Am I dreaming or is possible???

[crabbs]

I am tired as a single fisherman of going to get, paying for, transporting, live bait everytime I go out. Can I catch wallies with just artificial. I could really dedicate to technigue and focus if I could gt rid of all the hassles with live bait. Tipping my artificial would be an option but really I could pass on that as well if possible. I am fishing scugog and would just love to pick up and go...what do you think and is there anyone doing right now

Edited January 4, 2009 by crabbs

[Clampet]

I know fer certain you can rule out dead sticking and tip-ups with artificial bait.

[crappieperchhunter]

I have never done well on Scugog with a set line and a minnow. Always get way more fish jigging...but I always tip with a piece of minnow. If you use a whole minnow you miss alot of fish because they grab the minnow and not the hook.

 

So my normal routine now is to buy minnows Jan 1st for the opener and keep them in a pail in my cold cellar with a fish tank bubbler to give them oxygen or you can just change the water once a week or so . Make sure you get stuff at a pet store to get the chlorine out of the water first.A bottle lasts years. When it is time to go fishing I scoop out 3-4 minnows and cut them into 1 inch chunks. The dace I get at the Causeway usually give you 3 pcs per minnow... the head,the middle section and the tail. I put the 9-12 chunks in a small plastic container that fits in my floater suit pocket and I'm good to go. Don't have to stop for minnows again or have the inconvenience and weight of lugging a bucket of minnows around. If I don't use up all the chunks that night and am going again soon, I just throw the container in the fridge when I get home.

 

Works good for me and 2 dozen minnows always gets me through the 3 weeks I fish up there.

 

P.S. The head chunks stay on the hook the best. Followed by the tail chunks. I use the middle chunks up first when the bite is not on. When the eyes turn on I switch to the chunks that stay on the hook the best.

 

Good luck when you get out.

[joonmoon]

Do you get many Crappie with that chunk tipping or are they more willing to hit a whole live minnow?

[crappieperchhunter]

Do you get many Crappie with that chunk tipping or are they more willing to hit a whole live minnow?

 

I get both. But I tend not to get as many crappie. However I think this has more to do with how I jig. I jig fairly constantly and often aggressively,which I think crappie in general do not like. They seem to prefer a more gentle lift and drop slowly type of presentation...in my experience anyway. When I fish the BOG I am after EYES, so I jig for them. However when I do get crappies and even perch, they tend to be better sized ones.

[joonmoon]

Thanks for the tips. Hoping to get there this week some time.

[MarcusDiGiovanni]

I suppose you could Jig some GULP alive?

[Rich]

I know fer certain you can rule out dead sticking and tip-ups with artificial bait.

 

Windlass tip-up, jighead of your choice and a Berkley Gulp Alive Minnow works wonders. Windlass is great, jigs for you. It's like the automatic fisherman.. just gotta somehow plant a spring in there to set the hook for me.

[crabbs]

Thanks for the tips guys.

 

Heres what happen tonight as I just got home, broke down and bought 1 dozen minnows ...3 pics and 1 crappie later ran out of live bait between 3 guys and caught the last crappie on a gulp minnow out on the bog.