canuck Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 Hello fellow tackle makers. Over the past few years I have been fortunate to tap into the tackle making wisdom of the membership with great succes. I just recently found my self stumped unable to match the hatch so to speak in a situation fishing for pike and bass in a tourney with unusually hard constant down pour . The kind that the rain actually bounces back off the water and deflects back up 3 or four inches. It was a dark day with a north wind causeing a constant chop across the surface of this clear water ontario lake. A cold front had just rolled in the night before dropping the temperature from 24C to 14C day time highs. The lake water was much warmer than the cold rain so it caused a fog to start forming as it mixed with the surface water. These climate and weather variables caused me to really challenge what I have learned about adapting to different conditions while fishing spinnerbaits. I tried many head sizes and blade configurations, skirt and trailer combos with little to no success. I thought that the noise of the rain probably nullified the blade vibration somewhat so flash and speed of retreave would be more a factor. I tried 3/8 1/2 5/8 and even 3/4 oz heads to be able to cast in the wind and get the bait down to deeper fish. I tried changing the skirts from 66 strand to 44 to no skirt, even just a bare grub body. I used natural colour three /two colour single colour silicone skirt patterns. Blade configuration from double willow to combos with colorado willow indiana willow single hammered finishes in gold brass silver plated . You get the picture . At one point I had fourty different baits on the floor of the casting deck . At some point I felt ready to throw the whole tackle selection overboard at them,I mean rods and all!!!.. After this long story I was hopeing to get some feed back as to what you may have tried in this situation including using something else as a lure. I did try a few other technics but really would like your thoughts on modifications or choices that you may use with spinnerbaits that I could use in future under similar conditions. Even with this frustrating day my team was able to finish third just one lb behind the winners. Thanks again for any feed back,although a little bit different a question I feel this is the right forum to ask it. Sorry if you dont agree. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 My first thought was, if you have tried 40 spinner baits, it probably isn't a spinner bait bite. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 That big of an air temp drop means the lake water temp was on a steady decline as well and with rain it was even faster. Normally rain helps as it introduces fresh oxygen in to the water but that temp put them off, your best bet would to have used something completely different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRammit Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 When they wont hit anything else, i always fall back on the drop shot I dont fish spinners much, but when i do its either white or white.... Reading your post makes me wanna broaden my horizons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) The way that I see it, fish are very sensitive to temperature changes and vibration noise. If I were a fish, I would head for the bottom and stay there. Feeding is going to be a low priority, so for anything to have a chance of success, it is going to have to be loud, flashy and colorful, to distract/annoy the fish. Once the storm has passed, there is going to be a lot of debris and food on the surface, which is going to attract the small fish. Dave Edited September 16, 2015 by Vodkaman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 Bob - logic will only produce the right answer if all the facts and variables are known. I bow to experience of course. My experience has always shown that before the storm is a good producer. Many anglers study the barometer as well as water temperature. As a teenager, I kept charts of the weather and temperature along with my catch. We must collect data/observations and try to understand the reason or logic of the fish' behavior in order to make predictions. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 16, 2015 Report Share Posted September 16, 2015 I've found the better fish (largemouth bass) take advantage of the reduced visibility whenever it's raining or blowing, or if the water is moving or dirty, to slide up to any current breaks and feed. I use a chart/white tandem 1/2 oz spinnerbait, with a small Colorado/large Indiana, with a Kalin's 3" single tailed grub as a trailer, Big fish get big by not missing meals, and that blade/trailer combo puts out a lot of vibration, immitating a bluegill or other larger prey item. If the wind or rain stops, or there's no current, I let the blade drop to the bottom on the outside of the grass line, and slow roll it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck Posted September 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks to all for your feed back and input. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
