Skunk Free Again at Triadelphia With Home Brew Worm Harness - 8/13/13

[DanMarino]

Went with Jr. to Triadelphia today to go fishing. Got chased off the water prematurely due to a thunder storm. Jr. got his learners permit today, so fishing was a good excuse to have him do some driving. He handled the kayak trailer just swell.

I decided to use one of my home made worm harnesses today and troll with a gulp worm. We hit a different launch point on the upper end of the reservoir and the water was very stained. I used a white bladed spinner in hopes of attracting a fish in the murky conditions.

Here's what I caught. It was small, but fought well. It was hanging out from a rocky point in about 14 feet of water.


Here's a picture of the worm harness I made.


As the storm approached we came across some big schools of shad. They were at the surface and moving around a lot. As we paddled back to the car in the rain, I saw two different bass attack the schools of shad on the surface. It was neat to see and I was bummed that we had to hustle back to the car to avoid the lightning.

13

[camelbird]

cool looking lure and nice job on the no skunkage

[perchy]

Nice job Tom. Must be a good feeling to make your own lure, and then catch something on it. That worm harness looks like something out of a canadian walleye fisherman's arsenal. Seems like walleye tactics work well for these highland reservoir bass, since they live down deeper. One thing I'm thinking of trying next are flutter spoons along ledges and thrown into those schools of shad. I'm thinking spoons put out a lot of flash and vibration to help with the murky conditions, and can be fished deeper.

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS6Ls7MOjB8

[DanMarino]

Thanks guys. The worm harness is a walleye fishing technique. I use a 3/4 ounce bottom bouncer and troll around with the worm harness. I got tired of using night crawlers and switched over to some gulp worms with good results. It is certainly a multi-species technique. So far I've caught several largemouth bass, a couple small walleyes, one small striper, some yellow perch, a couple catfish, a bunch of crappies, and a boat load of white perch. If I don't feel like the worm harness, then I'll troll a floating rapala minnow behind the bottom bouncer with similar results. Sure beats getting skunked and you never know what is going to be on the other end of the line.

Last year for my birthday or for Christmas my wife got me a worm harness kit from Jans Netcraft. It's a great kit and I'll be able to make worm harnesses for the rest of my life without needing to buy any more supplies.