grillebilly
Empty Head
Fished before dark last night and at dawn this morning and had some of the best bass fishing ever. All topwater on a Tiny Torpedo.
Official AK fishing thread
- Thread starter tyeeslayer
- Start date
grillebilly
Empty Head
Fishing has been hit or miss lately. Today it was drizzling on and off and I didn't see a single person or boat all day. Absolutely perfect.
Prettiest fish of the day.
Prettiest fish of the day.
A question for the fishers on here, I got some soft plastics shaped like dragon fly lava, mudeyes they are called here in Australia, and they have an oily smell to them, like motor oil, I read online that fish aren't affected by oily smells and people used to spray WD40 on their lures to attract them. What do people think, I'm going river fishing for trout in a few days and will try them out, it will be interesting to see if they work or not.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Is it not the typical soft plastic smell? Soft plastics can smell like that, and they can also have a release agent residue on them that allows them to release from the moulds at the factory. Or sometimes the plastics themselves release an oily liquid over time.
If you're concerned about it, I've never done this, but you could try giving them a good wash in dish detergent (something without a strong scent) to clean them, and then soak them in clean water (or even the water from the river you plan to fish) until you're ready to fish with them. That's the only thing I can think of that would get rid of any strong or odd odours. Particularly if it's a residue on them.
If you're concerned with any detergent odours after the clean and soak (or if you can't remove the original odour entirely), you can use a fish attractant to cover it up, or you could use WD-40. I've never used it as an attractant, but I know some people have, and I have also heard of a few instances where it was supposedly dynamite. Your mileage may vary. You could always try it, but just be prepared to retie with a new one if it doesn't seem to work.
Hope this helps.
Also, would be willing to share a pic of the plastics you have, and the packaging they come in? Is there any oily residue in the bag?
Cheers.
This is them, the plastic pouch they came in is dry, they were cheap Chinese ones and if you can believe the reviews they work well, I know trout love dragon fly lava as I have caught many on the real thing, I thought these would work well casting them upstream and letting them float down with the current. I have plenty of other lures to use so if they don't work no great loss, will find out in a few days. Like a lot of fisherman I'm always the optimist and searching for something new to try.
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Eywadude
Lunatic Member
This is them, the plastic pouch they came in is dry, they were cheap Chinese ones and if you can believe the reviews they work well, I know trout love dragon fly lava as I have caught many on the real thing, I thought these would work well casting them upstream and letting them float down with the current. I have plenty of other lures to use so if they don't work no great loss, will find out in a few days. Like a lot of fisherman I'm always the optimist and searching for something new to try.
Awwww, darn. The picture won't show for me.
I can't see them, but I do know what dragonfly larvae look like, and they are dynamite for trout. Particularly in black, brown or olive green colours. They should work well, as long as the fish aren't put off by the aroma of them. Oftentimes it's lures that other fishermen aren't using that produce well, so if not many people are using thaem in the waters you'll be fishing, then they just might be the ticket!Best of luck and let us know how they work!
Cheers.
Awwww, darn. The picture won't show for me.
Try now as I manipulated the image into a jpeg, should work now. Thanks for the support, the place is pretty isolated and we might be the only ones there.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Nice. I can see it now and they should work well. Just about any critter that looks like a bug with spindly appendages should get their attention. Especially if it's something a bit out of the ordinary. Best of luck!
Didn't really get a chance to try my new 'bugs' as the rivers were raging torrents, they were breaking their banks making it impossible to wade in them, would have been washed away with bushes and trees lining the sides which made it hard for casting. But all was not lost we went to the lake and caught some big carp on worms, a shame that the lakes here have been infested with them. My wife broke the drought with a nice brown trout, the funny thing about her is I set up her rod, put the worm on the hook and cast it out for her, she just watches it and reels it in if she gets a fish on, then she says how good is fishing. We had a great time overall and now she's talking about us getting a boat so we can get out in the lake where the trout congregate as the carp stick mainly to the edges.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
A woman who wants to get a boat so you can go fishing is a keeper right there!
We have carp galore in many of the lakes in my part of Canada. They are seen as a nuisance here as well, but they have begun to gain more popularity as a gamefish species over the years. I've fished for carp for over 30 years now. How big are the ones you're getting in your waters?Congrats to the wife on getting the brown trout. Isn't that always the way? lol Feel free to share pictures if you have any to share!
The only picture of a carp I have on my computer is this one of a 34 pound/15.5 kg carp I caught when I was about 17-18 or so. One of many. My biggest was 42 pounds/19 kg the first year I started fishing for them in 1993. Caught lots of 30s up to 38 pounds/17 kg, but haven't eclipsed the 40 pound mark since, despite there being many fish larger than my personal best in the waters I fish. Call it beginner's luck or a beginner's curse, one of the two. lol
The carp we caught were way smaller than yours, between 5 - 10 lbs, still felt like a house brick on our light spin gear and they tend to want to just sit there and have you pull them in.
Here is my wife's first trout after we cleaned it, not huge but big enough to eat, lake trout caught here are usually between 1 - 3 lbs with some up to 10 lbs.
Funny story I was fishing the same lake (Dartmouth Dam) way back with my father in law and brother in law, trolling using Celta spinners and not getting a bite. My brother in law had some worms so he tried putting a worm on the treble hooks of his Celta, we laughed at him then bang he caught a fish, then another. My father in law and I looked at each other and said hand over some worms, we caught 14 trout, browns and rainbows in about an hour and a half, used that method for years. If we get a boat like we plan too we will be trying that for sure.
Here is my wife's first trout after we cleaned it, not huge but big enough to eat, lake trout caught here are usually between 1 - 3 lbs with some up to 10 lbs.
Funny story I was fishing the same lake (Dartmouth Dam) way back with my father in law and brother in law, trolling using Celta spinners and not getting a bite. My brother in law had some worms so he tried putting a worm on the treble hooks of his Celta, we laughed at him then bang he caught a fish, then another. My father in law and I looked at each other and said hand over some worms, we caught 14 trout, browns and rainbows in about an hour and a half, used that method for years. If we get a boat like we plan too we will be trying that for sure.
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Nice! Carp can be fun, no matter the size. Like any fish, when you scale down the gear it can become sporty. Years ago, I used to fish for tiny 8-12 inch carp out of a small pond with corn under a float using an ultralight rod and 4-pound test. It was a lot of fun.
Congrats on the catch!
Ross6860
Super Member
Worked well for perch...
So did 2-stroke oil!
No attractant, but this was right before the temps fell to the 30s. Mid-November.
Limit of Lake Erie perch, about 1/4 of them are "Fish Ohio" sized.
![20241117_121112[1].jpg](/forums/data/attachments/3238/3238955-a465065d072070bd4b8ec7cdaa49b8ed.jpg?hash=pGUGXQcgcL "20241117_121112[1].jpg")
Eywadude
Lunatic Member
Beautiful late fall colours. The bottom one in particular is a doppelganger of the ones we get here in the Great Lakes tributaries. I love it when they have olive green backs and chrome/purple sides with purple or crimson cheeks. You simply can't paint colours that beautiful. Looks like you had a good time. Time on the river is always time well spent!
Nice little haul! I strictly only keep 9-12 inchers, so that's about what my bucket typically looks like.
A woman who wants to get a boat so you can go fishing is a keeper right there!
Congrats to the wife on getting the brown trout. Isn't that always the way? lol Feel free to share pictures if you have any to share!
The only picture of a carp I have on my computer is this one of a 34 pound/15.5 kg carp I caught when I was about 17-18 or so. One of many. My biggest was 42 pounds/19 kg the first year I started fishing for them in 1993. Caught lots of 30s up to 38 pounds/17 kg, but haven't eclipsed the 40 pound mark since, despite there being many fish larger than my personal best in the waters I fish. Call it beginner's luck or a beginner's curse, one of the two. lol
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That’s a good fish in anyone’s book.
I love fly fishing for carp on the flats in the Columbia river gorge. It’s like fishing for bonefish or permit. Except instead of white sand and the sound of a warm Caribbean breeze you get brown muck and the sound of semis on the freeway and trains.
The other problem is that the gorge is probably most famous for wind surfing. So the wind blows there most of the time. The only times it doesn’t blow it’s brutally hot! But other than that, it’s great fun!
Cheers………………..Todd
