Many seasoned plug-anglers I know still have their ol’ favorites hanging in the garage. On many the paint has been worn off due to excessive fish hits. But they still catch fish. Why? It comes down to the action.
Top plug-anglers were more interested in finding plugs that had erratic actions than ones with fancy paint jobs.
Mind you, erratic action is not the same as a plug being out of tune. Enter the Mag Lip and Hawg Nose Flatfish.
“We call it a skip-beat action,” shares Ramsey, speaking of the two plugs crafted by Worden’s Lures. “These plugs are tediously designed to mimic the highly desired, precise, yet sporadic movement that catches the attention of fish. They’re designed to run with an occasional darting movement, but not to the degree it will warp the plug out of tune.”
If you ‘re fishing plugs without a skip-beat action, one trick to introduce movement is to pop the rod tip so it moves a couple feet. This pulls the line tight, then quickly relaxes it, giving the plug sporadic movement. Some anglers will release their bail, allowing the plug to start floating, then snap it shut and reel in the slack so the plug quickly dives.
If casting and retrieving plugs, do so in sporadic bursts, not always at a constant rate. This will cause the plug to move up and down, maybe even side-to-side. If trolling plugs, try zig-zagging back and forth to add action.
While some gear is designed to move in sporadic fashion, some isn’t, which means you have to make it move in a non-rhythmic manner if that’s a goal. Take spinner-fishing, for instance. If wanting to create movement, try fishing with a relaxed wrist when working fast current. Let the spinner work in the natural current, don’t force it through. This will allow the hardware to fall back and slow down, an action that mimics an injured baitfish.
Another way to add movement to spinners, especially those being trolled, is to thread a series of Lil’ Corkies onto the wire frame. Of course, you have to make your own spinners to achieve this, but many folks do it.
When drift fishing, oftentimes the strike comes at the bottom end of the drift.
This could be due to the fact that as we let line out to increase the amount of water being covered, the bait drops closer to the bottom. Then, when we take the belly out of the line, the bait moves back up. This action can very effective in getting strikes.
This spring, no matter how you’re fishing for springers, consider shaking things up by adding movement to your gear. In addition to smell and sound, movement plays a big part in attracting the attention of fish, something that will put more springers in the box.
Note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s popular book, 300 Tips To More Salmon & Steelhead, send a check for $30.00 (free S&H) to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or visit www.scotthaugen.com.