I am talking about the presentation, so the bite rate will be more frequent and aggressive. This has been spoken of many times on this site in different threads, but it either didn't stick or I simply chose to keep doing it the way I had chosen. That all changed yesterday after talking to our Kentucky brother Griz(Patrick Price). Griz is one member that I listen to intently, and am always trying to pick his brain in chat. If I were you I'd listen to him too, because he is always catching big fish!!! To his credit he is always willing to share his knowledge. Oh, another thing: he catches most of his fish from the bank!
Guess you can tell I'm a Griz fan. Well, he told me about the three way rig, and now I'm telling you so that you can improve your hook up rate and potentially catch a limit(I haven't done it yet, came close). My hope is that it improves my chances of catching a big fish (dogfish, catfish, carp, sheepshead, I don't care ROTFLOL). You see, I've been using the Carolina rig for all of my catfishing situations when I'm tightlining.
The only time I have switched is when I use a bobber, and even then it is sort of like a carolina rig depending on how I rig the float. Sometimes I rig the bobber with a stop and a bead, with a small weight above a two-way swivel, and then attach a twenty four inch leader with a shark hook. LOL. The bobber is running free on the main line, with the bead above it. The "stop" is a piece of fishing line/thread that is set at the desired depth. The weight is there to keep the line taught with a cut bait presentation. When I use live bait I still use the weight unless the float is sinking from the baitfish. The other way is clipping the bobber to the leader between the hook and swivel. You just need to make sure the float is big enough to pick the bait up.
However, my revelation came with my tightlining. If you throw a regular carolina rig out there the bait is going to be right on the bottom. I knew that part, but the part that I didn't realize is that a catfish is not designed to pick up bait off the bottom. I know what you're thinking,"I catch catfish all the time like that!" Well, I have to through the sheer will of the fish. A catfish has to get in an inverted position to get that bait out of the sand, silt, vegetation or what ever is down there. This isn't such a bad deal for a place like Saginaw Bay that has silty bottom, and no structure, but what if you fish in Belleville Lake that is all rock? If your bait lands in a crevice, there isn't a catfish in the world that's going to waste energy digging it out. I know many of you have reeled in your bait only to find it covered in what I call moss/algae. If you get a cat to hit that smorgasbord good luck. Then, you have the heavily structured areas where your bait is sure to be sitting in between root systems, and other submerged paraphenalia.
Even if you are fishing live bait I am told that sucker isn't as lively as he is when you reel him in to check his energy level, especially small bait fish. They may not be able to take line off the spool to hide, but they can, and probably do play "possum" on the bottom. I know I'm on the other end thinking the bait is thrashing about in the silt, and all it's doing is remaining motionless. When I reel it in, it magically comes to life. LOL. Come to think of it I have never caught a cat with a live bait fish on the bottom. Griz informed me that the little tapping that we experience before the freight train run is the fish attempting to pick the bait of the bottom. Once done, of course it's going to take off, or drop the offering. Why not make it easier to get?
Three way rigging is with a three way swivel (hopefully a sturdy one; Catfish Connection supposedly sells Gamakatsu three ways that are stout; I haven't checked yet), or you can tie your own with the line. For now, I'm going to use the hardware to explain the rig which is a simple concept. With the 24 inch leader(or your preference) tie a Palomar knot to one of the loops in the swivel. This line should be a significantly lighter test than the main line in case you get snagged. With a significantly shorter length of line tie another Palomar knot to the other loop on the swivel. As for the actual length of this line I would say that you would want it long enough so the fish can take it without interfering with the main or drop line, but not so long that it doesn't stay off the bottom. The test is the same as when you use the two-way rig. For me, it will be with a fifty pound mono leader.
Tie the main line to the remaining swivel loop with a Palomar knot. I have held off on tying the shark hook, and weight on at this time, so it makes it easier to tie this Palomar. Afterwards, tie on your hook with a Palomar knot on the shorter length, and your weight to the longer, lighter test with a cinch knot, or your preference. The idea is that the bait will "float" off the bottom, and away from the other lines. The disadvantage to this system is the fish will feel the weight, but I think it's a tradeoff that I can handle, especially if more fish can get at the bait.
If you search the library you will see a diagram of this I'm sure, and other ways of getting it done for different conditions, but it just didn't hit me until Griz told me about it yesterday. Well, what are you waiting on? Go get that bait off the bottom!!!:0a1:
Vic