04-03-2017, 10:11 PM
Just an observation from a fishing addict, one that has fished from Washington State to Louisiana, from California to Minnesota. I stopped counting the different species I have caught a long time ago.
When I was a kid growing up in Southern Utah, I was told that the reason we were not "officially" allowed to use corn was that trout could not digest it. That argument made no sense to me because they can't digest rocks and yet they just pass them through without issue. As a kid, once we moved to Idaho, we kept catfish in a cattle water tank and fed them corn once in a while. The indigestible husk just passed through.
I was given the "unofficial" response from a fish cop that corn was used to chum. He told me that up north, in Salt Lake County, that streams and lake bottoms were turning yellow from all the corn used to chum the waters. People would toss out a can, fish for an hour or two, then leave. The next fishermen would come in and do the same ......... a day or two later you could harvest corn from the bottom. This unofficial reason makes a lot of sense to me.
I make this comment to warn people NOT TO CHUM or the use of corn will be taken away from us again.
Now, back to the subject at hand. Because I left Utah for many years, corn has been available to me and I have caught many many fish on it. Carp love it, and yes trout like it, and it works well enough for Kokes as well. BUT, if it was color, then a corn plastic lure would work and they don't, at least not without scent.
It is my theory, and the theory of others I have fished with, that it is the sugars in corn that make the difference. Carp fishing in Europe often entails chumming with corn and then using dough baits heavy in sugar. Taking heavy sugar syrup and coating trout lures and bait often will work very well, and tends to lend some validity to the sugar idea.
Adding color to corn, and bright pink corn is a big hit in Washing State for Kokes, can make all the difference. Using white shoepeg corn, instead of yellow or pink, is often the secret. Like anything else, if fish see the color they will be more likely to investigate it. White is visible far deeper then pink or yellow. Yellow is visible far deeper the hot pink. Nevertheless, hot pink is very visible in shallow water or super clear water. I don't know or care if fish see the color as we do, this is based on how far light waves will travel under water and white, a combination of all light waves, will have the blue component that will show up deepest.
Last issue, types of corn. Shoepeg corn is often the most desirable because it is a whole piece of corn, not a chopped off piece. This makes it easier to bait a hook with and it does not come off as easy. Will it catch more fish? Depends on the day, but my observations are not really, but no less fish either.
So, any luck on Flaming Gorge? I have not used it myself at the Gorge, but I just cannot see how it would not work.
But, consider corn as just another tool, another weapon in your arsenal. Adding color will work when changing colors works on other lures as well. Adding or changing scent is the same way. At least with corn, it is an easy medium to use to add color or scent to. Consider it a color and scent sponge.
And yes, Gulp Maggots, real maggots, etc., all work.
Consider this for a minute. Kokes don't eat maggots, or corn. They eat plankton for the most part. The plastic squid, corn, maggots we use are largely an attractant and the scent seals the deal.
Corn, as good or bad as it is, is just a tool. How well you use this tools dependent on you.
NOW GO FISHING. [fishin]
[signature]
When I was a kid growing up in Southern Utah, I was told that the reason we were not "officially" allowed to use corn was that trout could not digest it. That argument made no sense to me because they can't digest rocks and yet they just pass them through without issue. As a kid, once we moved to Idaho, we kept catfish in a cattle water tank and fed them corn once in a while. The indigestible husk just passed through.
I was given the "unofficial" response from a fish cop that corn was used to chum. He told me that up north, in Salt Lake County, that streams and lake bottoms were turning yellow from all the corn used to chum the waters. People would toss out a can, fish for an hour or two, then leave. The next fishermen would come in and do the same ......... a day or two later you could harvest corn from the bottom. This unofficial reason makes a lot of sense to me.
I make this comment to warn people NOT TO CHUM or the use of corn will be taken away from us again.
Now, back to the subject at hand. Because I left Utah for many years, corn has been available to me and I have caught many many fish on it. Carp love it, and yes trout like it, and it works well enough for Kokes as well. BUT, if it was color, then a corn plastic lure would work and they don't, at least not without scent.
It is my theory, and the theory of others I have fished with, that it is the sugars in corn that make the difference. Carp fishing in Europe often entails chumming with corn and then using dough baits heavy in sugar. Taking heavy sugar syrup and coating trout lures and bait often will work very well, and tends to lend some validity to the sugar idea.
Adding color to corn, and bright pink corn is a big hit in Washing State for Kokes, can make all the difference. Using white shoepeg corn, instead of yellow or pink, is often the secret. Like anything else, if fish see the color they will be more likely to investigate it. White is visible far deeper then pink or yellow. Yellow is visible far deeper the hot pink. Nevertheless, hot pink is very visible in shallow water or super clear water. I don't know or care if fish see the color as we do, this is based on how far light waves will travel under water and white, a combination of all light waves, will have the blue component that will show up deepest.
Last issue, types of corn. Shoepeg corn is often the most desirable because it is a whole piece of corn, not a chopped off piece. This makes it easier to bait a hook with and it does not come off as easy. Will it catch more fish? Depends on the day, but my observations are not really, but no less fish either.
So, any luck on Flaming Gorge? I have not used it myself at the Gorge, but I just cannot see how it would not work.
But, consider corn as just another tool, another weapon in your arsenal. Adding color will work when changing colors works on other lures as well. Adding or changing scent is the same way. At least with corn, it is an easy medium to use to add color or scent to. Consider it a color and scent sponge.
And yes, Gulp Maggots, real maggots, etc., all work.
Consider this for a minute. Kokes don't eat maggots, or corn. They eat plankton for the most part. The plastic squid, corn, maggots we use are largely an attractant and the scent seals the deal.
Corn, as good or bad as it is, is just a tool. How well you use this tools dependent on you.
NOW GO FISHING. [fishin]
[signature]