HOW to CATCH

[makobob]

Originally Posted by buddha

Robert,

Did you guys have any luck at all with saltwater flies at Punta Bufeo?

Jack and I went fishing in SD Bay and used some homemade flies tied onto jigheads and did well with the spotties.

Just wondering maybe if a bucktail or a malibu jig would work down there.

IF IT WIGGLES

Jeff, flies, spoons, plactics, any metal. I do not think anything you could throw or troll with a rod would NOT catch fish in Baja or for that matter up here.
In Vietnam during the war, fishing gear was hard to find. I caught fish that looked and tasted like our WSB up to 40 lbs on the old metal can/bottle opener
and it caught other kinds of fish even Tarpon. When I got back to San Diego in the early 80's that same lure caught calicos, sandies, butt and surface tails too. It just has to wiggle, flash or move in the water.
You may have to play with weight, color, wobble and materials but they do catch fish, some times very many because it is new to the local fish. Most fish are opertunists if it moves they attack, that is natures way. EXPERIMENT and prove it your self, it will make us all better fishermen.

[walrus]

Bob,

Last November I was bit off by Sierra's several times at the wire/braid connection. I know the same thing happen to others at $20 to $40 per lure.
Apparently the fish see the the crimp or swivel and strike it.

Experimenting, I'm tying a seven strand 30lb. wire directly to 30lb. braid with a John Collins knot.

So far the connection seems strong enough, and is small to escape the Sierras' attention. I won't be back down there until June, so I'll toss this idea out there if others want to try it out.

[YakDout]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I lost tons of jigs. I stopped using mono and flouro and was fishing straight braid after the first 2 days becaus I didn't have any wire with me. I was still getting bit off on 65 lb braid no problem. The problem is that the wire may detour a pelagic or two from taking your jig. And you never know what's going to bite or what's boiling. I can tell you that the schools of dorado and big roosters were a little line shy with heavy mono/braid. So add wire to your jig, and may lose out on some bites. Regardless, I'm bringing every jig I own in October.

[buddha]

Maybe the reflection of the wire is why they are biting the line even with a wire leader attached.

Have you thought of spray painting the wire leader black to minimize reflections?

How long a leader do you think will be effective? 3 feet?

[bigbarrels]

Same problem down there last October. Lost a handful of irons to the Sierra. Crazy when your line suddenly goes limp without a strike. We put wire leaders on and the action dropped off big time. Also lost a bunch of irons to the rocks on some big ass freight training fish. can't wait to go back down there but definitely bringing a ton of irons/lures

[walrus]

The wire, swivels, and crimps I use are black. Anyway the issue isn't the wire getting bit, no problem there, wire saves lures. Without wire my loss of terminal tackle would be three or four times higher. I would not even try fish Baja without wire if the Sierra are around.

I found sierras often target the the swivel or crimp connection point to braid. Their teeth cuts through braid like a sharp razor blade, and you lose the entire wire leader and lure.

I think what is happening is the swivel and/or crimp is mistaken for a little minnow darting thru the water by sierras. So I'm looking to make the connection point as small as possible and less likely to draw attention.

[makobob]

Originally Posted by walrus

The wire, swivels, and crimps I use are black. Anyway the issue isn't the wire getting bit, no problem there, wire saves lures. Without wire my loss of terminal tackle would be three or four times higher. I would not even try fish Baja without wire if the Sierra are around.

I found sierras often target the the swivel or crimp connection point to braid. Their teeth cuts through braid like a sharp razor blade, and you lose the entire wire leader and lure.

I think what is happening is the swivel and/or crimp is mistaken for a little minnow darting thru the water by sierras. So I'm looking to make the connection point as small as possible and less likely to draw attention.

Wally, that RP/John Collins knot is EXACTLY what you want. Start with a 20" Multistrand wire, attatch leader to lure. Take and make loop in leader and tie the RP knot to your line. This makes a leader about 12-16 inches long. It will not have much bulk and it is not flashy or shiny. It solves the problem if the tags are kept short, I use 20 or 30 lb test leader for sierra, if fishing for Cabrilla you might want a longer leader and heavier leader material.

[captnblood34]

Originally Posted by makobob

EXPERIMENT and prove it your self, it will make us all better fishermen.

I like it

[FlyFishinYakr]

Sounds like these Sierra's are like the pesky 'hoos we run into on the 7-10 day trips down at Alijos and Hurricane Bank.
If so, every ring, swivel, snap etc had to be black or coffee colored. To use anything else was to take a chance of getting "cut-off". Anything shinny just got whacked!
Sounds like fun...or a challenge!
FFY

[Mahigeer]

Did the beer can opener lure, looked like this?

[makobob]

You got the right can opener but never found any macs over there. Funny what will work when you have nothing else to use. The first fish you catch with one builds your confidence.

[PapaDave]

I've been using a wire called Knot2Kinky, pretty strong and very thin, comes in 18Lb on up. Have caught numerous Leos and Threshers on it.

Just took a look and they've added 6lb and 12lb to the inventory.

[Mahigeer]

Originally Posted by makobob

You got the right can opener but never found any macs over there. Funny what will work when you have nothing else to use. The first fish you catch with one builds your confidence.

Well, the story behind this lure is as follows:
My good friend Ken Jones who has written two Pier Fishing in California books, had a story in his second book. Pier Fishing in California 2^nd addition.


It seems that sometimes back in 1960’s there were so many barracuda being caught that the tackle shops ran out of lures.
An angler used what is known as “church key” opener to make a lure. Similar to the one in the picture.
He was catching barracuda with it.

I liked the story so much that I had to try it. I have caught mackerel and lizard fish with it. However, I don’t use it much, so no barracuda yet.

This coming May, I may try it in Cancun to see what happens.

[CR Yaker]

Down here in Pacific CR, I catch Macs/Sierra and Barracuda all the time, never a lost lure. Use 80lb fluoro connected with very small swivel to braid. Wire can work in a heated feeding moment but fluoro works best.

[buddha]

Originally Posted by CR Yaker

Down here in Pacific CR, I catch Macs/Sierra and Barracuda all the time, never a lost lure. Use 80lb fluoro connected with very small swivel to braid. Wire can work in a heated feeding moment but fluoro works best.

How long a piece of fluoro do you use?

[CR Yaker]

Originally Posted by buddha

How long a piece of fluoro do you use?

At least stretched from arm to arm to start out with (It will grow shorter with lure changes), sometimes longer if I'm targeting bigger prey. I always tie directly to the lure. For trolling lures I use a perfect loop knot, for better action.
Note: Often I'm targeting Dorado, heavy fluoro gives the best of all worlds.