Have you ever found a techique by mistake?

[bassin butch]

I fished a tourney and placed 2nd on a clear water lake in WI 2002. It was a lake that I had a 2nd place finish for LM with top water baits in 2000. During the 2000 tourney I was drifting over an area that I never fished before and came over a 5 lb SM on her bed. Threw everything a her and after 30minutes I gave up. This year I made a choice to go to that area and try SM for 1hr. I began with a tube bait 10 minutes later I had a monster birds nest. I cut off a bunch of line and re-tied, a little later another nest, cut more line, re-tie. 30 minutes in area I hooked a 3lb sm, then everything went my way. 2.5, 3.5, gave my non-boater a tube as I was feeling bad for him, next a 3.0, 2.5, lost a 3 and caught a bunch of 2.5. The non-boater in my boat had zero. It never dawned on me or him as to why I got bit and he did not. Later it hit me: all the line I cut off caused me to slow the retreive due to the reduced diameter on the bait cast spool. Just dumb luck but it taught me lesson I will never forget. Have any of you PROS stumbled across odd lessons on the water like I did?
Bassin Butch

[JT_BAGWELL]

Butch,

You are 100% correct about how the reduced amount of line on your reel will decrease your retrieval speed.

The only time I can recall where I caught fish doing something by mistake was this season during a tournament.

I was using a Lunker Lure Rattle Back Jig and not getting very many hits. (I was at a nuclear power plant lake in august if that tells you anything) My partner and I were just wore out from fishing in the 100 degree temperatures on a lake with 105 degree water. It got to the point where we just decided that we were going to have good time and goof around. My partner started telling me a joke so I turned and was facing him so he knew I was paying attention (upon doing so my lure was completly motionless on the bottom) all of the sudden I had a good hit. I missed the fish because I couldn't set the hook due to the direction I was facing. A short time later my partner was letting loose with another joke so I again turned to face him. Then BAM another hit. This time I set the hook completely backwards over my head. (If you think that sounds strange, believe it felt strange) I got the bass in and it was a keeper.

The point of this story is that I realized the fish wanted very little movement in the lures. So I switched to a carolina rigged senko which I would just hop and let fall to a complete standstill on the bottom. This presentation proved to be very productive and my partner ended up winning the tournament and I took 4th.


Jeremiah T. Bagwell-Illinois

[johnnie crain outdoors]

Butch,
yes, I have discovered a technique by accident that I continue to use. It is detailed in my article, "doin' It Wrong Might Make It Right." I once got in too big a hurry to retie and plastic worm rig I had broken off. I put the sinker on backward. Of course I didn't notice this until after I had tied the hook and was putting the worm on. I decided to try it anyway, no one was looking! I cast it out over a fallen tree and watched as I retireved the bait. When the sinker got to a tree limb, it did some things that I didn't expect. The butt of the sinker stopped at the tree limb and as I pulled slightly, the sinker being snugged against the limb caused the worm to rise straight up, instaed of just sliding over and down. The bass really liked this stopped bait. I also found that during cold fronts this is a good technique, it keeps the bait in one place for as long as you wish, I pull the bait until it's snug, then ever so slightly allow the bait to fall back about one inch and repeat the process. I also found that in sandy, mud or gravel bottom situations, the reversed sinker kicks up a lot of debris and makes the bait appear to be feeding, when helps stimulate the bass into feeding. Good post guys, I bet we all learn from this one. Johnnie Crain Iowa Pro Staff.

[JoeM]

Johnnie's right, fellas. The Moderator has been busy writing this stuff down, too.

I'm sure that many of the other Pro Staff Members and other Board Members have had this happen to them.

One example that happened to me in my Club's Classic a few years ago was when I set the hook on a Smallmouth. The bait came loose from the bass, but God was looking out for me
and the rod only traveled about 6 inches and hit the shaft of my bow mount motor. It stopped dead and the Smallie swallowed it! As I put him in the livewell, I said to my partner "This is gonna be a good day." Finished in third a little over a pound out of first.

Thanks for posting, all of you. JoeMo

[MMT]

Guys, I'm a little confused here. If I have a reel with a gear ratio of 6 to 1, why does it make a difference if I have a full spool of line or a lesser amount. When I crank the reel, it is still coming in at a 6 to 1 ratio. Regardless of the diameter of the spool. I don't think that is the reason you slammed those smallies Butch. Maybe your reels were different ratios to start. I think a diameter difference would be so minute it would not make a difference. I might be wrong here but it doesn't make sense to me.

[johnnie crain outdoors]

MMT,
The gear ratio of any reel remains constant, but the amount of line on the spool will change the amount of line retrieved per crank of the reel. This applys to all reels. Lets say that on average your reel retrieves 17 inches of line for each complete turn of the handle with a full spool. With a half full/half empty spool, the retrieved line will fall to about fourteen inches due to the spool actually becoming smaller in size. To regain line from a fifty foot cast with a full spool you may have to make forty cranks of the handle, with a half spool you will need fifty five cranks. Hope this clears this up for you.Being a heavy duty crankbaiter I know how much easier it is to retrieve a long cast with a full spool. With the spool full the spool actually turns faster allowing anglers to use fewer handle turns than with a smaller spool resulting from low line capacity. Good luck, keep in touch, Johnnie Crain Iowa Pro Staff.

[MMT]

Thanks Johnnie, I confused myself a bit here, I realize that this could effect casting distance and should have stated so, but the bait is still coming back to the reel at a 6 to 1 ratio. The same speed as if the spool was full, I do not think this effects the bait speed. Isn't the bait coming back at a 6 to 1 ratio no matter how much line is on the spool?

[JT_BAGWELL]

MMT,

The spool is still rotating at the same ratio however; when there is less line on the spool the spool diameter is smaller resulting in a decrease in the amount of line recovered per revolution.

A rough example would be to wrap line around a pencil and then wrap line around a basketball. Although you are only making one revolution, the basketball had a much greater amount of line around it. I know this is a very rough example but, did it clarify things a little bit?

Jeremiah T. Bagwell - Illinois

[MMT]

Jeremiah, my point here is that whether you have 14 inches or 21 inches of line, the spool is still rotating at a 6 to 1 ratio. Therefore you are still picking up line as fast, only not as much. I am going to do an experiment. I will take two Scorpion 1001's, I will fill one and have another with half a spool of line. I will pull out 50 ft of line and tie on a piece of yarn to each tag end. I will have my wife crank one and I'll do the other at the same slow speed. I want to determine if we crank at the same speed is the bait moving as fast. I say it is but you are getting less line with each crank on the spool that is half full. The line is still moving the same speed as the full one, only you must crank extra turns to complete the retrieve with the half full one. I think we are all right about this to some degree. Butch, Jermiah and Johnny state that the decrease in spool line content will make the bait slower as compared to fishing with a full spool. The fact is that less line will be coming in per revolution. So in essence, you will slow down the reteive. I claim that the speed remains constant yet the amount of line effects the amount of revolutions nec. to accomplish the same goal. The gear ratio is constant, so the line is always coming in at a 6 to 1 speed. A decrease in line capactiy makes for more revolutions to complete a cast and likewise with a full spool, less revolutions because you pick up a few more inches per crank. Any questions?? I think that wraps it up. Perhaps I've confused myself even more. Thanks guys, this was an education and civil debate.

[JT_BAGWELL]

MMT,

You did confuse me a little with that last post but, I think at the same time you answered your own question. If you are reeling at the same speed but bringing in less line wouldn't that equal a slower retrieve?


JT Bagwell