Tiger Tips

[FishMcFisherson]

Hey there, folks. Next weekend I'm heading out to a small reservoir which I believe to hold some large tiger trout. I've caught random tiger trout here and there fishing regular trout gear, but was hoping I could get some help on specifically targeting large tiger trout.

I plan on bringing the usual trout gear, and will be fishing from a tube and from shore. I read somewhere on here that chub meat can work well. I'm hoping to get down to Scofield this weekend to get some chubs. But, if I don't make it down there, can I get chubs anywhere closer to Salt lake, or will some other fish meat bought from the store work as well? Also, does the meat work best being tipped on some sort of lure, or just throw it on a hook?

Any tips on lures, baits, techniques would be very much appreciated! I will post a report when I return.

PMs are welcome. Thanks for any help.
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[Jedidiah]

Frozen minnows at Sportsmans. Every big tiger I've caught was on a minnow imitating lure or a minnow, and most small tigers on the same. Had a 20 inch tiger run up an ice hole after a dead emerald shiner and snag it about 6 inches from the surface once.
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[FishMcFisherson]

That's awesome! Woulda scared the hell outta me. Any type of frozen minnows from sportsmans in particular? Thanks for the help.
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[tl23life]

Chubs and shiners will work I've cought them tigers on both and I like getting a glow in the dark tube jig and tipp it with a small minnow I try and find the small ones at sportsmans which is usually shiners and I tip the whole minnow and cast it out there and twitch it in and they usually hit it on the drop or just after it dropped to the bottom!!! Good luck hope you get into them

Another good technique is putting a floating bobber about 30 inches above your jig tipped with a minnow and cast it out there and that let's te jig just sit 30 inches under the water dangling there I've cought a lot that way!!! Good luck post some pics
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[Jedidiah]

They love my silver Rapala HJ-7. Huntington has a native population of red-sided shiners, I've been looking around for a lure that looks like them and I suspect it would slay the tigers in there.

A red-sided shiner and a red shiner are not the same fish, by the way.
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[FishMcFisherson]

Great, thank you! I'll certainly post some pictures of whatever I end up catching.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Tiger trout love Gulp minnows. 3" smelt color works well. So do the white ones. Fish them on 1/16 or 1/8 oz. heads. Flutter them to the bottom and then lift and drop back in...or try some fast retrieves with a few wiggles and jerks.
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[Jedidiah]

TD, when you do those Gulp minnows, do you do a hanger shot with a bubble? That's how I've been trying to do it and haven't had success.

I guess if you're using a jighead it's probably on the end of a fluorocarbon leader. One thing I do know about minnows and minnow-imitating baits is that the action is key. You can't just stick it on the hook like a worm, you need to have it sit vertically in the water as though it's alive and well or alive and dying. The best way for me with a jighead is to thread it along the hook and then have the hook come out its back so it looks like it has the head in its mouth and then looks like it's swimming up and down when jigged. I suspect that sticking a hook under the dorsal fin of a frozen or freshly killed minnow and then hanging it under a bobber would be good too. I wish i could get the sideways shimmy action going on a minnow under a bobber like I do when ice fishing, it's killer for predatory trout.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I never fish them with a bubble. Although I do fish regular minnows under a float.

I make and use a variety of heads and colors specifically for fishing Gulp minnows. Having the right size hook and the right weight of head can be important in getting the right action. And the Gulp minnows don't have wiggly tails like some plastics so you have to impart the action with your rod tip and retrieve.

I like the wobble head jigs for fishing GMs. They flutter on the fall and wiggle on the retrieve. Plus they don't hang in the rocks as much and they act like standup jigs when resting on the bottom...with the minnow pointing up like a real minnow with its head down feeding...or whatever. I have had a lot of hits while the Gulp minnows are motionless...but only after some sexy jigging.

I use other styles of jig heads too. The important thing is to match the size hook to the size of the bait. I run it down into the body a ways and then out...usually through the top of the minnow but sometimes out the side. The hook coming out the side helps give the impression of a wounded minnow as it flutters on the jigging retrieve...especially when using a wobble head.

As you can see in one of the attached pics I usually rig tandem...often with a smelt color on a silver glitter 1/16 oz. wobble head on the bottom and a white on a white/red eye 1/32 oz. round head on top. For 3" GMs I usually favor a size 1 or 1/0 hook. That is the advantage of pouring my own. I can put a larger hook on a lighter jig head for special applications.

If you want more wiggly action on your GMs, try rigging dropshot style...with a size 1 octopus hook tied directly to the line about 18" above the sinker. Then rig the GM by hooking it once...crossways through the nose. That is deadly and the way a lot of successful drop shooters prefer to do it. You will go through more of those spendy little Gulp goodies with this rig but you should catch enough fish to ease the pain.

Oh yeah, I do not use fluorocarbon leaders. No quarrel with those who do but I have never been able to prove to myself that they work any better than my Silver Thread Excalibur...which is less costly and more abrasion resistant.


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[Jedidiah]

[quote TubeDude][#0000FF]spendy little Gulp goodies[/#0000FF][/quote]

I get mine at Walmart, but most Walmarts only have a couple types. The AF Walmart has a bunch, and they're a dollar cheaper than anywhere else. They also have floating Gulp minnows there, which seems like an interesting item to try. Maybe on a barrel sinker slip rig so it dives when you pull on it.
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[Gemcityslayer]

Lucky Craft Pointer Minnow (SP) 100. (4" long).

You can't fish it wrong... I usually just throw it out and bring it in with a steady retrieve.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I am an Amazon Prime member and I get a lot of my Gulp goodies there...usually at a bit better prices and with 2 day delivery and no freight or tax.

In the final analysis, no matter what color or size you use...or how you fish it...the major attraction of the Gulp stuff is the scent. I always carry a small bottle of the recharge liquid or the super stuff. I add a drop or two after fishing something for a while. I also put it on marabou jigs and some plastics...or tip them with a small piece of Gulp Trout Worms. Can't begin to recall how many times I have had almost instant action after juicing up a jig or adding a Gulp bitty bite to it. It has even proven effective in dosing up a piece of natural bait that has soaked a while without getting munched. Again, there is often a quick response from the fish after you toss out a piece of "refreshed" bait.

Not sure about the floating minnows. I can see where they might have some application in fishing them on a slider rig to get them above bottom weeds. But I still prefer to work them actively and to control depth and action with the rod tip.

Bottom bottom line...for me? Although the Gulp minnows all smell pretty much the same to my human nose there are apparently some subtle differences that make a difference to the fish. That and the colors. There have been days when the fish showed definite preferences for specific sizes, colors and presentations. But that is what fishing is all about...figuring out what the fish want and serving it to them the way they want it.
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