Walleye

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by SAMBOLIE

Travis, It may work for Juice. His light are not very bright. Think you know what I mean.

HAHA! At least my bulbs not blown.

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by SAMBOLIE

Travis, It may work for Juice. His light are not very bright. Think you know what I mean.

Ha!


Topwater1, the line can depend on what your are throwing, what for and when. A Trout Magnet I would not go over 4lbs preferably 2lbs with a fluorocarbon leader. A bigger bait like a 5-6" stick bait or bigger it really doesn't matter as much at night. I have used 14lb mono on big stick baits and it did not phase them. This was however further downstream in darkness.

If there is light or daytime visibility go as small diameter as you are comfortable with. A night in total darkness use something heavy enough to pull out of hangups and not risk breaking off a big fish. They are not line shy at that point.

[jad2t]

I used 15# flouro leaders all last Summer and caught plenty of big trout, walleye, and stripers at night. This Summer when I started going I wasn't having as good of luck as last year, especially with the Walleye. I dropped down to 8# leaders and things are picking up very much. I don't know if it was time of year or line size but either way, I'm sticking with what works and a bit looser of drag than I had last Summer.

[Pinwheeled]

Originally Posted by XxthejuicexX

I am still fairly new to fishing at night there, I've only been 6-8 times so I am still learning. I've still not had a good night catching there. Well, short walleye tend to be my specialty that and losing big browns.

Same here. I've only really spent a night down there a handful of times. I'd sure love to see some of the fish I've lost. I'm sure a few were probably rockfish but I'd like to think most were big Browns. I have a hard time keeping fish buttoned up on jerkbaits.




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[jad2t]

What jerkbaits are you losing fish on? If you're using Rattlin Rogues, you should definitely keep using them, but you should have changed your trebles out immediately after opening the package. The ones they come with are awful. Too small, bend easily, and you lose fish. I replace all mine with KVD Elite trebles and almost never lose one now.

Also, the only time I've caught rockfish at the dam is during or not long after generation. If the water is low and has been low for a while, you will very rarely find one at the dam. I caught a really nice one that had to be pushing 20 pounds in the waterfall one time last Summer. It wasn't even dark yet either, it was at like 6pm. I threw the jerkbait in there and got a hard hit, missed the hookset, threw back in there and got a hit that pulled about 30 feet of line without stopping after the hookset! I knew I was in for a battle so I sat down and held on. It was hanging over the hawg trough. I let it go because I didn't want that big thing tied to my kayak all night. Later that night I got 2 more around 20" and they came home. I also got about an 18" Brown that night and a few short Walleye. I'd say that was my best night down there.

[Pinwheeled]

Jimmy,
The rockfish I've hooked down there have all been during long periods of generation. Ive never hooked one that I know of on low water. I did do a float from Happy to Betty's one day and saw a ton of big stripers on low water. It was wild but could not get them to eat anything.

I'm sure my losing fish on jerkbaits is from cheap hooks like you said. I'm too lazy to swap them out and I rarely keep anything so I don't worry about it much. I usually throw cheaper jerkbaits down there too so I'm sure they have junk hooks. I just have a hard time throwing a Megabass or Lucky Craft jerkbait on 6lb line. If I'm bass fishing with a jerkbait, it's usually one of those two brands and I don't seem to have any issues.




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[jad2t]

Originally Posted by Pinwheeled

Jimmy,
The rockfish I've hooked down there have all been during long periods of generation. Ive never hooked one that I know of on low water. I did do a float from Happy to Betty's one day and saw a ton of big stripers on low water. It was wild but could not get them to eat anything.

I'm sure my losing fish on jerkbaits is from cheap hooks like you said. I'm too lazy to swap them out and I rarely keep anything so I don't worry about it much. I usually throw cheaper jerkbaits down there too so I'm sure they have junk hooks. I just have a hard time throwing a Megabass or Lucky Craft jerkbait on 6lb line. If I'm bass fishing with a jerkbait, it's usually one of those two brands and I don't seem to have any issues.
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Yea I lost a Shadow Rap down there one time and never bought another one. They're great but so are the Rattlin Rogues and they're only 5 or 6 bucks. Trust me, replace those crappy trebles that come with them and it will make a huge difference in hookup ratio.

On low water you'll start seeing them hang around downstream of Happy Hollow. I've been wading on high but falling water right at the ramp at Happy Hollow and seen them cruising around. It's cool standing in the water 20 feet away from one of those beasts.

[XxthejuicexX]

I'm picking up new hooks today. Never really thought about it till you mentioned it Jimmy. I've lost all but one brown I've hooked into with my jerkbaits.

[Headhunter]

Gamakatsu. Every bait that I own has them. For stripers and hybrids, I use 4x gamakatsu, on all of them.

[FloatNFish]

A pair of split ring pliers helps when changing out the hooks. Those trebles like to bite!