Post by manchesterangler on Oct 4, 2012 14:20:58 GMT
2012 “Grand Slam Challenge” Lure Angling Tournament
Preview, Part 2
Main Sponsors:
SAVAGEGEAR & NORTH WEST ANGLING CENTRE
Additional Sponsors:
HARRIS SPORTSMAIL, HEATHOLDERS, PIKETREK,
LURE-ANGLERS-SHOP, BROOKBANK, SUNLINE,
WINDERMERE CANOE & KAYAK
Special thanks to mhcustomlures.blogspot.co.uk & Kato Jig Flies for supplying the lures within the oak framed trophy box sets.
TECHNIQUES
When faced with a new venue there are so many techniques at a lure angler’s disposal. I still tie myself up in knots whilst going through the thought process of selecting techniques and appropriate tackle, most often over thinking it. Don’t get drawn into the “I must have every available rod set up” syndrome. Lure fishing is all about two things; locating your fish and presenting a lure in the right way to entice a predator to either want to eat it, satisfy its curiosity with its mouth or triggering its aggression. The magic ingredient in all this is not luck but experience and confidence!
My advice is to do your homework on the internet regarding venue information; it’s amazing what you can find. Then concentrate on a couple of different techniques that you are confident fishing for each species. Let’s take a look at some of the techniques that might be utilised by the overall “Grand Slam Challenge” winners.
Perch
I feel this could be one of the key species within the challenge and one that could be the trickiest to locate.
Will they be in the shallow water feeding on fry? Maybe in small pockets along shoreline underwater structure or possibly in larger school’s somewhere in the depths of the lake!
All three different scenarios present a host of different choices of techniques for an angler to select and successfully implement in the prevailing weather conditions. Below are methods that undoubtedly will produce Perch on Esthwaite Water.
a) Drop shot fishing.
b) Cast & retrieve using small plastics, spinners or micro-lite hard lures.
c) Vertical jig fishing.
In theory all three above are simple techniques. However, considering wind strength & direction. As well as boat control in conjunction with the fact that you are only allowed to fish at anchor or drift. The reality is a totally different picture. Strong boat and sounder skills are essential for the successful drop shot and vertical jig angler.
Trout
This should be one of the easiest of the three species to catch due to the fisheries stocking levels. However, having said this they can be extremely difficult to catch on lures if feeding on insects trapped in the surface film.
Is it worth taking a fly rod set up with some imitative fly patterns?
Otherwise an ultra-lite rod set up should cater for casting the small lures required to tempt a trout.
Anglers who target a larger trout rather than the smaller stock fish trout may gain those valuable inches when adding up the combined length of all three species. Maybe a vertical jig fished shad in the bottom water layers of the water column might lure a larger specimen.
Most I am sure will play it safe and try and catch a stock fish, but the question is when & where?
Drift fishing will undoubtedly be the most productive method of fishing but an anchored boat will enable an angler to present a lure deeper or wait to intercept a school of stock fish as they move around feeding in a tight pocket of water.
Pike
Where do you begin trying to preview lure angling techniques for catching pike on Esthwaite Water, anything I say will be contradicted by another angler who has caught more or bigger fish on a totally different technique that I recommend.
Therefore, with my very limited venue knowledge I will offer some kind of basic guidance for anglers who have never fished Esthwaite Water before.
Taking into consideration that anglers have only two hours twenty minutes (seven hours divided by three) per species unless one is fortunate enough to catch an early fish, these are my recommendations for the “Grand Slam Challenge”.
Target seven prospective hot spots, fishing them each at anchor for a fifteen minute period. During the fifteen minutes one is able to present several different types of lures at different depths allowing you to methodically work out the most productive retrieve, depth and lure.
This technique does however rely on two variables:
a) Covering water with a Pike present.
b) The fish you are covering with your lures are actually in the mood to investigate.
Another option is to fish on the drift covering lots of water and potential more fish. This technique depends totally on the strength and direction of the wind if fishing with a drogue or lots of boat / kayak manoeuvre via your electric trolling motor / paddle
It has its advantages but personally I find the extra work involved controlling the boat kayak in less favourable conditions usually effects the execution of my lure angling. I become lazy, changing my lure less frequently and do not fully explore the water column. In the right conditions on certain drifts this technique will out fish anchoring every time.
My favourite technique usually incorporates both of the above. Assessing the water conditions before choosing my fishing grounds and techniques will usually dictate that both drift and anchor lure fishing will play its part during a session. If one gets this right, a drift that produced a take but no fish can produce multiple fish when recover at anchor.
Nothing of what I have written is ground breaking stuff, just an attempt to help lure anglers at all levels focus on achieving their “Grand Slam Challenge”.
Preview, Part 2
Main Sponsors:
SAVAGEGEAR & NORTH WEST ANGLING CENTRE
Additional Sponsors:
HARRIS SPORTSMAIL, HEATHOLDERS, PIKETREK,
LURE-ANGLERS-SHOP, BROOKBANK, SUNLINE,
WINDERMERE CANOE & KAYAK
Special thanks to mhcustomlures.blogspot.co.uk & Kato Jig Flies for supplying the lures within the oak framed trophy box sets.
TECHNIQUES
When faced with a new venue there are so many techniques at a lure angler’s disposal. I still tie myself up in knots whilst going through the thought process of selecting techniques and appropriate tackle, most often over thinking it. Don’t get drawn into the “I must have every available rod set up” syndrome. Lure fishing is all about two things; locating your fish and presenting a lure in the right way to entice a predator to either want to eat it, satisfy its curiosity with its mouth or triggering its aggression. The magic ingredient in all this is not luck but experience and confidence!
My advice is to do your homework on the internet regarding venue information; it’s amazing what you can find. Then concentrate on a couple of different techniques that you are confident fishing for each species. Let’s take a look at some of the techniques that might be utilised by the overall “Grand Slam Challenge” winners.
Perch
I feel this could be one of the key species within the challenge and one that could be the trickiest to locate.
Will they be in the shallow water feeding on fry? Maybe in small pockets along shoreline underwater structure or possibly in larger school’s somewhere in the depths of the lake!
All three different scenarios present a host of different choices of techniques for an angler to select and successfully implement in the prevailing weather conditions. Below are methods that undoubtedly will produce Perch on Esthwaite Water.
a) Drop shot fishing.
b) Cast & retrieve using small plastics, spinners or micro-lite hard lures.
c) Vertical jig fishing.
In theory all three above are simple techniques. However, considering wind strength & direction. As well as boat control in conjunction with the fact that you are only allowed to fish at anchor or drift. The reality is a totally different picture. Strong boat and sounder skills are essential for the successful drop shot and vertical jig angler.
Trout
This should be one of the easiest of the three species to catch due to the fisheries stocking levels. However, having said this they can be extremely difficult to catch on lures if feeding on insects trapped in the surface film.
Is it worth taking a fly rod set up with some imitative fly patterns?
Otherwise an ultra-lite rod set up should cater for casting the small lures required to tempt a trout.
Anglers who target a larger trout rather than the smaller stock fish trout may gain those valuable inches when adding up the combined length of all three species. Maybe a vertical jig fished shad in the bottom water layers of the water column might lure a larger specimen.
Most I am sure will play it safe and try and catch a stock fish, but the question is when & where?
Drift fishing will undoubtedly be the most productive method of fishing but an anchored boat will enable an angler to present a lure deeper or wait to intercept a school of stock fish as they move around feeding in a tight pocket of water.
Pike
Where do you begin trying to preview lure angling techniques for catching pike on Esthwaite Water, anything I say will be contradicted by another angler who has caught more or bigger fish on a totally different technique that I recommend.
Therefore, with my very limited venue knowledge I will offer some kind of basic guidance for anglers who have never fished Esthwaite Water before.
Taking into consideration that anglers have only two hours twenty minutes (seven hours divided by three) per species unless one is fortunate enough to catch an early fish, these are my recommendations for the “Grand Slam Challenge”.
Target seven prospective hot spots, fishing them each at anchor for a fifteen minute period. During the fifteen minutes one is able to present several different types of lures at different depths allowing you to methodically work out the most productive retrieve, depth and lure.
This technique does however rely on two variables:
a) Covering water with a Pike present.
b) The fish you are covering with your lures are actually in the mood to investigate.
Another option is to fish on the drift covering lots of water and potential more fish. This technique depends totally on the strength and direction of the wind if fishing with a drogue or lots of boat / kayak manoeuvre via your electric trolling motor / paddle
It has its advantages but personally I find the extra work involved controlling the boat kayak in less favourable conditions usually effects the execution of my lure angling. I become lazy, changing my lure less frequently and do not fully explore the water column. In the right conditions on certain drifts this technique will out fish anchoring every time.
My favourite technique usually incorporates both of the above. Assessing the water conditions before choosing my fishing grounds and techniques will usually dictate that both drift and anchor lure fishing will play its part during a session. If one gets this right, a drift that produced a take but no fish can produce multiple fish when recover at anchor.
Nothing of what I have written is ground breaking stuff, just an attempt to help lure anglers at all levels focus on achieving their “Grand Slam Challenge”.