11-19-2012, 03:43 PM
[
][fishin]Thought I'd share a few things that I've learned about fishing the Berry. Several years ago I read an article in Infisherman where they talked about terminal tackle. The talking heads said, "if I could only have one lure or bait, what would it be? A white 2 1/2 inch tube jug. I'd fish it any where any time and be successful." I figured they knew what they were talking about, so I've tried to master the W T J.
This is what I've learned with it at the Berry. I fish mainly three lakes, Scofield, Strawberry, Fishlake, in that order. These tips work in all three, and in fact in every lake that I have tried them in.
Fish the new moon and or two days on either side of the new moon. Your catch rate will be the highest in this strech of the month. If in dought, look up the moon phase on in fisherman and read the articles. It works. My worst days, this yr. was 13, 13, on the full moon. Not good.
Spool your reel with moss green line. I learned by hard experience that clear line is not as affective at SF, or the Berry. Fish lake needs clear line. I use stren 6 # moss green, or green 8 # magnathin. No swivel.
Fish in 14-20 ft. of water early and late in the day and in 20 plus from 11-3 pm. Find a weed line and fish along the sides of the line using a lift/fall retrieve. Lift and reel about 5 ft. of line and let it drop. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you feel like you ticked a weed, set the hook. if it is a weed you will know, but most of the time it is a hit. It will not be a slamer hit most of the time but a hesitation or slack line. SET THE HOOK. Hook sets are free. If you miss the hook set LET it fall again and keep doing this until you get the fish. Reel in the line slowly, taking about 3-4 min. to get your jig back to the boat. Again, if you miss the fish let fall again, don't bring it in to check the bait, LET IT FALL.
90% of the time I use a 1/8 oz. 3.0 sickle hook that I get from TJ Crenshaw on e-bay. They are so sharp and fish just don't get away very often after being hooked. I tip the tube hook with 1 inch of chub meat. If I can catch a larger chub, I use just the skin, again about 1 inch. More that that amount fowls you hook, and you are there to catch them not feed them. Thread the meat from the meat side out and the skin will stay through 5 or 6 fish.
NEVER, never never, stop fishing on an even # of fish. People don't believe you if you say I caught 20, 10 or 25. BE honest in your count. I have an air horn that I let a blast from on every ten fish. I can remember the # of blasts and i can keep track of the ten's. Besides its funnn to blast the horn.
I also use smoke with red flake tubes, just to change up. Dark green also works, but the top fish getter is the 2 1/2 fats white. I get them at sportsman.
How many poles in the boat? 4 I have two set up with the white, one with the smoke, and a second short pole, off the side of the boat. I let it drop just out of sight, and put it in the pole holder. About 1/3 of my fish come on that pole. Almost always when someone in the boat brings in a fish there is another one or two following trying to take the fish's catch. Second poles are a must.
About every 6th or so fish, re-tie your jig, those teeth shred you line and if you don't re-tie, it's gone.
Lastly if a fish swallows the tube, just cut the line. It is not worth the 40 cent cost to kill one of thoes big cuts. Catch and release really works and makes big fish. When you catch 24 fish a day you almost always have a few over the slot. Bump that # to 51 and, well you figure that out.
Thes tips really work, give them a try, they work any place on the lake. If you are not catching fish move until you find them. I don't post pictures, because you have seen enough of the berrys best, and it take up good fishing time to snap the photo. Just get the fish off and your line back in the water, that increases you chances. Have fun, and Love Eat and FISH.
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][fishin]Thought I'd share a few things that I've learned about fishing the Berry. Several years ago I read an article in Infisherman where they talked about terminal tackle. The talking heads said, "if I could only have one lure or bait, what would it be? A white 2 1/2 inch tube jug. I'd fish it any where any time and be successful." I figured they knew what they were talking about, so I've tried to master the W T J. This is what I've learned with it at the Berry. I fish mainly three lakes, Scofield, Strawberry, Fishlake, in that order. These tips work in all three, and in fact in every lake that I have tried them in.
Fish the new moon and or two days on either side of the new moon. Your catch rate will be the highest in this strech of the month. If in dought, look up the moon phase on in fisherman and read the articles. It works. My worst days, this yr. was 13, 13, on the full moon. Not good.
Spool your reel with moss green line. I learned by hard experience that clear line is not as affective at SF, or the Berry. Fish lake needs clear line. I use stren 6 # moss green, or green 8 # magnathin. No swivel.
Fish in 14-20 ft. of water early and late in the day and in 20 plus from 11-3 pm. Find a weed line and fish along the sides of the line using a lift/fall retrieve. Lift and reel about 5 ft. of line and let it drop. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you feel like you ticked a weed, set the hook. if it is a weed you will know, but most of the time it is a hit. It will not be a slamer hit most of the time but a hesitation or slack line. SET THE HOOK. Hook sets are free. If you miss the hook set LET it fall again and keep doing this until you get the fish. Reel in the line slowly, taking about 3-4 min. to get your jig back to the boat. Again, if you miss the fish let fall again, don't bring it in to check the bait, LET IT FALL.
90% of the time I use a 1/8 oz. 3.0 sickle hook that I get from TJ Crenshaw on e-bay. They are so sharp and fish just don't get away very often after being hooked. I tip the tube hook with 1 inch of chub meat. If I can catch a larger chub, I use just the skin, again about 1 inch. More that that amount fowls you hook, and you are there to catch them not feed them. Thread the meat from the meat side out and the skin will stay through 5 or 6 fish.
NEVER, never never, stop fishing on an even # of fish. People don't believe you if you say I caught 20, 10 or 25. BE honest in your count. I have an air horn that I let a blast from on every ten fish. I can remember the # of blasts and i can keep track of the ten's. Besides its funnn to blast the horn.
I also use smoke with red flake tubes, just to change up. Dark green also works, but the top fish getter is the 2 1/2 fats white. I get them at sportsman.
How many poles in the boat? 4 I have two set up with the white, one with the smoke, and a second short pole, off the side of the boat. I let it drop just out of sight, and put it in the pole holder. About 1/3 of my fish come on that pole. Almost always when someone in the boat brings in a fish there is another one or two following trying to take the fish's catch. Second poles are a must.
About every 6th or so fish, re-tie your jig, those teeth shred you line and if you don't re-tie, it's gone.
Lastly if a fish swallows the tube, just cut the line. It is not worth the 40 cent cost to kill one of thoes big cuts. Catch and release really works and makes big fish. When you catch 24 fish a day you almost always have a few over the slot. Bump that # to 51 and, well you figure that out.
Thes tips really work, give them a try, they work any place on the lake. If you are not catching fish move until you find them. I don't post pictures, because you have seen enough of the berrys best, and it take up good fishing time to snap the photo. Just get the fish off and your line back in the water, that increases you chances. Have fun, and Love Eat and FISH.
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