Shallow water active Saugeye crumbs n' tidbits

[Raybob]

Quote ~ I agree, saugers can be aggresive, and down right mean when they are hungry! Nothin like a good hard sauger bite.



Even thought Saugeye are sleeker than W-eyez & attain larger sizes than Sauger they are thick/broad at the shoulders and have no qualms about skinny shallow/warm water, but when super shallow will seek shade on a sunny day in/behind pads, stumps, afternoon heavy A-blooms & etc structure. here's a pair of channel eyez that fell prey to the camera before release from a couple of years ago before my beard growin' thingy.

[Raybob]

Yes ~ I have all sizes/colors for the tough days to play around with, but quarter oz R-traps fit my well-oiled flutter-drop sUMo system to a 'T ... it takes a long time to truely 'learn what any given lure/size will do & develope it into a effective 'pull system w/many variables ... it's hard for me to break a 'newbie lure into my pat pull lineup ~ the dog-days of summer are for testin the 'newbies out to see if they can break into the lineup, while the serious sUMo pullin' takes place at nite w/the summer dog-day pat lure lineup

I think of a lure as a 'Tool & each Tool(lure) is for a different job or conditions & it must measure up or be a dust collecter.... never-ever mess w/a unknown 'tool when a bite is on, but spend the time runnin' n' gunnin' till you locate the active bite pattern rather than force feedin' them the freakin' tackle box in a area of your chosin' ~ "listen to the fish"! .... Hang 'em High/sUMo's or Bust

[Raybob]

After re-readin' some of my posted stuff I'd like to mention that there is a huge difference in boat speed compared to lure speed when your 'main game is boat control for more and larger eyez.

Have you ever seen my flatline pole tips go up to 11' off the water while I was droppin' the hammer in the daytime after some Gals were located ~ think you get the drift/less line drag while droppin' Z's. Anyhow I gathered up a bunch of old trollin' stuff & hung it here one last time because it's the same old rehash of what I've been doin' for many many years and 1st posted the same methods for the younger I-Guys startin' with the old IL msg board back in '98-99 as one of my retirement goals ... My main reason was "Not" to bait some yahoo meathunter belly-stuffer n' baby killer's hook for him/her, "But" to help the more serious younger anglers out and hopefully raise the lowly Ohio meat-eye wet-dishrag to a higher 'Sport level cuz they are fun when allowed to grow, at least the smarter Saugeye Gals n' sUMo's -eek ... I'm also a rotten old fart with my silent but deadly jabs

[Raybob]

a Bouncer Twist observation...

Last year in the dogs days of summer on a weekend filled with Yahoo's where I needed to shortline to keep from gettin' chopped-off I played with bouncers beside the Beater I-Boat. I found that by bendin' the wire at opposite ends of the weight at 90 degrees resulted in the weight runnin' more stream-lined/less resistance in the water with less line out & a more vert bouncer -also I bent the upper arm higher to make the lure pull the wire/weight end more vert for a better bottom feel.... I'm not a fan of extra terminal tackle like bouncers n' such but in this day & age of 2-legged critters over-populatin' the lakes on weekends --- well you know the story

PS.. a slow pull for me is usually 2.7-3.0 sog, which was what the above observation was at...

[Raybob]

I Luv my 4 head Tite-Loc bar in front of me to watch all 4 rod tips & have a 4 rods with-in easy reach... I usually run PBs off the center pair one notch out & run F-lines one notch up from the bottom. Also the drags are with-in reach for those rough water clickers...

[Raybob]

fyi ~ -also I 'Sling jigs for Eyez & 'Long-pole jigs for Panfish till the 'Pull season gets underway

-for Eyez I live n' die by slingin' tripple T-Tails on jigs till the water warms for pull season, but use there lil' cousin t-tails for crappie at all times.

For many years I dipped dry t-tails in Fish Forumla two Shad just before use ~ now I cut off a small sliver of Gulp & slip it on the hook behind the tail.

Purchase Tails? at the BPS store here at the lake

They are the BPS brand salted tripple twister tails ~ I use the 4" on 1/4 oz jigs & the 3" on 1/8 oz jigs.

Here'a a pair of my IL Favs...

[Raybob]

I didn't mention it, but needless to say boat traffic & mostly weekend warriors taint a good mix for the skinny water eyez as most don't have a clue & run right over n' through the pods

-thought I'd post this tidbit ~ one to six PM in the late spring/early summer is prime-time on my home waters...

"The algae bloom you spoke of, how does one know when that will take place"


It happens everyday when the sun is out brite & peaks in the mid afternoon -it's very important to me in May & June for the day-bite before the summer dogday water temps puts the eyez down till sunset. IL will have clear green water in the morn' to a yellow/brown tint color in the mid afternoon which rings the dinner bell for them to move into skinny water & chow-down...

[Raybob]

"BOD" = (beautiful overcast day) - one of the few summer dog-days that you will see the Beater I-Boat on the lake in the "day-time" searchin' for a active-bite I-Slam... usually it's a strag-pull to pass the time of "day" -or- plot numbers in the dogdays of summer...

[Raybob]

"Gear Q" ~ I run 7.5' stiff rods/tips high for PB's & usually 7' stiff rods for f-lines. All 6 of my pullin' LC rigs have 40/10 power-pro S-braid w/5' 25lb test P-line fluoro leaders.

"Boards" ~ I run Offshore PBs & my outside ones go airborne on sharp turns/no problems here - I do use my Yellow-Bird PB's for slab crappie rigs after the Slabs leave the shallow water in late May, but YB PB's can't handle my eye pulls. I use boards/PBs for either searchin' for active eyez or straight-line pullin' to pass the time of day and when I have a ride along ...

F-lines are for numbers & droppin' the hammer....

[Raybob]

OR-18 SNAPPER Release

-unless off-shore has changed their grip pattern opposite the grip pad on the snapper clip, it is a concentric circle pattern & the S-braid will slip to the outside with a few wave slams n' jerks which causes the line to run North n' South w/the pattern & before long I have to replace a torn pad. I mentioned on a WC thread several years ago that I wish off-shore would change to a East/West pattern(right angle to the line) ... at least I have 8 snappers w/a concentric circle pattern & I got a replacement supply of pads from Den.... lil' bit of a pain, but much better than the red pin-post clips for rippin' up the pads!!!

PS .. And Yes, I have the tension cranked down to where I can hardly one-hand flip them off with-out a 2-hand approach & I don't have the time for that cuz I'm truckin' along & very busy