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September Reactionary Bites
by Gary Miralles for Macks Lure, September 04, 2016
Night temperatures are falling and that’s a sure sign that fall is just around the corner. It also means that fishing for Kokanee and landlocked Chinook is coming to an end. On a positive note, September, is a month when you can catch some of your biggest fish of the year; catching these big fish can be a challenge. Like all Salmon, these fish are reaching the end of their life cycle. They are no longer feeding and they are only concerned with one thing and that’s spawning. This of course, presents us with a greater challenge of how do you get them to bite? There are a few simple technique changes that will help you to convince a pre-spawn fish to bite. Before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about locating these big fish.
Electronics are crucial to locating fish this time of year. Look for paired fish hanging close to the bottom or in areas of structure. Working the bottom is important for catching pre-spawn fish. However, dragging the bottom creates some serious concerns. You need to pay close attention to your electronics and watch your downriggers closely. Unless you have a real consistent bottom or the benefit of having digital downriggers that are programmed to track the bottom, you may need to stand over your downriggers ready to raise or lower them has you troll. A good ten pound bar weight is a real benefit with this technique as they tend to snag less often.
Now let’s talk about changing our technique up a bit. Remember, these pre-spawn fish are no longer feeding, so we need to use a more reaction type presentation. A tactic that often works well for me is to double up Sling Blade™. Actually connect one Sling Blade™ to the other. This will create a much more aggressive action. The front blade will wobble, which will occasionally cause the back blade to throw harder and even spin at times.
This more aggressive action will create more vibration and will incorporate a more erratic action to your lure. Behind this double Sling Blade™ setup, I like to run lures with greater action. For Spoons, I like the Hum Dinger and the Cripplures™. The rolling lateral action of the Cripplure™ is hard to resist in this presentation.
If your preference is to use squid or hoochie type baits, go with the spinner type hoochie with the larger Sling Blade™ or even a Wiggle Hoochie™, which has a more aggressive action. There is one more important suggestion while using this technique. We’re not talking a trolling speed of 1.2 mph with this setup; we’re looking to get that reaction strike so we’re going to troll up to 1.8 mph. I like to get my speed up to where the back blade will actually roll completely around occasionally. Varying your speed faster or slower can also help. Go with bright colored lures. Glow is always a good choice.
Good Fishing, Gary
