Smacking your lure into the water to get rid of weeds

[Steelcat]

I would like to ask, how many people here smack your lure into the water to get rid of weeds while shore fishing for walleye?

I know many people here smack your lure into the water to get rid of weeds while fishing from a boat and while fishing for bass. I don't have a problem with that because you are on a boat, and usually bass are attracted to sound. But while fishing from shore with people around you, the water is shallow, and when your target is walleye, that's kind of annoying. From what I see, there's only 1 positive and several negative in this situation.

Positive:

You can get rid of the weeds without getting your hands wet.

Negative:

You can get rid of the weeds but get people around you wet.

You can damage your lure.

You can damage your line.

You can scare away the fish you are trying to catch. (I just had this experience when I saw a walleye following my lure, as it swam faster towards my lure, the gentleman beside me smacked his lure into the water. The splash and the sound immediately scared the walleye and it darted away.)

 

Ok enough saying for me and here is a picture of a lovely Rice Lake walleye released.

[Gerritt]

I have a habit of doing this also... but I try to refrain from doing it with stick baits... especially rapalas.. all I wind up with is the lip! LOL

 

G

[Leecher]

I use to do that all the time with my cranks until one day I broke the lip off and never did it again

 

Leechman

[holdfast]

I used to do it all the time with my spoons. You can always tell the cheap ones as the paint would peel or chip.

[wuchikubo]

I've done it while fishing for salmon/trout at the mouth of rivers with spoons but very rarely while fishing other species. Try not to handle any lure too much as it may pick up some of your scent while handling or mask it with attractant scent.

[Rich]

Never had the problem of it doing any damage to anything.. it's common practice for me so much that I don't even think about it anymore. And the splash is so minimal I can't see anyone getting wet unless they were leaning with their face over my lure.

 

I think you guys are really going nuts on the smashing of the lure by the sounds of it. It doesn't take a huge whip, just a couple swings of the rod tip in a circle.

[johnnyb]

Seems that my old rapala's had no problem with it, but a lot of the newer baits, the paint peels off so easily. This could explain why I only get a few walleye at a time while casting weedbeds though...I'll see if being quieter makes a difference

[ccmtcanada]

I'm guilty of doing that when bass or pike fishing...but never for walleye.

[Steelcat]

I'm not quite sure if the gentlemen that fished beside me were just got used to doing that, or just trying to annoy me so much that I would leave the fishing area. Most of the time when doing fall walleye shore fishing, you reel the lure in slow, so if there's any weeds, they are just hanging onto the lure. All you need to do is to hold onto the weed, lift it up and it will come off the lure. Btw my family and I managed to catch 4 walleye last night from 4 to 7 lbs without smacking from shore.

[BITEME]

guilty guilty guilty WHILE FISHING FOR ANYTHING FROM ANYWHERE

[Governator]

How important is masking your scent guys? We got one of those little round things that look like a puck to rub your hands over... suppose to mask your scent. Do you guys use spray on your lures?

[BITEME]

How important is masking your scent guys? We got one of those little round things that look like a puck to rub your hands over... suppose to mask your scent. Do you guys use spray on your lures?

 

 

I thought the point was to get stink finger!!!!

[Greencoachdog]

I hate when people do that! ... Touch the weed Nancy-Boy!!! It's not going to hurt you ... really!

 

Might as well take a pallet of bricks with you and throw one in the water every time you make a cast!

[JohnF]

I hate when people do that! ... Touch the weed Nancy-Boy!!! It's not going to hurt you ... really!

 

Might as well take a pallet of bricks with you and throw one in the water every time you make a cast!

 

Some of those muskie lures must sound like a brick anyway. My buddy Rob gets twitchy if I even start throwing a Baby Torpedo. Says is sounds like a small beaver's joined us.

 

JF

[BITEME]

I hate when people do that! ... Touch the weed Nancy-Boy!!! It's not going to hurt you ... really!

 

Might as well take a pallet of bricks with you and throw one in the water every time you make a cast!

 

only if the stero is wailing on BUZZSAW

[bigugli]

Why would I need to mask my scent fishing. FIngers almost always have a layer of worm s--- on them, or the smell of food, or fish or slime. OF course it helps it you lather up with plain soap instead of them scented girly soaps. Then there are the young fellas who wear so much aftershave they smell like a cathouse on a Saturday night. You are either fishin, or trolling for a different kinda trout, but you can't do both.

Edited October 28, 2008 by bigugli

[Roy]

Ain't nothing worse than a noisy beaver while fishing.

[jwl]

mask the scent???..clean your hands???....don't you guys like the extra tasty sensations of worm guts and minnow scales with your sandwiches..mmmmmm, or..pike snot

[Bondar]

Wouldn't casting your lure out into the water make the same noise???

[Steelcat]

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here~ It's different between casting your lure out and whipping your lure smack down into the water a foot in front of you. Well I think it's something like olympic swimmer dived into the water as they started their swim VS someone doing a cannon ball 5 feet or more above the water surface.

[bigugli]

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here~ It's different between casting your lure out and whipping your lure smack down into the water a foot in front of you. Well I think it's something like olympic swimmer dived into the water as they started their swim VS someone doing a cannon ball 5 feet or more above the water surface.

Bugs the heck out of me every time the son does it. Maybe he does it to spook the follower on my lure? All you hear is WHACK! fish gone.

[kemper]

both my dad and I do it when out in the boat fishing for anything.

 

doesnt seem to cause any issues, we both do well

[Steelcat]

Boat fishing is ok~ because you are fishing on a boat with a couple friends, and you can always travel all over the lake to find your fish. As for shore fishing, you are pretty much stuck in the spot, and always you are not alone, you have to share the area with many anglers. Bass fishing is ok since they are attracted to sound, and they'll swim up to investigate. Not for shore walleye fishing when the water is shallow close to shore.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Steelcat

[Rizzo]

I wish my friends would do that...usually they smack the lure off of me. I've been beaned by spoons, cranks, jig n pig and last week got smacked by a grandma

[tdotfisherman]

It annoys me.. fishing requires a stealthy approach, if your doing that, why not just light up a beacon to the fish letting them know your out there trying to get them..