A Devils Horse and a Debt of Gratitude

Me - Age 6, Lafitte, LA

"Chris, do you want to go to Rick’s pond with us?”

“Yeah Cary!” I said.  However, without hesitation I quickly asked, “Can I fish with y’all?”

“Naw buddy. Just follow along, watch us fish and maybe towards the end of our trip, I can teach you how to cast a spinning reel.”

“OK, I’ve always wanted to learn how to use a real rod and reel.” Since all I’ve used up to that point was a red push button Zebco, that was dialed in on catching brim using bread balls and a small cork.

“No problem bud…we’ll see!” he said with a grin.

Then the three of us made our way across the field that flanked the east side of the house to our neighbors pond.

So as expected I sat on the side of Mr. Ricks pond as he and his buddy Eric meticulously fished with nothing to show for their efforts. They tried everything from spinnerbaits to tequila sunrise Culprit worms to broken back rapala’s and the result were all the same…nothing. So with the light fading, my brother looks at me and asks, “You want to learn how to fish Bill Dance?”

I didn’t even respond and quickly started looking through his tackle box to find the “coolest looking lure” and  make a lunge for his rod and reel. In short, my choice was a Smithwick Devil’s horse. Mainly because the eye’s were “cool”.

So after a quick lesson on how to tie a blood knot, my brother taught me how to fish. 

My bro teaching his daughter the basics

First, we started with the basics of holding the rod with the reel resting between the middle and ring finger of my right hand.  Then, we worked on reeling the lure just high enough to the top of you rod, leaving just enough line so the button rest just below the foregrip.  Next I learned to rest the line on my index finger, flip the bale and practice heaving a stickbait with 3 sets of treble hooks as far into the middle of the pond as possible.  So after a few botched attempts and a dump truck full of patience, I was successful in completing what my brother was teaching me how to do….casting a lure forward into the great unknown of Rick’s pond.

After the command of “reel in your slack.” A 6 year old sat in the arms of his 16 year old brother, and reeled in his slack and the Devil’s horse tied on the other end of the line.

“Keep reelin’ bud, you’re doing great.” He said with encouragement.

“Thanks Cary!”  I said, smiling back.

“Just let it sit before it gets close to the bank…it will float back to the surface and you can try it again.”

3 generations of bass out of that pond

In short, I never had to make another cast because as the bait was floating to the top, 10 yards from where we were both standing, my first bass I’d ever catch completely engulfed my brother’s frog patterned devils horse.

“Set the hook!” my brother said as he grabbed the base of the rod to make sure I had enough strength to sink the hooks into ole bucket mouth.

“Keep your rod tip up buddy, he almost in…keep reelin’!”

As I made one more heave, while walking away from the pond with the rod bent and the reel screaming, the bass that committed suicide J was lipped by my brother.  We were all excited to say the least.

“Great job buddy…dad is gonna’ be so proud!”

“Attaboy Chris, good job, you did it all by yourself.” Eric said.

Me and Cary - "Catching up"

So, after a few high 5’s and a couple more “attaboy’s” from he and Eric, my 6 year old exaggerated 10lb largemouth, was on its way back to the farm with us so I could show our dad my proud accomplishment.

However, the valuable lesson wasn’t catching a fish, it was learning how to fish, and as I think back about the dialogue that afternoon between me and my brother, I realize he taught me how to fish.

“Reel in your slack, Chris.” “Keep the line tight, bud.” “Make sure you keep the rod tip up.” These are all expressions and techniques good fisherman practice, and I was fortunate to be taught by my brother at the age of 6.  Now 27 years later, a charter license, a couple of redfish tournament wins, and a cover on the Mississippi Sportman, I’m incredibly grateful that he asked me to go fishing that day.

So with a Devils horse and a debt of gratitude, I learned to fish from my big brother Cary and I appreciate it. I love you bud!

Tight lines and God Bless!

Chris

Part II - Fishing the Water Column; Jig Head Selection

As you may recall last week we discussed the importance of keeping it simple when choosing a soft plastic. However, If you haven’t kept up to this point, I invite you to read part I before reading the below, if you’ve read Part I “More Isn’t always better”…please keep reading!

Results of a jig bite

With respect to jig fishing, I personally believe the longer you can keep a bait in the strike zone the greater the chance for a strike, simple concept I know, but that said, the choice of your soft plastic, although important, is not nearly as important as your jig head selection.  Think back to my initial scenario as I described the drop off in the middle of an oyster flat, by having a firm understanding of where your jig head is in the water column, in relation to the cover that the fish are holding to, is paramount.  Additionally having a firm understanding of the tide, as well as its strength, determines which jig head weight to use. In short, it’s about getting bites. However before we digest all the components of jig head application and weights, lets discuss styles of jig heads and when to apply.

Jig heads come in a variety of shapes and colors, however I adhere to my KISS method when choosing jig heads as well.  I typically use two styles of jig heads…an aspirin head and a screw lock jig head (see picture), and as you would expect these two jig heads are used in particular styles of fishing, i.e. wade fishing or fishing from a boat. The aspirin head jig is my “deep water” jig, and I generally throw these jigs in varying weights in greater than 5 feet of water.  Conversely, the screw lock jig is particularly used during wade fishing, and in depths of less than 5 ft. Keep in mind this is my general rule of thumb, however if faced with a stronger current, tide or wind, the style of jig head could change to counter such aforementioned conditions. It’s basic I know, but setting the standard gives a person new to jig fishing a baseline of jig and depth.

Now that we’ve talked about jig head style, let’s discuss weight.  Knowing the right weight and style of jig head is the greatest factor to fishing with a jig and soft plastic. To put it simply, your lure selection is nothing if you don’t have the jig head to bring it to the fish…fish sitting in 10’ of water will rarely hit a bait 1’ beneath the surface. Think about it, you wouldn’t want to run 6 miles to the nearest restaurant, would you? Especially if they can deliver it to your door, right? This is where choosing the right weight is key to ringing the trout dinner bell.

Capt Mike and I w/ a TX 5 &7

Regarding jig head weight, I use 4 sizes – 1/8, 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8.  I’ve also been experimenting with a 1/16oz for fishing the flats here in TX, but still have some getting used to, and I’ll explain. In the aspirin head mold, I use 1/4oz – 5/16oz 95% of the time. However, I will also throw 3/8 in the aspirin head as well, depending on depth and current, i.e the stronger the current/wind, the heavier the head for the depth of water I’m fishing. For the screw lock jig, I use 1/8oz about 90% of the time with the other 10% split between 1/16 and 1/4oz.  So why use a certain style of jig head and a certain weight? Here is my theory. Screw locks of lighter weight in shallower water paired with a good soft plastic like Down South will afford your bait to sit parallel to the bottom. The main reason is the shape of the head, and the location of the eyelet. Since it’s a lighter jig head and an equally heavy soft plastic, its buoyancy counter acts each other, affording you to fish the entire water column effectively, even if only 1.5 – 3’ in depth. See the attached video of one of my mentors, Capt Mike McBride

 

With regard to the aspirin head and the heavier weights, keep in mind that this is a “deep water jig”. That said, I want to fish more of the water column vertically as opposed to horizontally, like you would with a screw lock. As a bait is falling through the water column, with a heavier head, the weight from the jig head is leading the bait down. However, when have your rod tip up and line tight the natural tendancy is for the head to go down, but is instead in a parallel position because of line tension.

 

Here are some scenarios to highlight my point.  Your in a small curvy bayou, with a pretty good amount of tide (.8 – 1.8’ of tide range). Located on both sides of the bayou are steep drops, that sharply go from 2 feet of water to 12’. I would choose a 5/16oz jig head, because I want the bait to fall from 2’ to 10’ fairly slowly until I get my first bite. Once that happens I can zero in on sink rate, depth, tidal flow and wind conditions (see picture).

 

Another scenario is a large submerged oyster flat that rises up from 6’ of water to about 3’. If in ideal conditions, I would use a 1/4oz aspirin head jig head with a matrix shad to slowly explore the gradual decrease on the flat. Once you determine the location of the fish with relation to the flat, you can solidify your boat position and presentation. (see picture).

As you can see there is some science to fishing with a jig, but your efforts will not go unrewarded. Although it may be easier to fish live bait under a cork, the thrill of the hunt and the ability to fool a fish into eating something plastic is very fulfilling. It’s a testament to your angling ability and more often than not, equally as effective. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this two part series. If you have any questions, please provide them below.

As always, tight lines and God Bless!

Chris

Jig Fishing - More Isn't Always Better

Bay Sanbois, Port Sulphur, LA

Picture this, it’s late November in South Louisiana, and you are on the third day of a warming trend from a cold front that blew through days before.  So with fog limiting your visibility on the morning commute, you decide to fish a trusty spot on the southwest side of Bay Sanbois in Port Sulphur.  Now as you pull up to the spot, you think to yourself, “Why is this spot so good?”  It’s certainly nothing visible to the human eye.  With that in mind, the visual contour of the bottom runs through your head like the depth finder mounted to the console of the boat. In short, this spot is solid oysters with a 3’ flat on one side and a ledge in the middle that dips to 5 feet of water.  Additionally, the falling tides of the early winter mornings, make it virtually a sure thing.  So as you lower the trolling motor, you look back at the arsenal of rods and you quickly go for a 6’6” medium action with a 1/4oz jighead paired

with a glass minnow imitation soft plastic.  As you get the boat positioned, you cast slightly up current and let the tide bring your jig right off the ledge and as you would expect, you feel the tap of a trout. You quickly set the steel and the power pole and methodically pick at a limit until the tide bottoms out. This spot is just one example of the many underwater havens that hold a countless amount of trout across the Gulf Coast.  However, getting them to bite isn’t always easy unless you understand how to fish a jig.

In this 2-part blog post, I want to discuss fishing soft plastics.  In my life, I’ve been fortunate to develop confidence throwing a jig and soft plastic, and have been lucky enough to fool a few trout along the way. In short, this technique is my bread and butter for no other reason, than the confidence I possess in throwing a jig and soft plastic.  Additionally, it is also the most versatile way to fish. You can fish it in 20 feet of water or 2 feet and yield the same results.  Additionally, as a newcomer to an area, throwing a jig can help you cover water, vital to maximizing your knowledge of the local estuary.  Not only can cover water, but you can also get a feel for water depth, as well as bottom structure. With that said, here are two items I’d like to discuss, 1) soft plastics and body style and 2) Jig head style and weight.

One of two tackle boxes on the boat...that all you need!

First, let’s discuss soft plastics. I love going to Academy or any local tackle shop and looking at the colors of soft plastics. In fact, I’ve recently been experimenting with making my own soft plastic molds and have poured a few baits, but that is another post. In short, soft plastics come in a ton of colors and a myriad of body styles. However, as with most things, the simpler the approach the better the result…I fully implement the KISS method for my approach to throwing soft plastics, let me explain.  Fish, particularly trout, like to eat shrimp or other fin fish, as a result, I throw a bait that looks similar to those two things.  That is the primary reason I use these soft plastics, Matrix shads (made in Slidell, LA) and Down South Lures (made in Austin, TX), because they make baits that mimic baitfish.  Not only do they have tremendous action and superb durability, but they have great colors that mimic the forage, trout, reds and flounder seek to feast upon.  They (Matrix and Down South) don’t do anything fancy with they’re color schemes except stick to matching the light and dark silhouettes in the estuaries they are applied.  Here are a few pics of what I mean….

Down South Lures - Chicken of the "C"

Down South Lures - "Kickin' Chicken"

Matrix Shad - "Ultra Violet"

Matrix Shad - "Green hornet"

In addition to color, their body styles are all you need and what you would look for in a soft plastic.

Matrix "Shrimp Creole"

Matrix shad’s are 3” in length and more compact than Down South. As a result, I throw Matrix shads in more deepwater applications, on heavier jigheads, when more action is required from a bait. See attached video of underwater footage of a Matrix and think back to my KISS example. Hint, hint….it involves throwing something that looks like a baitfish.

Down South "Texas Roach"

Down South Lures, on the other hand, are 4.5” in length have a more slender body and small kicker tail.  I use Down South exclusively wadefishing here in TX and have had tremendous results. The small kicker tail allows the bait to run true while fishing, because it almost acts like a rudder.  Additionally, the longer body provides larger trout a bigger silhouette of a finfish and the slender body isn’t as obtrusive to big fish, which is key to tricking those big girls to eating on the flats. All in all, I’ve been super impressed with these baits, and partnered with a 1/8oz screw lock Venom jighead, its easy to field a limit on 1 tail, or target your Personal Best trout wadefishing.

With regard to soft plastics, that’s it….the simpler the better. Other than a box full of those two lures in a variety of basic colors, those are the two soft plastics I throw when and why.  So quit lugging that 20lb tackle bag that could start a satellite location of Academy and stick to the basics. Also, if you haven’t checked these two lures companies out yet, please do so. In addition, these companies are owned by two awesome guys (Chas Champagne – Matrix Shad and Mike Bosse – Down South Lures) that live amongst us in our communities and have their soft plastics made in the States. Support them if you can. 

Part II, jighead selection will be posted next week, but for now God Bless and tight lines!

Chris