One of the biggest complaints of anglers, during fishing trips during the cold-water season, is fish are not on the bite. To try and solve this age-old problem, I set about making radical changes to my rigging set up.
Usually, I use a standard float leader hook combo during the winter months, when the harbor water temperature does not exceed the mid-sixties. My bait of choice is usually live shrimp. Shrimp this time of year are not very large. As a matter of fact, if you can find a medium sized shrimp at a bait shop, it is worth its weight in gold. After buying six dozen shrimp, I found I had a real problem even hooking my shrimp bait on to my hook due to the size of the small shrimp. So, I decided to make some radical changes to the way I rigged my terminal tackle. Terminal tackle is the set up from the running line that comes off your fishing reel, down to the bait hook at the end of your line. Here are the changes I made to that terminal tackle to see if that would help make some catches.
1. I selected a small circle hook in a size 1/0. Every tackle shop around can fix you up with a good brand 1/0 circle hook.
2. I normally fish with 30 lb. lead to the hook. The leader is the running line down to your bait hook. In normal conditions, I fish with fluorocarbon material. A leader of 30 to 36 inches usually does the trick. After playing around with several brands of fluorocarbon leader material, I found that two brands have a slight edge in the number of hook-ups. Orvis leader and Seaguar leader have slight advantages for me. The change comes in the strength and thickness of the material. As I mentioned, I usually use 30-pound leader material. For my cold-water experiment, I switched to the very light 20 lb. test strength material. If a large fish happens to take your small bait, it will be a test of skill to land the fish, but it is very possible to do just that with the 20 lb. leader material.
3. I found that I would go with a longer leader. Instead of my 36 lengths of leader material, I went with an extra foot of material. It was a little more difficult to cast with that length, but after a few tries you will get the method.
4. I then added a small lead split shot singer, about 18 inches up to the leader, to help add weight to cast the line. Round ball split shot sinkers are great for that job. You can add more weight if you find it will help with your cast.
5. Next and finally, I added a foam float. You slide the line through the body of the float and add the two plastic end pins to keep the float at the distance you selected. The preferred type of float system by DOA can be used. However, my little experiment called for as little hardware at the end of your line as possible in these conditions.
6. Once you have added the shrimp, you are basically ready to go. I found that, because of the small size of the shrimp, I would use two on the hook. I placed one shrimp with its head through the hook, and the second hooked through the tail in an opposing position. Cast and wait. Every so often, rest the bait in about a foot or so to show some movement. When the fish feeds, give it an extra second or two, as the float sinks from the bite to start your reeling.
Fishing alongside my buddy, I had three times more hook-ups than he did, using the more traditional rigging. As he changed over to this terminal rig design, he too began having more hookups. Don’t be afraid to experiment, you may just endup with a new rigging method for this type of cold-water fishing.
Tight lines.
