11/27 Huron trip

[Eyezcrazy]

We finished November with a bang today. 3 man limit of 5-6 pound fish
and released another 20. Husky Jerks outperformed bandits and P10’s. Anything orange was hot today. 55 back unassisted at 1.8.

I learned a few things this year. You don’t need a mono or fluro leader for trolling cranks, straight braid works just fine. We caught just as many if not more fish without the leader. I also didn’t realize you should only use a snaps for cranks, not swivel snaps. The swivel snap takes away from the action of the lure.

This is my 33rd year fishing Lake Erie and I am still learning. Thank you to everyone who shares their knowledge to make us all better fishermen and women.

Tight lines!

Jim

[island troller]

Yes braided with a snap to the lure works fine. Don't let anyone tell you different.

[fisherman 2]

i've been useing stren 12 lb. yellow/gold line right to the lure for the last couple years with no slow down on bites...doesn't seem to bother the fish.

[Baha299]

Thats a nice looking cooler of fish along with some good info on the snaps. Been fishing Lake Erie for a long time but only trolling the last 3 years. Always something new to learn and one of the reasons I read and try to participate on this site.

Baha299

[itsbob]

Thanks for post Jim,didn't see you post as many trips this year compared to years past.I have read the same from the best trollers,no leader needed even if using hi vis line right to crank.Yeah,your right that snap to cranks is better than swivels too.

[Eyezcrazy]

Thanks for post Jim,didn't see you post as many trips this year compared to years past.I have read the same from the best trollers,no leader needed even if using hi vis line right to crank.Yeah,your right that snap to cranks is better than swivels too.

Thanks Bob. The reason I’m not posting as often is because a lot of the time I am getting info from some of my friends and I don’t want to give information that isn’t mine. I didn’t receive any intel for this trip, so I was good to go. There are some damn good captains on this site and I’ve learned a lot from them.

[itsbob]

Yeah Jim same here.A lot of the time I get fishing location from others that I'm not privy to post.But I will post the other info like type of lures,colors leads and speed that is helpful to others.I too am learning new things trolling every year.It's the small details that can make a big difference in how much you catch.Never be so rigid to not try something new.It always amazes me how many different ways people catch fish.

[slimshady]

We finished November with a bang today. 3 man limit of 5-6 pound fish
and released another 20. Husky Jerks outperformed bandits and P10’s. Anything orange was hot today. 55 back unassisted at 1.8.

I learned a few things this year. You don’t need a mono or fluro leader for trolling cranks, straight braid works just fine. We caught just as many if not more fish without the leader. I also didn’t realize you should only use a snaps for cranks, not swivel snaps. The swivel snap takes away from the action of the lure.

This is my 33rd year fishing Lake Erie and I am still learning. Thank you to everyone who shares their knowledge to make us all better fishermen and women.

Tight lines!

Jim

Thanks for the report and nice job on the fish. The main issue with running braid is that it doesn't work very well with most clips on in-line planer boards. It slides right through my off-shore clips. Not to mention that I like to grab the leader and just flip in anything under 4 lbs to keep it out of the net. If I did that with braid it would slice my hands up. It also doesn't provide the same shock absorbing characteristics that mono does. Now when I am casting or jigging, braid is the bomb. I also like it for running Dipseys. But not for trolling cranks, IMO.

As far as DDHJ's go vs Bandits, it all depends on the day. DDHJ's have a narrower bill, hence a tighter wobble. They land in between a Flicker Minnow and a Bandit. I took a grinder to some of my Bandits and made them narrower as well.

You can see the difference in the photo below. The standard one is on the left. I made some just a bit narrower, and then others even narrower yet. On Saturday, I caught fish on both, so it was hard to tell which worked better. But it does give me variations of wobble to play with along with the various patterns, etc.

[itsbob]

Thats a great idea on grinding the bill to change the action on the lure.First i heard of someone doing that with their cranks.I have a difficult enough time storing and organizing my cranks.Adding cracks that you have custom ground must make for another layer of organizing your gear.

[Eyezcrazy]

This was my first time fishing the DHJ14’s. They seem to be a better made lure than the Bandits. I know the Bandits are made in China. Rapala makes lure in a couple different countries, I’m not sure where the DHJ are made, but they seem better quality.