There are thousands of powerful techniques to fool different species of fish and get them to react. Here’s one that’s really off the beaten track.
• Also read: Quiz for anglers
Major American publications that have offered very interesting writing for several decades include Outdoor Life, Field and Stream, and, my favorite, In-Fisherman.
The authors of the latter title, Ron and Al Lindner, were innovative, avant-garde and incredibly talented anglers, not to mention that they were often backed by scientists who backed their diverse theories with common sense.
They are the ones who developed the famous Lindy Rig for zander. I had all her books and magazines and listened to her in-Fisherman show, which still airs as Lindner’s Angling Edge.
competitions
In 2003 I was invited to compete in two of Canada’s largest fishing tournaments of the time: the KBI Kenora Bass International at Lake of the Woods and the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, both in Ontario.
I come to the first event and to my amazement all the Lindners are there and after two days of competition Jim and Bill Lindner win the KBI by a wide margin. A few weeks later at Fort Frances with my partner we landed 40.88 pounds in three days for our 15 largest fish and finished 52nd out of 136 teams.
Guess who finished first at 55.46 pounds? It’s the Lindners again! The following year, at the same tournament, they again won the palm at 53.82 pounds. Wow!
In the winter of 2005, the Lindners reveal their successful technique, which they call moping, to their numerous readers.
They explain that they target smallmouth bass that swim near the schools of forage fish and fish them in mid-water. They use a jig head and a flexible body in the shape of a mine.
They drop their presentation over the fish and wait without making a move. You don’t move. After a while, the targeted fighters can’t take it anymore when these attractive, immobile invaders invade their arc of attack.
Nowadays
Jeff Gustafson, aka Gussy, 41, fished with the Lindners on several occasions and learned a lot from them. So much so that in 2021 this Canadian won the Bassmaster Elite at Tennessee River with the famous moping that many now refer to as the Damiki rig, with a jig clad in a 4-inch Z-Man Scented Jerk ShadZ.
On March 26, Gussy triumphed again at the Bassmaster Classic World Championship using the same approach and bait. However, it featured 1⁄4 and 3/8 ounce jig heads that perfectly mimicked the face of a minnow.
The use of the new real-time sonars helps enormously with this technique to know the exact position of the bass.
If you want an identical effect, make sure your jig has a straight 90 degree grommet so you can present everything perfectly horizontally.
Soft offerings like the Yum Break’N Shad, Houdini Shad, Yum FF Sonar Minnow, Z-Man Jerk ShadZ, PowerBait The Champ Minnow, Strike King 3X Baby Z-Too Soft Jerkbait, KVD Perfect Plastics Caffeine Shad Soft Jerkbait 4 and others by The genre has great potential.
variant
Outdoor Canada magazine’s prolific Ontario columnist, Gord Pyzer, recently published a very interesting article on the famous moping, but this time with extended wobblers that remain horizontally motionless in suspension.
With a mid-water suspension model that breaks away at a depth of 2 to 4 meters, such as B. a Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue, a Bandit Suspending Minnow, a Bomber Suspending Pro Long A, a Down Deep Husky Jerk, an X-Rap Deep, a KVD Jerkbait 200, and a Cotton Cordell Hanging Ripplin’ Red Fin, etc a really long shot.
Make 4 or 5 quick spins of the handle with your reel to quickly dive the Devon to its maximum depth. Then stop and let him linger and fool around for a few seconds as if to brave the nearby perch.
With such swimming, less active predators will repeatedly approach it, and then when they realize it is not attempting to flee, they will be unable to resist it. The break can last as long as you want as long as you have confidence in the place you are mining.
Then take up the slack created in the line, take a jerk or two, then stop again, and so on, until you reach the boat.
In many cases, the attack occurs during the breaks.
You don’t have to state that, as some followers say, you’ll get your wrists rolled if you reactivate the victim after their enforced rest. Fish, which can come from depths of up to 7 to 10 meters, leap out with their mouths wide open.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Campeau
equipment
Needless to say, sonars with a Livescope Panoptix probe, allowing you to see if there are fish in front of you, are an undeniable advantage. You even have a front row seat to watch as they exit the chasm and rush to your presentation.
A medium stiff 6.6 to 7 foot heavy or light casting rod will do. Load your reel with a thin, manageable braid like the 15lb/Test P-Line X-Braid with a 10lb fluorocarbon hooklink.
If you see minnows jumping to the surface, they are being chased by a predator and have no place to go. This inevitably alerts you to the presence of a possible attacker. Throw a Devon in the center of the action and make him stand still, as if he doesn’t care or fear other provocative specimens. There should be reactions.
Now imagine autumn when the Pisces get together and become much more active and reckless!
► I invite you to follow me Facebook.
Can you share information about this story with us?
Write to us or call us directly at 1-800-63SCOOP.