01-04-2006, 07:51 AM
I'm another one that has just gotten serious about jigging recently, and now that I'm just starting to unlock some of its secrets, I wish I had been doing it alot more over the course of the last 15 or 20 years.
I rarely held anything but a fly rod until I was about 18, and started getting a few friends with boats, and shortly after a boat of my own. My best buddy's family has had a boat floating at the Gorge since the late 70's, as he still does today, and once that place gets in your heart it gets hard to want to fish many others.
This post is especially relevant to Flaming Gorge, because to catch fish consistently up there, you have to get pretty good at one or the other. Especially when fishing for Lake Trout. And you have to get really good at one or the other to catch the real pigs that lurk in the depths.
For a few years in the early 90's, after we graduated from high school, we chased a dream of catching big Gorge Mack's consistently on fly rods. We fished hard one whole summer nearly every day, having one of the boys from the dock run us out to the big shelf in Linwood, and drop us off at first light with our float tubes, then running back out around noon to pick us up.
We kick trolled heavily weighted flies with super fast sinking line, and caught quite a few smaller ones (3-8 lbs.), and an occasional decent one (10-15 lbs.)
But the biggest we ever caught was around 20 lbs, And to be quite honest, once you've had to pee in your neoprene’s a couple of times because its a mile and a half kick to the nearest shore, that became a much less attractive option.
So we decided to learn how to troll...
And we started to get pretty good at that with a few years practice. Now trolling for Kokes can definitely be pretty easy fishing because usually your fishing in deep open water for suspended fish. Find the schools, run one of many flashing lures at 1.5 - 2 mph at the right depth, your going to catch some fish. And tasty ones at that.
But like Ash said, trolling for Mack's is a different story. You really need to keep your bait within 5 or so feet of the bottom to be effective (Usually). And there is many a nasty underwater shelf hungry for your rigger ball or boom at the Gorge, so it does require some practice and focus. But you can absolutley have some success. And with the explosion in the popularity of jigging, it's very true that those fish can get pushed off the humps. In fact I like to just Follow Jim from hump to hump, and then troll in 50 ft circles around his boat.
He loves that, you should try it sometime.[
]
But then one fine fall day in 2003 I finally got ON Jim's boat, and sat still on calm water, and saw that tiny tap, and felt that "one on one", "fisherman vs. fish" sensation. And just like my first fish on a dry fly, I was hooked...
So we decided we had better to learn how to jig...
Which after 2 and a half years of really focusing on, I feel like I'm still an amateur at, and just beginning to understand. I still get my fair share of skunks, but I have also had some really good days. And, I have found that the same techniques that work at the Gorge, also work to entice bigger than average trout out of local spots like Jordanelle, DC, The Berry, and others. Not to mention that is seems almost essential for most of the warmwater species. (still never caught a stinking Walleye!)
So... And you wont hear this kind of thing from me often, but I think that everyone that has posted up has been right...
Both jigging and trolling can be very effective, and really fun if done the right way, in the right place,and at the right time. They can both be really boring too, mainly when your not catching fish.
I do and enjoy both...
In fact if the almighty fish gods let me have my way. My day starts at the crack of dawn pulling away from Lucerne. If the water is calm, I spend the early part of the day jigging for Mack's, but if there's a chop I will still work the riggerball along the bottom. I've found that the Mack bite is best before 12:00 anyway, and that’s always the best shot for the really calm water that you need. About then, I like to pull back in a little cove, have lunch, and either strip flies with sinking line for rainbows and browns cruising the shoreline, or dropshot for some smallies.
The Kokanee bite usually turns on in the afternoon. About 4:20 I like to head back out to the lake, drop the rigger balls down 48 ft with a needlefish swimming somewhere behind it. Pour some kind of a fruity islandy tasting drink. And just kind of RELAX...
Now that my friend, is a perfect day...
[signature]
I rarely held anything but a fly rod until I was about 18, and started getting a few friends with boats, and shortly after a boat of my own. My best buddy's family has had a boat floating at the Gorge since the late 70's, as he still does today, and once that place gets in your heart it gets hard to want to fish many others.
This post is especially relevant to Flaming Gorge, because to catch fish consistently up there, you have to get pretty good at one or the other. Especially when fishing for Lake Trout. And you have to get really good at one or the other to catch the real pigs that lurk in the depths.
For a few years in the early 90's, after we graduated from high school, we chased a dream of catching big Gorge Mack's consistently on fly rods. We fished hard one whole summer nearly every day, having one of the boys from the dock run us out to the big shelf in Linwood, and drop us off at first light with our float tubes, then running back out around noon to pick us up.
We kick trolled heavily weighted flies with super fast sinking line, and caught quite a few smaller ones (3-8 lbs.), and an occasional decent one (10-15 lbs.)
But the biggest we ever caught was around 20 lbs, And to be quite honest, once you've had to pee in your neoprene’s a couple of times because its a mile and a half kick to the nearest shore, that became a much less attractive option.
So we decided to learn how to troll...
And we started to get pretty good at that with a few years practice. Now trolling for Kokes can definitely be pretty easy fishing because usually your fishing in deep open water for suspended fish. Find the schools, run one of many flashing lures at 1.5 - 2 mph at the right depth, your going to catch some fish. And tasty ones at that.
But like Ash said, trolling for Mack's is a different story. You really need to keep your bait within 5 or so feet of the bottom to be effective (Usually). And there is many a nasty underwater shelf hungry for your rigger ball or boom at the Gorge, so it does require some practice and focus. But you can absolutley have some success. And with the explosion in the popularity of jigging, it's very true that those fish can get pushed off the humps. In fact I like to just Follow Jim from hump to hump, and then troll in 50 ft circles around his boat.
He loves that, you should try it sometime.[
] But then one fine fall day in 2003 I finally got ON Jim's boat, and sat still on calm water, and saw that tiny tap, and felt that "one on one", "fisherman vs. fish" sensation. And just like my first fish on a dry fly, I was hooked...
So we decided we had better to learn how to jig...
Which after 2 and a half years of really focusing on, I feel like I'm still an amateur at, and just beginning to understand. I still get my fair share of skunks, but I have also had some really good days. And, I have found that the same techniques that work at the Gorge, also work to entice bigger than average trout out of local spots like Jordanelle, DC, The Berry, and others. Not to mention that is seems almost essential for most of the warmwater species. (still never caught a stinking Walleye!)
So... And you wont hear this kind of thing from me often, but I think that everyone that has posted up has been right...
Both jigging and trolling can be very effective, and really fun if done the right way, in the right place,and at the right time. They can both be really boring too, mainly when your not catching fish.
I do and enjoy both...
In fact if the almighty fish gods let me have my way. My day starts at the crack of dawn pulling away from Lucerne. If the water is calm, I spend the early part of the day jigging for Mack's, but if there's a chop I will still work the riggerball along the bottom. I've found that the Mack bite is best before 12:00 anyway, and that’s always the best shot for the really calm water that you need. About then, I like to pull back in a little cove, have lunch, and either strip flies with sinking line for rainbows and browns cruising the shoreline, or dropshot for some smallies.
The Kokanee bite usually turns on in the afternoon. About 4:20 I like to head back out to the lake, drop the rigger balls down 48 ft with a needlefish swimming somewhere behind it. Pour some kind of a fruity islandy tasting drink. And just kind of RELAX...
Now that my friend, is a perfect day...
[signature]