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Originally Posted by birdman  Where you at One Leg ? We need the Master Flasher tips on this thread ! I think One Leg got a 10 pounder on a flasher and worm last season . |
Ken, thanks for the kind words.
Actually I got this nice 10 lb. Steeelie one on a, um, Oh crap....now I cannot remember.
It might have been caught on a large salmon lure that hardly anyone ever uses there.
I got the fish in the pic below a week or two before that one. It that was nearly ten lbs.
I might have told them I got it on a threaded crawler behind a set of Dave Davis lake trolls, but at this time I cannot recall. I think I actually caught it top-lining a Rapala Brown Trout CD3 or CD5. Those lures were killing it last season and especially during the masters tourney. Some friends who were both in the Tourney caught a lot of nice fish, including one that would have easily gone over 10 lbs. had it not tangled in the bouyline and broke off, while fishing with the Rapala Countdown Brown Trout lure. I gave them all of my Rapala DC BT lures and they were getting bit all day long.
If you pull lake trolls, I would recommend the Dave Davis 5 bladed willow leaf with size 7 and 3 blades. Thread a crawler or pull a hardbait behind them. I prefer the hardbaits because I seem to catch larger fish on the hardbaits, and the fish do not swallow them as deep as the live worms. I usually use the Chrome on sunny days and the brass on overcast days. I use the 50-50 Chrome and Silver on days with patchy clouds....lol. Cowbells are not as effective for me at Irvine Lake for some reason. Beer Cans are about the same as the Cowbells. Maybe I need some new sets? The ones I have now were gifts from a friend and they were/are pretty dull.
Another thing I like to do is drag a couple of Luhr Jensen Chrome #00 Dodgers with a whole threaded crawler on a Flouro leader that is ony 12" to 14". The short leader ensures that the worm will have a very exagerated wobbling action. I have definitely caught more fish with short leaders rather than longer leaders. With hardbaits you can use a longer leader, sometimes as much as 4' to 5' feet. I also use the smaller #000 size dodgers at times, but have found the larger models to be more effective. The smaller Sep's Blue Tire Track is a good producer at DVL.
I have caught lots of fish with the Dodgers and one reason that I place so much faith in them is due to something strange that happened while fishing at the Vine about 2 seasons ago. While trolling over near the Red Clay Cliffs, heading towards the middle of the lake, my friends rod got hit hard. She said, "I think I'm getting bit!". I turned around to look at her rod tip and saw it getting hit pretty good. I told her, "You are, you are getting bit!". We had been chatting and not really paying close attention to our lines at the time. We then quickly turned around to see what the fish was doing just in time to see an Osprey on the surface, flapping its wings struggling to get aloft after diving in and grabbing the dodger. It flew up and past the port side of our boat, all the while clutching the dodger in its talons. After it got about 40 feet in the air and was just past the bow, it finally must have realized that it had not in fact grabbed a trout and it let the dodger go. If they can fool an Osprey with their eagle eyes they have to be good!!!
I always smear atrractant on my dodgers and lake trolls and clean it off after every day of fishing because the salts in most attractants will eventually etch the surfaces making them dull. I place the grease on the blades and the cable, beads and leaders. Clean them and wipe them dry before putting them away after a day of fishing. I like to use either Smelly Jelly or Nitro Grease with some Shad Bang or Garlic Bang added to the container. I will occasionally spray a little more BANG on them once in a while if I have been pulling them a long time. The grease stays on all day, but the BANG products will eventually thin out reducing their effectiveness and must be reapplied occasionally.
One of my trolling partners got this nice 12-2 to take 1st place and $350 last year during a Master's Qualifier.
He and I had both caught qualifying fish during a prior qualifier but decided against heading to the weigh-in on order to spend more time fishing. I wish that the weigh-ins were a little later in the day in order to allow for more fishing time. We finished up with a limit each, but nothing really big. I think a lot of people failed to weigh fish that day because they thought that their fish were too small.
Wait, maybe I did catch it on a Crawler/Flasher combo?
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