All hail the rock deity

[AtticaFish]

Kids went off to G-Ma's & G-Pa's... so i went off to the reservoir looking for some walleye. Fished for about 2 hours at sunset and really only fed the rocks. I caught 2 fish, a monster bluegill and a big fat cat. When i hooked the cat, thought for sure i had a walleye at first, but then it ran off 30+ yards of line and could could not change its direction. After those fish, i proceeded to loose 6 tied jigs down in the rock before i got disgusted and gave up. They were all fancy tied 1/8's with heavy hooks too. No fish to bring home but they both put a nice bend in my rod. :jig:

 

[Jig Man]

Sounds like a good evening of fish.

 

[AllenOK]

Some days, you get the bear; some days, the bear gets you.

Trust me, I feel your pain. I love fishing for catfish at a nearby tailrace. Only problem is, it's SNAG CITY! If you're fishing on bottom for catfish, you can expect to loose your rigging every few casts. Nothing like donating 2 - 8 OUNCES of lead at a time to the river gods. Good thing I pour my own bank sinkers, and I have a bunch of lead.

 

[Pup]

Lose the heavy hooks, you may come home a little bit happier. I know I have...over time.

Bent, lighter-wire hooks can always be returned to form and have enough strength left to hold the largest of most of our freshwater game fishes in typical waters imo.

Food for thought AF.

 

[Kdog]

Only six, thats barely a start. I'm like a lot of others and prefer light hooks, they seem to give better hook ups, less maintenance to keep sharp, and can straighten when necessary although with 2# - 4# line, I think thats a dream. 6# Tatsu can sometime straighten a hook but lghter usually means a lost jig.

I did land a 30+ pound shovel head on an UL so it can be done although I was about ready to cry uncle and pass the rod to my buddy.

 

[JSC]

No question about it.. the light and extra light wire hooks hook more fish and get them back from hangs a larger percentage of the time.

 

[AtticaFish]

I use 8lb Berkley mono on a medium rod for casting to the walleye. That seems close enough (in my mind) to testing the limit of my gear to these fish that have the potential of getting to 10+ lbs. I've bent out cheap light wire hooks on 8-10 lb carp in the river.......... would sure hate to bend one out on a 10lb walleye! This fishing trip just struck me as a little funny because just a week or 2 ago i was typing in another thread about how i settle jigs to the bottom and really work the jigs down in the rocks with no worries. I had not lost a jig in at least 3 outings before this one. Karma? haha. Either way, i went down and painted a dozen or so 1/8 and 3/16 heads. Only have 4 left of the lead free with heavy hooks so i will get to compare the difference.

I know from many years of fishing in the river bedrock that i do get occasional snags where the hook gets hung and i can pull slowly to bend out light wire hooks............ but always assumed that rip-rap bank fishing was eating the heads because of the wide profile head getting wedged between rocks and nearly impossible to release unless you were able to travel to the opposite side of the snag. Not gonna happen casting from shore. I have used lighter wire hooks in the past and it never seemed like i got any more back from the rip-rap. If they get down in that chunk reservoir bank rock, might as well kiss them goodbye.

 

[Pup]

Interesting reads of everyone's experiences here.

It's been a while, but I used to fish an Indiana tailwater pretty frequently for walleye and have caught several in the 5 to 8-lb. range, with a 28-incher being my largest. I used to hang my jigs in the rocks fairly frequently. Used 1/8-oz. ball heads with golden round bend or Aberdeen hooks and curly-tailed plastic grubs. Seldom if ever lost a fish, honestly, and when it came to bottom snags would 'pop' them off most of the time. Used a strong 4-lb. test mono to land fairly hefty carp and even a paddlefish while fishing the jigs on little 5 to 5.5-foot long UL spinning outfits.

Rocks are not the sole jig grabbers in areas I've fished. Heavy mono lines, logs, appliances (yes, household items) and submersed steel cables do too.

I understand the wedging that occurs due to the size and shape of the ball heads. Can't always 'pop' them free, so there will be times when jigs will not be returned by a tailwater or river.

However, I distinctly recall breaking the tempered red hooks on a couple of jigs I was using while fishing the Tennessee River near Hixson, TN just a couple of years ago. Was fishing a rip-rapped area with a braided line (Power Pro 10/2) rather than monofilament, so used a straight-lined (rod-pointed-to-target), steady pull to recover the snagged jigs. It was interesting to observe these jigs now missing their points, barbs, and bends. I just don't recall this ever happening to me in similar situations when using jigs with lighter-wire, bendable hooks. A strong braided line seems to get them back in one piece...bent, but back.

 

[JSC]

Getting them wedged in rock and from the bank is a no win against the rocks ...

JSC

 

[hookup]

Old timer once said "if you ain't loos'n them, you ain't fish'n right"

Makes sense.

One reason why I tie & pour. Takes the sting out of loosing them & gives me an excuse to make some more.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Wow, how big was the 30 yd rip cat?

Several experienced wally guys have mentioned that the fish cruise above rather than on bottom, so I try to countdown just above. ie: if I snag with a 20 second drop than I'll sink for 18 & start retrieving. Helps, tho there's always the stray stick up boulders, shopping cart, or cadaver that get in the way regardless, but those can be somewhat adjusted to with familiarity of stand spots & cast/retrieve trajectories. Still, I lose a lot of jigs which is why I KISS.

My understanding is bending a hook out & back into shape substantially weakens it.

 

[AtticaFish]

.....Interesting reads of everyone's experiences here.....

Pup - It is interesting to hear what other experiences are. Must admit that sometimes i jump on theories way too quickly because i had a really good day or really bad day and the individual trip sticks out in my memory more so than averaging out experience from accumulated time on the water. I do wish i had eyes under water to see what happens! I would venture to say that easily 90% of the shoreline i fish is all rip-rap of one size or another. Each city reservoir has a little different make up of stone and they all have different rates of hang-ups with fishing gear. The smaller chunk rock from about fist size down seems to be the most forgiving. The lake i started this thread about has chunks from fist size up to boulders the size of me. I usually have better success in the areas that have the bigger boulders...... but those areas also claim a lot more of my jigs too.

Hawnjigs - The catfish was right around 24", was sure full of energy. I actually had a small group of anglers that were getting ready to leave stick around to watch me land the fish. One of them had been fishing with shrimp on the bottom for a few hours and had not caught a single catfish. When they finally saw what i had on my line, they promptly asked what i was using. Replied a hair jig. They replied right back..... "A what???" They also proclaimed that it was a Blue Cat...... and it was not. Just a channel that was dark colored and looked blue..... but i did not contest their observation. When i released it, they very quickly informed me how tasty they are. haha. I do also vary my retrieve from tapping bottom to attempting to keep it just off bottom to even starting my slow/twitchy retrieve as soon as it hits the water. I've caught a few on that slow/twitchy fall. The walleye seemed to hold up a lot higher late into the Fall last year before the ice set in.

 

[AllenOK]

That Channel was a probably a breeding male. They will turn a dark, almost blue, color during the spawn.

I may have to try and dig up a pic of a 24 lbs Blue cat that I caught a few years ago.

 

[papaperch]

Little food for thought AF. On a trip to the Ohio river one year. I was guaranteed the only way to catch the sauger down there was bottom bouncing a jig. The college prof. I was fishing with knew my fondness for using a bobber. I tried his method and quickly scored on an 8 inch or so sauger. Then promptly lost about six jigs. While catching no other fish and the prof scored one throwback walleye.

As he worked down the riverbank I thought bobber time. Setting my slip bobber to about 8 inches of the bottom. I started catching fish again. When he came back up and seen the success I was having he tied on the slip bobber also. It wasn't a great day of fishing as most of what we caught weren't big enough to keep.

Point of the story is nothing hugs the bottom like a sauger ( close cousin of the walleye ). Snaggy spots is where slip bobber fishing shines. Kinda hard to catch much when you are constantly rigging. Using power pro as my main line and two foot of mono as a leader. Really cuts down my re-rig time if I do happen to snag.

http://www.clearlyoutdoors.com/fnimall/smart_stop_bobbers_micro.phtml

I find these slip bobbers and the stops this guy makes to be great. The bobbers are instant on/off so can switch back and forth if needed. These are the only ones I use now. Some guys that have gone out in the boat with me. Have chuckled a little when I cast a bobber out. Usually before we come back in at least one of their rods is rigged with a slip bobber.