Being from the Northwest I joke sometimes we are born with webbed feet, rain gear is usually always a must, as some kind of precipitation is always falling from the sky. Today wasn't so bad we had a heavy misty day but no wind. We don't mind the rain up here but the wind can reap havoc on feeling for a bite in 40+ feet of water.
I usually start out the day using what I like to call a tandem rig. This rig consists basically the two best techniques for winter fishing, a drop shot and a 1/2 oz football head. The trick to this rig is the knot you use on the drop shot hook. The normal polamar knot which I use for regular drop shotting has a very poor breaking strength on the tag end so I employ a version of a snell knot used for tying steelhead and salmon double hook leaders. This knot has superb knot strength on the tag end over traditional knots.
The gear I use is Loomis GLX 902 spinning rod (7.5' med.) I use a 2500 sized spinning reel loaded with 10 power pro braided line and topped off with 7# sunline super sniper flourocarbon. One other thing to note is that for this rig I like a little bit stouter wire hook so I have been using a gamakatsu #4 octopus hook also another thing I stole out of my steelhead bag of tricks. As far as baits I usually use something more streamlined on the football head like a gulp goby, single tail grub, or a 5" headless lizard, these baits have less lift than a more of a water resistant baits like hula grubs or swimbaits. As far as the drop shot goes, skies the limit even though I prefer something on the smaller size, usually under 4 inches. Baits that I use the most for the drop shot are sniper snubs, Clearwater tape worms and Yamamoto shade shape worms and 3" senkos.
I use this rig first because I get best of both worlds and usually on a given day these deepwater smallmouth really prefer one over the other, with this rig you can dial that bite in quicker and then switch to a more traditional method. Today I started out the day catching 1 on the football head end of my rig with a gulp goby I dyed with food coloring, so I quickly switched over to a 3/4 oz. Football head and a new goby looking swimbait made for the JDM Berkeley division. I use a lot of goby imitators because one of the major forage species for smallmouth here look very similar to a goby, they are called sculpins. Sculpins are found all the way up and down the west coast inhabiting most streams rivers and lakes. Up here they really key on them in the winter time.
This new bait combined with a 3/4 oz. Football head went on tear and quickly caught 5 more Lake Washington smallmouth. Finally after a couple missed fish and a feisty yellow perch the baits tail tore and I decided to change the dressing on my football head to a Yamamoto dark pumpkin 5 inch single tail grub, I quickly caught another.
My good friend Johnny Wilson quickly got into action after this fish and he caught the next 3, all on a 3/4 oz. Football head combined with a Fisher Brothers skull fish, a unique bait which combines a beaver style body with a swimbait tail.
As usually happens on this lake the morning bite yielded 11 smallmouth bass and many missed opportunities. As crunch time approached I really wanted to get my fish total up to 10 for the day, obviously the bite had changed, and I switched back to my tandem rig and in about 10 minutes I got one on the top bait.
With this clue I picked up my drop shot rod and managed 2 more fish in 20 minutes which ended my day. I managed to catch 11 total smallmouth and Johnny put 3 in the boat, which we totaled 14 for the day. In Pacific Northwest Lake Washington standards, a stellar day.
It was a great day in the Northwest, a bunch of fish and a Hawks win!
Go Hawks!
Advertising