I blame Anderoo

[Brian Carragher]

I came across this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Berkley-Skeletor-Ser...=item1e63d153f5 and its two minutes away from me, I won't be bidding for it but if its any use to anyone I can pick it up and send it on

[Tony U]

I just got back from Northumberland and the rod and some soft lures have arrived and all look spot on, I am now looking for a reel in the 2000-3000 class to go with them.

Thanks for the links, Anderoo, I have alrerady bought some lures from AGM and will be visiting Friendly Fisherman to pick up swivels weights etc. in time to try the outfit out.

[Ken L]

Are you guys fishing from the bank ?

If so, how are you setting up ?

 

Details of my own yet to be tried experimental rig are at post #15 here.

[Anderoo]

Are you guys fishing from the bank ?

If so, how are you setting up ?

 

Details of my own yet to be tried experimental rig are at post #15 here.

 

Yes. It is not a strictly vertical technique that needs a boat. If I had access to a boat I'd have got kitted out for vertical jigging, but as I haven't drop-shotting is the best option.

 

The set-up is very simple, 7' 6" drop-shot rod, 10lb braid mainline on a small reel, small swivel, length of 6.6lb flourocarbon as long as the rod, drop-shot hook tied on with a palomar halfway down, drop-shot weight clipped on below at the required depth (5-20g depending on distance, flow, etc.), 10cm dying minnow or similar nosehooked. This is for perch. I've only had a few goes with it so far - it's mainly for the river perch so will be doing my best to get to grips with it once the season opens - and only had small pike, but it certainly effective.

 

The action I think you want is an undulating, realistic, quivering action, hence the braid and the soft spliced tip of the rods. From my attempts so far it seems the hard thing is to not put too much action into the lure (very easy to do) as it then looks a bit mental and unrealistic. Apparently sitting down while fishing (gently 'shaking' the lure without moving the lead, dropping the tip now and again to make it gently dive and rise) helps with the control. As it is a largely static method the perch have loads of time to come up and inspect the lure before deciding whether to take it or not, hence the flourocarbon. The bites can be unbeliveably gentle, even with pike, just a light tap or a lifting of the line, so windy days make it a lot more difficult.

 

I'm very hopeful that it will be a successful way to fish for the river perch that will avoid crayfish, appeal to their very predatory nature without having to use lives, and hold a seductive little lure in a hotspot without having to keep reeling in and recasting. Looking forward to getting started

 

Before anyone says anything about pike and wire, I'm not fishing for pike and if I start catching loads of pike the method is a failure and I'll try something else. The worst that will happen is a pike has a small single hook to get rid of.

[Rob Ward]

Before anyone says anything about pike and wire, I'm not fishing for pike and if I start catching loads of pike the method is a failure and I'll try something else. The worst that will happen is a pike has a small single hook to get rid of.

 

I don't see the necessity for wire when fishing with singles for other species, some Pikers do get a little precious.

 

Would you honestly regard it as a failure though if you are catching loads of Pike, surely it's nigh on impossible to be selective when fishing with small lures for predators?

[Ken L]

Personally, I'll stick to the wire. If a fish cuts you off, it's potentially towing around your lure, a length of line and the weight - and if the hook is deep, the soft plastic isn't going to go anywhere and will be blocking the fish's throat.

Yes, I know the lures are small (a couple of inches) but that's enough to do for a small pike.

 

I had a look at some of the Lucky Craft drop shot rods in Singapore. Beautifully made but far to limited in aplication for me to have concidered a purchace.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Ken L

[JV44]

Quote Anderoo Before anyone says anything about pike and wire, I'm not fishing for pike and if I start catching loads of pike the method is a failure and I'll try something else. The worst that will happen is a pike has a small single hook to get rid of.

 

Steady on chap the Pike Police aint as active as they used to be ,Anderoo have you thought of looking into the thames Lock/weir permits not sure which ones are on it but those venues may lend themselves well to your new method ?? .

We should be up your way around the 22nd/23rd june and i am bringing the portabote along as a tender/pub vehicle/fishing platform so happy to take you out for a few hours to try/watch and be converted by your method from the boat .

give you a shout when we are nearer and sure of date Steve.

[Dick Dastardly]

Drop shotting is looking more and more apealing to me all the time. As session fishing is becoming harder and harder for me the idea of just a few hours with really light and minimal tackle is looking more and more likely to be the future of my every day fishing.

 

Past few years I had hoped that lure fishing for pike would be the answer but chucking big lures and handling big fish soon takes its toll. Lighter gear (and less of it!) smaller species (but a fun method) could certainly be the way to go.

[Newt]

A proper drop shot weight is not actually fixed to the line - not tied or on a swivel or similar. Slip the weight onto the line, tie a small ovehand knot, slide the weight down to the knot, and push the line into the narrow part of the clip. It should be easy enough for it to slip off if a fish takes off with the bottom section of your rig.

 

Also easy to change weights if you need more or less based on water conditions.

[Anderoo]

We should be up your way around the 22nd/23rd june and i am bringing the portabote along as a tender/pub vehicle/fishing platform so happy to take you out for a few hours to try/watch and be converted by your method from the boat .

give you a shout when we are nearer and sure of date Steve.

 

Cheers Steve, give me a shout when you're around

 

As Newt says, the weights just grip the line and aren't tied on (I haven't needed to use a knot to slide the weight down to) and if/when they get snagged the line either slides out or is cut at that point. A pike won't be 'towing' anything and the lures are so small and soft I'm happy they won't cause a pike any problems. But if pike really are a problem I will of course rethink, the bits of river I have in mind have lots of perch and few pike. The pike I have hooked so far have been landed. I think if I used wire I would then not be perch fishing but pike fishing, and would then be using gear that's too light all-round.

 

Rob, maybe 'failure' is too strong a word, but for me this is only about catching perch, so if the pike mean that doesn't happen it's a failure of kinds. I am hoping that location and timing will largely do away with most of the pike potential.

 

If I was using trebles it would be a different matter but so far this year I've been bitten off by pike more times when legering plastic corn than when twitching drop-shot lures and the hooks are pretty much the same in both cases! So I take a pragmatic view.

 

Budgie, I'll bring the bits this weekend if you like? It's going to be very windy but may still be interesting?