Tips & Tricks

HOW TO FISH WITH LARGE LURES

 

Fishing with large wobblers - over 13 cm is not popular yet in many countries. They are used by a small group of trophy pike hunters, mainly for trolling. This is just the opposite from its popularity in some other countries of the world. SALMO Company has had many requests for building wobblers of the length even over 25 cm! These requests haven't come solely from the USA. Both English and Netherlands anglers would welcome such monstrous lures in their collections. The reason might be only one. There are really big fish in these countries! Obviously there are also smaller ones, in big quantities. And they cause problems. By using large lures we are able to eliminate bites of small fishes. I have used large wobblers many times. My favorite lure for a very long time was floating PIKE 16. You can believe me - it is enormous fun, especially when you can observe the moment when the lure "disappears" in the deep throat of predator! During fishing in Sweden, just after pike spawning season, we have noticed that 18 cm long imitation of this species (JACK 18) evokes enormous aggression as well of 15 kg fish, as 1 kg one! Probably it has been the remaining effect of the spawning season (a lot of fish we caught had wounds caused by other pikes). Similar situation takes place in autumn when small pike wander around unable to hide due to a lack of submerged vegetation. They become easy prey for older cousins.

You shouldn't be afraid to use large lures. Especially in places where there are a lot of fish, but it is hard to catch large ones. Soon you will realize that they are worth using! But, to avoid unpleasant experiences at the beginning, you should keep in mind a few things. Tackle is the most important. You should choose the appropriate one to be able to return home on your own, in one piece and in a good shape. The rod cannot be too long. It's true that a longer rod allows longer casts. But after a couple of hours of fishing with a long rod you would be tired beyond belief. We suggest you use a rod no longer than 2,40 m. Excellent are rods of 2,10 m in length, even as short as 1,85m. With such a rod you can cast comfortably and firmly set the hook. Casting weight must be also appropriate. To be able to fish with all large SALMO lures easily, the casting weight should be up to 100g (jerkbait Fatso 14S weights 105g). There is no better reel for this purpose than multiplier. To sum up - rod 1,85 - 2,4 m long, multiplier reel and 30 - 50 Lbs braided line.

Why such atypical tackle? Firstly - the rod. It has to be short for three reasons: less fatigue from casting, better and faster setting the hook and better control over the lure. Jerking usually involves standing in a boat as high as possible with the rod tip facing water surface (in order to sink the lure as deep as possible). For this reason, the longer your rod is the more difficult jerking becomes. Secondly the rod must be stiff - we are using very large and heavy lure. Treble hooks are large and setting the hook is difficult and requires a lot of force to be used. Very strong braided line also helps here. It is well known and not only by large huchen anglers! Reasons to use multiplier reel are even more obvious. With such reel we do not hold the line on our fingertip, therefore we avoid cuts on our fingers. You should always control the flight of the lure in order to avoid tangles of treble hooks with the leader. Additionally you should try to place the lure on the water surface as quietly as possible. It can be achieved by slowing down the line leaving the reel in the last phase of the cast. If we used spinning reel we would feel abrasions on our fingers after a dozen of casts already. Multiplier reel allows achieving the same effect by applying gentle pressure to the spool with your finger. An important part of tackle is also strong leader equipped with reliable snap. Such tackle allows for comfortable and safe fishing for many hours as well as allows landing fish of any size.

 

HOW TO USE SALMO LURES FOR TROLLING

Wobblers and jerkbaits are the most often used artificial lures for the trolling method. Trolling is irreplaceable method of fishing over vast areas of large lakes and reservoirs. Nearly all SALMO lures are suitable for trolling. Starting from 2 cm long HORNET to 20 cm long SKINNER - all of them have yielded a lot of trophy fish while trolled, not only in Poland. Invaluable are all floating models - with or without additional weight. Their main advantage is that they always stay away from the bottom, even when the boat stops or during sudden boat turns when the line is loose. System weights are very effective - equipped with suitable lead weight they take our lure to the desired depth. Of course it is not necessary that they stay near the bottom. We can always search for large perch or pelagic pike, which often hang around at a middle depth. Wonderful effects can be achieved if we combine trolling with using sonar.

 

 

If we roughly know the depth where our lure is, we can observe the sonar screen and react if the depth changes - slow down (or even stop) the boat, the lure dives deeper, or add some speed, the lure goes closer to the surface. Keeping the rod tip up or down has also a lot of influence on the depth of the lure. Since the size of weight used depends on the model of the lure, line diameter, desired depth of fishing and the favorite boat speed, you have to experiment to find the optimal one. You should be equipped with weights of various sizes to be able to adjust your tackle if conditions change. The practice shows that the less complicated the tackle is, the better the fishing results. Reliable tackle setup is shown on the Picture .11. Each additional snap, each knot weakens the entire construction and "tempts fate". During the landing of the fish of a lifetime the smallest mistake or oversight will have revenge with no mercy. The best solution is not to use any additional weights and fish exclusively with wobbler - floating or sinking. This is optimal solution for places where fish are at the depth our lure can reach and we want to cover large areas (we do not make too many turns).

 

You should notice that all SALMO lures dive much deeper, sometimes even twice deeper while trolled than during traditional spinning. The diving depths of particular SALMO models are shown in the table describing SALMO lure families. Trolling tackle must be more durable than spinning one. We set the hook at larger distance, and often at the substantial depth. It requires a tough rod and preferably braided line, which is nearly stretch-free. Just after setting the hook you should remember to adjust the reel drag. What should the boat speed be? It is hard to answer this question unambiuously. There are the days when pikes attack only lures moving very slowly. Other days, they attack lures moving with jet speed. Similar is the distance between the lure and the boat.

 

I know experienced anglers who claim that they do not allow the lure to go further than 5 meters behind the boat! Well, it does make sense in shallow waters (2 - 5 m). The maximum diving depth can be usually achieved when the lure stays 30 - 40 meters behind the boat. Longer distances do not make sense because you loose contact with your lure. And the last doubt - should we keep the rod in hand or mount it on the boat? For me the answer is simple - definitely we should keep it in hands! We react then fast on all signals coming from the other end ("empty" bite, snag). If we leave the rod in the boat, in case of snag we notice it late, when the rod bends towards water. Moreover active trolling increases our chance to catch a fish many. The easiest way to make our lure more attractive is to work rhythmically with the rod, starting by positioning it parallel to the boat and moving to perpendicular position. Move should be slow and smooth. Thanks to that the lure slows down and speeds up like a small fish trying to escape from predator.

The newest trolling discovery is with no doubt Salmo GIANT CHUBBY DARTER. This lure forces angler to fish actively but its efficacy (well proven in various fisheries) is simply unbelievable!

In these countries where trolling has been perfected, like in the USA, additional devices like "flying weights", "trolling boards" are in common use. Their goal is to move the lures far to the sides of the boat. There is also "down rigger" - a device serving for fishing at very large depths. All these give the opportunity to use many rods from one boat and also, what is important in case of more spooky species like lake trout, keep the lure away from the boat engine.

 

HOW TO STORE SALMO LURES

 

SALMO lures should be stored without too much loose space in the tackle box compartments. By this, we prevent the destruction of the outer layer of paint caused by lures hitting each other with treble hooks. An excellent choice (especially for large lures) are all types of organizers (see picture). They allow storing our lures vertically.

In order to keep wobbler in a good shape for a long time we should remember to leave a tackle box open after each fishing trip for a couple of hours to allow all lures to dry out. We also recommend checking the condition of our lures periodically and if we see paint loss, cover the damaged areas with a transparent varnish (for example with nail enamel). Large pikes can sometimes truly destroy the external layer of paint (see picture). If you cover the scratches at once, you will prolong the life of your lure's coat of paint many times.