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VOL. 37 • ISS. 12
FRESHWATER
Hoochies: Simple, Impressionistic & Deadly
Have you ever noticed that the simplest lures and presentations are often the best? Lures that are painstakingly created to exactly match the forage gamefish feed on are often, indeed almost always, upstaged by simple impressionistic offerings.
In terms of simplistic lures there are few that are simpler than the hoochie. For folks that aren’ t familiar with them, hoochies are nothing more than hollow plastic“ squid”, basically a plastic skirt that can be slipped on a leader.
If you are a trout or landlocked salmon angler that has yet to try trolling with hoochies, it’ s time for you to get started. Not only will hoochies help you catch more fish, but they also help you save money since they are significantly cheaper than a lot of other offerings.
Over the past decade hoochies have become an increasingly important part of my trout and landlocked salmon fishing arsenal.
Considering that the market is flooded with hoochies from a myriad of different manufacturers, you might be wondering which hoochies are best? Well I don’ t have an answer for that, as the term“ best” is highly subjective. Let’ s face it, hoochies are not the most complex lure in the world and I believe most any hoochie will catch fish some of the time.
Having said that, my favorite hoochies come from the folks at Silver Horde / Gold Star. If you meet when I’ m out trolling I’ ll generally have a rod armed with either a Silver Horde Micro Squid or an Ace Hi Fly Junior.
Micro Squid are perfect for trout, landlocked kings and‘ kokes. The squid are 1.75 inches long. They come in a long list of standard, ultra violet and glow colors. Slip them on a double hook leader, toss a dodger
by Cal Kellogg
into the mix and you’ re ready to fish! An Ace Hi Fly is like a hoochie wearing a tuxedo, basically a greatly dressed up version of the old reliable plastic squid. Ace Hi Flies come with a hard bead head that boasts lifelike eyes. The skirt utilizes a hoochie, but adds to it with synthetic flash. Ace Hi Fly Juniors come either rigged or unrigged.
The flies are 2 inches long. I generally go with the unrigged version and run them off double hook leaders.
What about hoochie color? For trout and kokanee I usually go with bright pink or orange hoochies. For kings I start out with baitfish colors. Hoochies are so economical and come in such a diverse range of colors, it doesn’ t make sense not to have a wide range of colors represented in you tackle collection. Sometimes the fish want natural colors and at other times those crazy bright colors are deadly.
For more visit Silver Horde online at www. silverhorde. com
May 25- June 8, 2018
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ly small. The willingness of the bass to chase combined with their expectation of finding relatively small forage gives you solid clues as to bait selection.
Small spinnerbaits or medium size inline spinners are great choices as are both soft and hard rip baits, such as Flukes or thin profile Ima Flits. These baits do a great job of imitation baitfish and they can be fished quickly, allowing you to cover water until you find bass. Another baitfish imitation that shouldn’ t be overlooked is a smoke / flake grub rigged on a quarter ounce darter head. These baits can be slow rolled like a small swimbait with great success.
If you think crawfish are on the menu, crankbaits, smallish jigs, tubes and Carolina rigged worms are solid picks. All these
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baits can be working along the bottom quickly, once again covering a lot of water efficiently as you seek out bass.
The place to start looking for bass is offshore of the areas where you know the bass spawned. That goes for both schooling fish and fish positioned on isolated ambush points. Submerged creek beds that cut through spawning flats and then drop into deeper water are classic areas for finding fishing setting on structure hoping to ambush.
In late spring and early summer the sky is often cloud free and the water is typically pretty clear. When you seek out lone fish looking to ambush lunch remember that the bass will be holding on structure that affords them the ability to lurk in the shade. Work the shady side of creek channels, stumps, standing trees and boulders and it won’ t be long before you begin putting post spawn bass into the boat.
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HOW TO By Cal Kellogg continued from page 5
The Topwater Option
The post spawn period is one of the best times of the year for tossing topwater lures. The clear water that many of our lakes feature allow a bass to zero in on a topwater bait from long range and the aggressive attitude of post spawn bass often sends them rocketing to the surface from 10 or 15 feet deep.
Most anglers want to throw their topwaters at cover or structure, like a big submerged rock pile or a flooded tree. These areas will absolutely hold bass, but don’ t ignore open water areas too. Suspended bass are often easy marks for a topwater lure worked in open water.
I remember one morning of great smallmouth fishing I had a few years ago at Scotts Flat Reservoir, working a small River2Sea popper over 50 feet of water. If I remember correctly I landed about a dozen bass from 12 inch to 3 pounds.
So, what sort of topwater lures should you be throwing? For day in day out success, I like walking baits. There is just something about that walk the dog action that really triggers bass. Walking baits can also be fished quickly, so you can cover a bunch of ground when walking the dog.
If walkers aren’ t working, I break out my poppers. Poppers are effective because of their versatility. They can be worked with aggressive pops or subtle pops with extended periods of rest between pops. A popper’ s biggest advantage is the fact that you can keep it in the strike zone for long periods of time. This allows you to tease and trigger bass that are
FISHING TACKLE FOR SALE!! Spinning and casting rods, a few reels, tons of hooks, sinkers and miscellaneous. A fair amount of trout gear, both regular and some fly items, two flyrods, fly reels, and an assortment of flies for trout and bass. PLUS crappie jigs and hooks as well as a tray of shad jigheads and plastic bodies Quite a few spools of monofilament line and just a lot of stuff. Even a couple jars of trout bait. Have two older Ocean City salt water reels. Most of this stuff is brand new or almost new. Am looking at a price reduction of at least 50 % and bundling for a better price structure is certainly an option.
Call Bill with questions... 510-232-9991 • grumpygrampabill @ sbcglobal. net
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in a neutral mood.
Whether I’ m using a walker or a popper, I go with the same color patterns. In general, I like baitfish colors, but even then, I like to keep things subtle. If the water is clear, I really like to employ a clear or ghost colored bait. I want to give those bass the impression of a baitfish and make the bass believe that an easy meal is about to escape!
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