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I keep my rods rigged between trips and I hang them from the ceiling of my garage so that they are out of harm's way. The exception to that is my fly rod collection. I break them down if I don't anticipate using them in the near future and store them in their rod tubes.
Like many on this forum I have a good collection of rods. But I noticed the other day that tied on each was the same or a similar lure. In other words, I have a number of rods but my lure and fly selection was minimal.
So I took a few photos this morning of what's on them. Those photos follow:
I had two fly rods rigged from recent trips for white perch and stripers and each contained that old standby, a Clouser Minnow.
P1020882.jpg
The smaller fly on the left is a size 4 on a 5 wt. that I used for perch. The larger one is probably a 2/0, I'm not certain, that I threw on a recent striper outing with a 9 wt. from John Veil's center console. You simply cannot go wrong with a Clouser in our tidal waters. White perch and Stripers are cousins in the fish family and their behaviors are similar. They even swim together so it is not unusual to catch stripers on the smaller Clouser when targeting white perch.
I pulled two light spinning rods from the ceiling that I use for white perch. Here is what is tied to their leaders:
P1020884.jpg P1020885.jpg
If don't catch a white perch with either of those two lures, my assumption is that they simply are not present or willing. In fact, I use them for scouting white perch. Sometimes before I throw a fly at white perch, I will toss the above lures into the water. If I get a strike, I'll immediately switch to my fly rod. Or, if I have worked an area with a fly and gotten no strikes, I will use the above lures to see if perch are ignoring the fly, which they will indeed do. Although I like to fly fish, the truth is that I can catch more fish with conventional tackle. I fly fish because I like the entire process from casting to manipulating the fly by hand to retrieving the fish the same way. I don't do it because I think it's the most effective way to catch fish from my kayak.
I also use the above lures and flies when targeting pickerels and I will do the same thing -- Search for them with the conventional tackle and switch to a fly when I know they are present.
Additionally, I know from my experience in FL that specks will hit Clousers. Unfortunately, I've never targeted them in MD. I've been encouraged to hear of sporadic speck catches in my area of the Bay. Maybe this is the year they'll move farther north than normal. Or better yet, I'll eventually meet up with the SMOG group on a trip to their waters.
Next, I took two medium-light weight spinning rods I use for stripers from my ceiling rack. Each had a jig and a 3 inch paddletail attached.
P1020886.jpg
The smaller green jig head is 1/8 oz. Its eyes have worn off from ample use and that's typical. The stripers don't care. I cast this jig to the shallows on spinning gear. Between the weight of the jig and the paddletail, I can cast it a good 25 to 30 yards if necessary. Or I can flip it into tight quarters. The yellow jig head also shows some wear. It's 1/2 oz. and mostly I troll with it. However, I will cast it on occasion in deeper water and of course I can cast it farther than the 1/8 oz. jig.
I've never found the color of the jig head to matter. But stripers sometimes show a preference for the color of the paddletail. I do believe, however, that they find white hard to refuse when they're in a feeding mood. So while I carry other colors of the padletails with me, my go-to color is what you see in the photos.
I have a 7 foot slow action spinning rod that I had built for tidal topwater. This same lure has been tied on it for well over a year:
P1020887.jpg
Although it's a freshwater bass popper I use it quite effectively for stripers. I feel no need to try other topwater plugs as long as this one works and it does. You can see that I removed two trebles and replaced them with one in-line hook.
I also catch stripers on top with foam fly rod poppers. I have none rigged at the moment because on my last outing it was too windy to use a popper effectively. Not only would it have been difficult to cast but the surface wave action would have made it hard for a striper to hit it. Below are two foam poppers that I use for stripers on the fly when conditions allow:
P1020881 (1).jpg
Very simple and easy to make. The key is to keep it chugging water. When stripers hit topwater, I'm not convinced they're discriminating. I think they see a disturbance and go for it. So my advice is to move it hard and fast to attract their attention. Also, don't stop moving the popper when they miss it as they often do. They'll come back to it. If you stop moving it, most of the time, they'll stop chasing it.
I use fly rods for fresh water much more than conventional tackle but I have not been on a freshwater kayak outing for some time. So I had no rods rigged for that kind of fishing. However, here is a peek into my freshwater boat box:
P1020888.jpg P1020889.jpg
It may look like a lot of variation but mainly the difference is color and size. I use Clousers, wooly buggers, foam poppers and foam spiders. They will catch anything I target in fresh water.
Although I fish for various species in fresh and tidal waters with numerous rods, my lure and fly selection is by comparison limited. That's the main thing I wanted to share here. I doubt this is usual. I suspect most of us learn that it's better to become proficient with a few bait options than trying to master many.
So, for those of you who keep your rods rigged, what is tied on them at the moment?
Like many on this forum I have a good collection of rods. But I noticed the other day that tied on each was the same or a similar lure. In other words, I have a number of rods but my lure and fly selection was minimal.
So I took a few photos this morning of what's on them. Those photos follow:
I had two fly rods rigged from recent trips for white perch and stripers and each contained that old standby, a Clouser Minnow.
P1020882.jpg
The smaller fly on the left is a size 4 on a 5 wt. that I used for perch. The larger one is probably a 2/0, I'm not certain, that I threw on a recent striper outing with a 9 wt. from John Veil's center console. You simply cannot go wrong with a Clouser in our tidal waters. White perch and Stripers are cousins in the fish family and their behaviors are similar. They even swim together so it is not unusual to catch stripers on the smaller Clouser when targeting white perch.
I pulled two light spinning rods from the ceiling that I use for white perch. Here is what is tied to their leaders:
P1020884.jpg P1020885.jpg
If don't catch a white perch with either of those two lures, my assumption is that they simply are not present or willing. In fact, I use them for scouting white perch. Sometimes before I throw a fly at white perch, I will toss the above lures into the water. If I get a strike, I'll immediately switch to my fly rod. Or, if I have worked an area with a fly and gotten no strikes, I will use the above lures to see if perch are ignoring the fly, which they will indeed do. Although I like to fly fish, the truth is that I can catch more fish with conventional tackle. I fly fish because I like the entire process from casting to manipulating the fly by hand to retrieving the fish the same way. I don't do it because I think it's the most effective way to catch fish from my kayak.
I also use the above lures and flies when targeting pickerels and I will do the same thing -- Search for them with the conventional tackle and switch to a fly when I know they are present.
Additionally, I know from my experience in FL that specks will hit Clousers. Unfortunately, I've never targeted them in MD. I've been encouraged to hear of sporadic speck catches in my area of the Bay. Maybe this is the year they'll move farther north than normal. Or better yet, I'll eventually meet up with the SMOG group on a trip to their waters.
Next, I took two medium-light weight spinning rods I use for stripers from my ceiling rack. Each had a jig and a 3 inch paddletail attached.
P1020886.jpg
The smaller green jig head is 1/8 oz. Its eyes have worn off from ample use and that's typical. The stripers don't care. I cast this jig to the shallows on spinning gear. Between the weight of the jig and the paddletail, I can cast it a good 25 to 30 yards if necessary. Or I can flip it into tight quarters. The yellow jig head also shows some wear. It's 1/2 oz. and mostly I troll with it. However, I will cast it on occasion in deeper water and of course I can cast it farther than the 1/8 oz. jig.
I've never found the color of the jig head to matter. But stripers sometimes show a preference for the color of the paddletail. I do believe, however, that they find white hard to refuse when they're in a feeding mood. So while I carry other colors of the padletails with me, my go-to color is what you see in the photos.
I have a 7 foot slow action spinning rod that I had built for tidal topwater. This same lure has been tied on it for well over a year:
P1020887.jpg
Although it's a freshwater bass popper I use it quite effectively for stripers. I feel no need to try other topwater plugs as long as this one works and it does. You can see that I removed two trebles and replaced them with one in-line hook.
I also catch stripers on top with foam fly rod poppers. I have none rigged at the moment because on my last outing it was too windy to use a popper effectively. Not only would it have been difficult to cast but the surface wave action would have made it hard for a striper to hit it. Below are two foam poppers that I use for stripers on the fly when conditions allow:
P1020881 (1).jpg
Very simple and easy to make. The key is to keep it chugging water. When stripers hit topwater, I'm not convinced they're discriminating. I think they see a disturbance and go for it. So my advice is to move it hard and fast to attract their attention. Also, don't stop moving the popper when they miss it as they often do. They'll come back to it. If you stop moving it, most of the time, they'll stop chasing it.
I use fly rods for fresh water much more than conventional tackle but I have not been on a freshwater kayak outing for some time. So I had no rods rigged for that kind of fishing. However, here is a peek into my freshwater boat box:
P1020888.jpg P1020889.jpg
It may look like a lot of variation but mainly the difference is color and size. I use Clousers, wooly buggers, foam poppers and foam spiders. They will catch anything I target in fresh water.
Although I fish for various species in fresh and tidal waters with numerous rods, my lure and fly selection is by comparison limited. That's the main thing I wanted to share here. I doubt this is usual. I suspect most of us learn that it's better to become proficient with a few bait options than trying to master many.
So, for those of you who keep your rods rigged, what is tied on them at the moment?
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