Recipes, Guides, and More
Miscellaneous
Explore the topics below to learn important information about the lake, the fish, sportsmanship, knots, recipes, hook sharpening, and Mysis shrimp.
Mack Recipes
Not only is it fun to fish for lake trout and to eat the fish you catch, but fish can make important contributions to a healthy diet because they are high in protein, omega-3’s, and other nutrients. Unfortunately, fish also accumulate contaminants from the environment, such as mercury and PCBs, chemicals that can be very harmful to human health. Therefore you should know how to obtain the benefits of eating lake trout without unnecessary risk from mercury and other contaminants.
Mack Cakes with Aeoile Spread
Courtesy of Maureen Theiler
Winner of 2005 Spring Mack Days cook-off. Thank you for your participation!! Same day make and set aside 4-6 cups fresh herb bread crumbs. Canned ones are too dry and sour dough changes the taste.
Spread: Combine and refrigerate
1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
1 large dill pickle, minced
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
2 tablespoons finely minced dill Cakes: Combine-let stand 10 minutes then shape into 6 patties.
4 cups cubed lake trout fillets
1-1 1/2 cups finely prepared bread crumbs from herb bread
1/2 cup minced onion
1 egg, well beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Salt & pepper to taste
Coat patties in remaining bread crumbs to cover. Fry in med-hot skillet with 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Fry till crusted, turn once. Set aside. To SERVE: slather aeoile on both sides of a bun or bread, top with greens; add patty with slices of dill pickle.
Mack Fillets
Courtesy of Maureen Theiler
Combine 1 1/2 cups pecans with 2 tablespoons pepper corns-red, white, green, and black. Process till finely ground.
Dredge the fillets in the combination and fry in a med-hot non-stick fry pan with 3 tablespoons butter & 2 tablespoons olive oil till browned and crusted. Turn once. Cooking time should be about seven minutes. Longer and the fillets will be dry. Serve with greens dressed with Huckleberry vinaigrette.
Huckleberry Vinaigrette Recipe:
½ cup Huckleberry Vinegar (see recipe)
¼ cup canola oil
2 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. Dijon-style mustard
1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
¼ tsp. salt
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Cover and blend or process until nearly smooth. Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Stir before using. Makes about 1 cup.
Huckleberry Vinegar Recipe:
Place 1 cup huckleberries in a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium stainless-steel, nonstick, or enamel saucepan combine ¼ cup sugar and 2 cups white wine vinegar. Bring just to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Pour vinegar mixture over berries in bowl. Cool slightly. Cover; let stand at least 8 hours. To store, transfer vinegar to a clean 1-quart jar. Cover tightly with a nonmetallic lid (or cover with plastic wrap; tightly seal with metal lid). Store in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Stir before using.
This recipe prepares approximately 2½ cups.
Asian Honey Lake Trout
8 oz crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup chopped onion-I used yellow but next time I’ll try green
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. hoisin sauce-go to the Oriental section of your grocery
2 Tbs. lime juice
2 Tbs. white wine or apple juice
2 teaspoons grated & peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 jalapeno chilies, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 lake trout fillets
Mix all ingredients except fish stir well. Set aside. Place fish in a baking dish and pour sauce over the fillets. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve over hot steamed rice. Freezes well for left over’s.
Mack Days Breading
From 2005 & 2006 Fall Mack Days
Lake trout fillets sliced in 1/2″ pieces.
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. ground mustard
2 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. garlic salt
1 Tbs. celery salt
1 Tbs. pepper
1 teas. ground ginger
1/2 teas. dried thyme
1/2 teas. dried oregano
Combine all ingredients. Place 1/2 – 1 cup in large resalable plastic bag.
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk-Mix milk and eggs together
Dip fish fillets in egg mixture. Place fillets-a few at a time in bag with breading mix and shake or roll in breading. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Note-Works great on chicken-after browning pieces-place in the oven to finish cooking.
Poor Man’s Lobster
From 2005 & 2006 Fall Mack Days
6-8 potatoes-cut into quarters
6-8 carrots-sliced into 1” pieces
4-6 onions-sliced
½ cup of salt
5 lbs. Fillets-cut into pieces (golf ball size)
Butter
Lemon Pepper
Parsley
Bring 1 gallon of water and the salt to a boil in a large kettle. Add vegetables to boiling water. Keep water at a rolling boil at all times to keep salty taste from becoming too strong. Boil 10 min. Add fish-keep water boiling-boil for another 10 minutes. Cook until fish flakes easily with a fork. Do not overcook. Drain water off. Place on platter and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and parsley. Feeds a crowd!
Sweet ‘n Sour Lake Trout
Combine:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
Bring to a boil and add:
1 tomato
1-2 onions (cut into wedges)
2 green peppers-sliced
8 oz. crushed pineapple or pineapple tidbits w/juice.
Mix. Add 2 Tbs. cornstarch that has been mixed with 2 Tbs. of water, and cook and stir until the mixture is thickened. Add 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil to the mixture. Take 2 Tbs. of melted butter and brush over 4 lake trout fillets in a baking dish (use a rack in the baking pan if you have one available). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min. Drain and place fillets on bottom of the pan. Pour half of the sauce over the fillets and bake for 25-30 min. Place on serving plate or container and cover with remaining warmed sauce.
Crispy Trout
2 lake trout fillets-skin removed
1 cup crushed saltine crackers
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons olive oil
Cut lake trout fillets into small serving size pieces. Mix the crackers, salt, celery salt, and garlic salt in a bowl. Dip the fillets in melted butter then in the crumb mixture. Heat oil and fry fillets for 5 minutes or until golden brown and turn and cook the other side. Remove and serve.
Grilled Lake Trout
Fillets of trout, leave the skin on Grill using high heat or hot coals. Grill fish hot and fast. Spray racks with oil before grilling-saves on the clean-up
Place fillets on the grill skin side down and baste with lemon juice and lemon pepper. Cook until the skin turns black and flip fillets over carefully. Remove the skin and baste with lemon juice and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Cook until bottom side is golden. Flip back and cook skinned side until golden.
Pan-fried Lake Trout
4 fillets of lake trout
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bacon flavored crackers for a smoky taste or saltines, crushed
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
Pinch pepper
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Lemon wedges and/or snipped fresh chives or parsley, optional Rinse fillets in cold water, pat dry. In a shallow bowl, combine the cheese, cracker crumbs, cornmeal, garlic salt and pepper. In another bowl, beat eggs and milk. Dip fish in the egg mixture, then gently roll in the crumb mixture. In a skillet, fry fish in oil for 5-7 minutes or until the flesh is easily removed from the bones, turning once. If desired, garnish with lemon, chives and/or parsley.
Pancake Batter
1 cup pancake mix
1 egg
1 can soda-7-Up or Sprite
2 cups flour
Seasonings: salt, pepper, seasoned salt
Mix pancake mix, egg, and soda together. Put in refrigerator at least 20 min. Mix flour, and seasonings together. Roll strips of fish in flour and dip in batter. Fry at 375 degrees until golden and crispy.
Nut Crusted Lake Trout Fillets
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2 lake trout fillets-skin off-wash and pat dry
Mix the following ingredients together:
1/2-1 cup ground nuts-use almonds, walnuts, etc.
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 minced garlic clove-optional or a little chopped onion
Dried parsley, Italian herbs, etc. whatever you like or leave them out.
Press the fillets into the nut mixture-coat both sides. Bake in an un-greased baking pan until crispy and the fish flakes easily. (15 minutes approx.)
Grilled Lake Trout
Lake trout fillets-skin on
Italian or Greek salad dressing
Marinate fillets in dressing for at least 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Grill on medium heat skin side down until fillets flake easily.
Perfect Grilled Lake Trout
Lake trout fillets-skin off
Sliced onion
Butter-lemon pepper, salt-& parsley
Apple juice-if desired marinate fillets overnight in fridge in juice.
Place fillets on lightly greased or sprayed foil. Sprinkle with lemon pepper and a little salt. Add thinly sliced butter pats on top of fillet and a layer of thinly sliced onion. Loosely place another layer of foil on top of fillet and place on grill-medium heat. Grill for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Place on platter and drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with parsley.
Fish Tacos/Chipotle Grilled with Slaw
Lake trout or whitefish fillets sliced into taco sized pieces
Flour tortillas
Marinade Ingredients
- 1 Chipotle pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sauce from pepper can
- 1 crushed clove of garlic
- Juice of ½ lemon and lime
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
Combine ingredients in a blender. Put a small amount in a separate container to use on tacos after assembly. Place fish and marinade in zip lock bag and soak for at least 15 minutes.
Prepare the coleslaw with cilantro 1 hour ahead of time
- 4 cups red or green cabbage-shredded
- ½ onion-purple sliced thin
- ½ cup vinegar
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro-chopped-optional
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Combine cabbage and onion. Mix remaining ingredients and toss with cabbage mixture
Let sit for 1 hour
Grill fish on the grill using a topper so fish doesn’t fall into grill until browned. Turn and lightly cook. Do not overcook.
Heat the tortillas, stack with grilled fish, and cabbage mixture
Drizzle with set aside marinade mixture, lime juice if desired,and can be topped with a little sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
Creamy Fish Chowder
4-(2 lb.) lake trout
4 strips bacon-chopped
1 large onion-diced
Potatoes-diced or rice (the more you use, the thicker the soup)
Carrot-1 or 2-diced
1/2 cup butter (1/4 lb.)
1/2-1 gallon milk
Bake or boil fish and remove bones. Brown bacon and add onions-cook until onions are tender. Boil potatoes just until barely fork tender-drain water-add bacon, onions, butter. Cover with milk and simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Thicken with 2 tbs. corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water, if desired.
Cajun Fried Lake Trout
½ cup prepared biscuit mix
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1cup cornmeal
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
¼ tsp. Salt
1 ½ pounds lake trout fillets
Combine biscuit mix, milk, and egg together and mix well. In a separate bowl-combine cornmeal, seasoning, and salt. Dip fillets in wet mixture and then in dry mixture. Fry in hot oil. Serve with Ranch Dressing.
Basil Grilled Lake Trout
¾ c. tomato; chopped, seeded, peeled
2 tablespoons basil; fresh, chopped
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon Louisiana Hot Sauce
6 Lake Trout steaks
Place marinade ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Pour into a shallow dish; add the steaks and turn to coat. Cover and marinate refrigerated for 1-2 hours turning occasionally. Remove fish from marinade, reserving marinade. Grill steaks 5 min. on each side, basting occasionally with the reserved marinade.
Cajun Lake Trout
1 Lake Trout 2-4 lbs.
1 large onion
Butter
½ bottle of hot sauce (Tabasco)
Using foil to lay the lake trout body on-put 3 or 4 pats of butter inside the fish. Add the onion and the hot sauce. Seal the foil around the body of the fish. Cook on a grate over coals long enough to make sure the fish is cooked through. (20-30 minutes) The skin will stick to the foil and leave the meat ready to eat.
Blackened Lake Trout
Fillet the fish and cut into manageable sizes.
Cover all sides of the fish with your favorite Cajun seasoning. Heat cast iron pan until hot. Take the seasoned fillets and dip in melted butter, drop into the hot pan and seer each side black.
Smoked Dip
1 cup of smoked, skinned, de-boned, and flaked lake trout. (I have used boiled lake trout without the smoke and it works well.)
Mix with 1cup sour cream, 1cup salad dressing, 1 tsp. dill weed, 1 Tbs. Worcestershire. If desired, add-chopped red, green, or yellow onion, chopped celery, chopped egg, paprika, horseradish, and capers. Serve with crackers.
Foil-Baked or Grilled Lake Trout
Lake trout fillets
Cut up onion, tomatoes, green peppers
Butter
Paprika, salt, and pepper
Place fillet on a piece of foil, cover with veggies, and add a pat of butter. Sprinkle with the seasonings, wrap in foil and place on grill or bake in oven until the fish flakes easily.
Grilled Lake Trout
Lake trout fillets
Cooking spray
Seasonings-use your favorite Cajun, garlic or onion powders, salt, pepper, paprika, etc.
Spray the fillets with the cooking spray and season each side with your seasonings. Spray again-if you are using skinned fillets a mesh basket to grill with works great or with the skin on grill on that side first until the fish just begins to flake, turn carefully and grill for just a short time longer.
Pepper Grilled Lake Trout
1 cup clam juice or fish stock
1 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
1 ½ cup heavy cream
1 bunch green onion tops, cut into 1-in. lengths
Salt and white pepper to taste
2 ½ lb. Lake Trout fillets
Fresh coarsely ground black pepper, as needed
6-8 tablespoons butter, melted
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh chives or green onion tops
In a medium saucepan over med.-high heat, combine clam juice or fish stock with wine or vermouth. Reduce by three-fourths. Add cream; reduce to l cup. Place green onion tops in a blender; pour sauce over onions. Let stand for 5 minutes, then puree. Strain; season to taste with salt and white pepper. Return to saucepan; simmer. Hold over low heat. Grind coarse black pepper to taste over lake trout fillets. Press in lightly with the heel of your hand. Brush with melted butter; season to taste with kosher salt. Grill lake trout on a clean oiled grill over hot coals starting with the peppered side down. Remove to heated plates. Top with sauce. Garnish with fresh chopped chives or thinly sliced diagonally cut green onion tops. Serve at once. Serves 6 (Tip: Sauce may be made ahead. Store in preheated thermos for several hours or refrigerate until needed. If refrigerated, heat slowly and serve immediately or the fresh green color will soon be lost.)
Fish Taco Recipe #1
Ingredients:
2 Pounds lake trout fillets – cut into strips 1-inch wide
2 Limes
2 Eggs
1 Cup all-purpose flour
8 Tortillas
Vegetable oil
Salt, pepper, or seasoning of your choice
Juice the lime and drizzle over the lake trout fillets. Mix the eggs with flour a little at a time until you have a thin batter. Add the seasonings to the batter. In a large pan pour the oil to a depth of 1 or 2-inches (the thicker the fish, the more oil required). Bring the oil to a temperature of 375 degrees. Dip the fish in the batter and carefully place the strips in the oil. Fry until the batter has turned golden brown. Turn once. Remove the fish and drain on a paper towel(s). Warm the tortillas in a microwave or in a pan on the stove. Place the fish in the warmed tortillas and serve. Add a fresh salsa, chopped lettuce tomato’s, sour cream and Tabasco (for a real kick).
4 servings
Lake Trout Tacos #2
Ingredients:
2-3 pounds lake trout fillets with skin on or off, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch strips
3/4 cup frozen pineapple concentrate
1/2 bottle beer (optional)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 white onion peeled and sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
1 tsp oregano-fresh works or used dried
1 tbs. chili powder-more or less depending on hot taste
¼ cup cilantro coarsely chopped
Sauce:
1 cup sour cream
1 lime
1/2 tsp. sugar
Taco stuffing:
1/2 red or green cabbage quartered and very thinly sliced into ribbons
1 avocado-diced
Salsa or hot sauce
1 dozen or more flour tortillas
Directions:
Start preheating grill to med. temp. Place lake trout aside, then in a large bowl mix next eight ingredients well. Add fish and marinate 15-45 minutes, do not leave longer . While fish is marinating, place sour cream in a small bowl and squeeze in lime juice and sugar. Stir to combine, set aside. To grill lake trout, wipe grill with an oil saturated paper towel before placing skin side down on grill or aluminum foil. Close lid and grill for 3-4 minutes until flesh in middle just becomes opaque. Remove to platter. if skin sticks, leave it.
Assembly:
Heat tortillas on both sides until puffy and just starting to get golden spots-place on a clean towel or make foil packet to keep them warm. Take warm tortillas and place pieces of grilled fish, cabbage, cilantro, avocados and drizzle the sour cream mixture over all.
Opossum (or Mysis shrimp) and Flathead Lake
Mysis diluviana—opossum shrimp—were introduced upstream of Flathead Lake in Ashley, Swan, and Whitefish Lakes to benefit the kokanee fishery in 1968. Until then native bull trout and westslope cutthroat were the dominant sport fish species in Flathead Lake. There were lake trout in the lake at that time (they were introduced in 1905) but their numbers had stayed down. The non-native mysis began to drift down and enter the food web of Flathead Lake in 1981. Today if you open the stomach of a lake trout or lake whitefish and see little black dots, those are the eyes of the mysis shrimp. Each mysis has two eyes. Most fish stomachs will have hundreds of eyes at a time in their stomach. Sometimes you can see the transparent looking bodies of the shrimp in the stomach of the lake trout. They are very small, about the size of the tip of your little finger.
Since the lake trout have keyed in on these shrimp as a food source, their flesh has changed from white to an orange color. The flesh of lake trout is also not as fatty as it was when they fed principally on kokanee salmon.
Mysis diluviana: Some Basic Facts
Mysis diluviana is a mysid crustacean (opossum shrimp) that inhabits freshwater lakes of northern North America.
Appearance
Mysis is a small, transparent shrimp-like crustacean, of less than 25 millimeters (1 in) length. It has two pairs of relatively long antennae, associated with rounded antennal plates; large, stalked compound eyes; the thorax covered by a coat-like carapace; a muscular, cylindrical abdomen; and a tail fan featuring a telson with a V-shaped terminal cleft.
Reproducing females bear a prominent brood pouch (marsupium) between their thoracal legs. The pleopods (abdominal legs) of Mysis are reduced, except for a specialized pair of mating legs in males.
The natural distribution of Mysis diluviana comprises the Great Lakes of North America, and many other coldwater lakes across Canada and in northern parts of the United States, including Wisconsin (e.g. Green Lake, Trout Lake, and Geneva Lake) and northern New York State (e.g. Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain). As it inhabits the areas covered by ice sheets during the last glacial period, the species has been called a glacial relict.
Mysis diluviana has also been transferred to lakes outside its native range, to provide a new fish-food object, e.g. to Lake Tahoe (Nevada, California) and Kootenay Lake (British Columbia).
Mysis diluviana were known as Mysis relicta until recent years.
Nonindigenous Occurrences: The first nonindigenous introduction was proposed by Clements et al. (1939) for the lakes of the Okanagan basin, British Columbia, to enhance the forage base for the previously introduced lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). In 1949 Kootenay Lake, British Columbia, was the first lake to be stocked with M. diluviana (Sparrow 1964). Subsequent stockings were performed in 5 Montana lakes upstream of Flathead Lake (Bosworth 2011), and in many other lakes of the western U.S. and Canada.
Ecology: M. diluviana stays at the bottom of the water column during the day and migrates toward the surface during the night to feed. This behavior means that they can have a direct impact on all other organisms living in the water body.
Means of Introduction: Stocked to provide additional forage for sport fish (Clements 1939, Bosworth 2011).
Status: Established
Impact of Introduction: Mysis diluviana is an opportunistic feeder with both predatory and filter feeding habits. When zooplankton is abundant they serve as the primary food source; when scarce M. diluviana will feed on suspended organic detritus or from the surface of benthic organic deposits (Pennak 1989). Within its native range it has been shown to be an important prey item for freshwater fishes (Nesler and Bergersen 1991). However, when introduced into what was considered to be an “empty” niche, its impact on the aquatic community was significant. Dramatic changes and species extinctions of native zooplankton communities have been attributed to this opportunistic lifestyle. This change in the primary consumer composition has lead to drastic ecosystem changes in Flathead Lake, Montana. These smaller shrimp replaced larger native species but were unable to keep up with the growth of algae in the lake. The benthic tendencies of this species provided a massive new food source for bottom dwelling lake trout, allowing the trout to increase their population and overtake kokanee as the top predator in Flathead Lake (Bosworth 2011). Declines in the number and size of game fish have been documented since the introduction of M. diluviana , provoking doubt regarding their utility as a forage base for game fishes.
Remarks: Found in deep, cold oligotrophic lakes; has been reported from brackish and estuarine waters. Can live for 2 years; breed in the winter; adults carry young in a brood pouch until fully developed in the spring; sexually mature at 12-14 mm.
In 1981 a resolution calling for a moratorium on introductions of M. diluviana was drafted by participants of a Mysid symposium held during a conference of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
References: Bosworth, B. 2011. How non-native shrimp transformed the ecosystem at Montana’s Flathead Lake. New West Travel and Outdoors. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/how_non_native_shrimp_transformed_the_ecosystem_at_montanas_flathead_lake/C41/L41/
Clements, W.A., D.S. Rawson, and J.L. McHugh. 1939. A biological survey of Okanagan Lake, British Columbia. Fisheries Research Board of Canada Bulletin 56.
Nesler, T.P. and E.P. Bergersen. 1991. Mysids and their impacts on fisheries: an introduction to the 1988 Mysid-Fisheries symposium. Pages 1-4 In: T.P. Nesler and E.P. Bergersen, editors. Mysids in fisheries: hard lessons from headlong introductions. American Fisheries Society Symposium 9, Bethesda, Maryland.
Pennak, R.W. 1989. Fresh-water invertebrates of the United States, protozoa to mollusca. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 3rd ed.
Sparrow, R.A.H., P.A. Larkin, and R.A. Rutherglen. 1964. Succes
Good Boating and Sportsmanship
By Rob Belloni
Writing Your Own Book
By Rob Belloni
May 11, 2004
Full Story
One of the most enjoyable aspects of fishing to me is the problem solving aspect. Catching fish is like trying to solve a puzzle that is always changing. How many times can you remember feeling like you had things all figured out and could catch fish at will, only to have something change, and then completely strike out on the next trip? That’s the addicting part that keeps me coming back, and if you’re reading this, spending the time online to gather info, you’re probably in it for the same reasons.
I experience more than my fair share of frustration chasing fish around, trying to get them to eat my hook. I didn’t wake up one day knowing how to fish, or read something some time that suddenly opened the door. Things aren’t like that. But when I look at myself from the outside in, and I try to analyze myself and understand why I’ve had success catching big bass or other fish, it keeps coming back to the same thing.
And that thing is what I’m going to call, “writing your own book.” When I look at the lures, techniques, etc that work for me and that have consistently caught big fish for me, it’s 80 to 90% things that I have developed in my own way. I’m not saying I invented the lures, not at all. I’m not saying I invented how to work a jig or swim a swimbait, not at all. What I’m getting at is an overall methodology that works well to catch fish.
When I say methodology, I mean, the rod, the reel, the line, the lure, the cast, the retrieve, the shake of the rod tip, EVERYTHING that goes in to how you fish a specific technique. There are certain combinations of rod, reel, line, lure, cast, retrieve, rod movement, that have proven to me that they work very well in certain situations. At first when you start fishing, you stumble in to stuff like this. I can remember when I felt like the best two lures for bass were the 7″ power worm and the 2 and ¾” rapala. With each of these lures, I had two techniques. With the power worm, I would hop it back with a texas rig, or I would fish it weightless on 6lb test and deadstick it on the bottom and wait for the bass to eat it. With the rapala, I would reel and twitch constantly underwater, or I would go twitch, twitch pause and leave the bait to sit on the surface for a long period of time between twitches. How I figured this out, I can’t even remember, probably a combination of random experiences that caught fish and spending hours reading fishing magazines when I was 12. We’ve all had these kind of experiences and we all have ‘pet’ techniques like this that we use.
An example of a methodology I use now would be like this. I use a Castaway FR76 flipping stick with a Curado 200b, spooled with 20lb Triple Fish Camo. I tie up a 5/8oz Assalt King Kobra Jig with a Zoom Brush Hog trailer. I work my jigs slow and steady, not too much twitching and I pull them along the bottom a certain way. When I pitch that out and it’s 100% pure confidence on the line. When I go to a 1/2oz jig on that combo it doesn’t feel right. When I use my other 7’6″ rod it doesn’t feel right. When I go up to 25lb test it doesn’t feel right. That combo is just ‘it’ for me. Finding these combinations of gear and technique that really work is really key.
And what is going to make you a danger to fish populations everywhere is when you start making a concerted effort to develop new methodologies all the time. There’s a lot of ways to work out your own methods. You can learn from articles, friends, internet, TV, watching another guy fish, or any number of other little ways that we all pick up info. BUT, once you get your feet on the ground, once you start building up your arsenal of methodologies, that’s when you need to get serious and kick the status quo to the curb and starting trying stuff out on your own and doing everything you can to get away from what’s considered normal. Because what’s ‘normal’ to the fishing world as a whole also becomes ‘normal’ to the fish pretty darn quick! And when fish get used to the same things over and over, those techniques lose their effectiveness. I’m not saying this is true for all fish. You can throw a surface iron for ocean fish for 100 years and still catch them, but I’m talking more about freshwater bass that get caught and released repeatedly to the point where they start to get very smart and conditioned.
Ask yourself this question. Think of the last big tournament you heard about. Now think about who won the tournament. Go read the press release again if you need to refresh your memory. Now think, did the guy who won that tournament win that tournament from reading a fishing report online, reading a magazine article, using his buddies’ baits, or using what he heard worked in the last tournament? 9 out of 10 times, that is not the case. The guys at the top of this game write their own books. They do things the way they do it based on their instincts, using their methodologies that they’ve developed and fine tuned over years of experience. Sure they might be using the same lure as half the rest of the field, but it’s not just the lure that catches the fish. It’s the rod, the reel, the line, the lure, the cast, the retrieve, the shake of the rod tip, EVERYTHING combined that catches the fish. And the more unique you can be, the more successful you will be.
I don’t think I will ever give better fishing advice than the advice I’m giving right here. If you want to be successful in fishing and get the old cliche of “catching more and bigger fish”, start by examining every aspect of your methodology as described above. Then spend as much time as you possibly can trying to develop new methodologies at all times. Use stuff that’s not supposed to work at your lake. Use stuff that’s not supposed to work a certain time of year. Use line that’s too light or too heavy. Use baits that are too big or too small. Prove everything to yourself. If something doesn’t work, prove it to yourself. If something works, prove it to yourself how good it works. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your approaches. Be brutally honest with yourself. Kick down the door that says ‘Status Quo’ on it. You’ll waste a lot of time on things that don’t work, but when things do click for you, you’ll be the guy winning the tournament, catching the giant fish, or the most fish and probably … if I had to guess … having a damn good time doing it. Which is what fishing is all about 🙂