Go Bright or Go Home!

 To Up Your Catch…Bright May Be Right

By Jim Brang

Fishing Facts, Dec 1983

Most anglers who have tried fire-tail worms and grubs know they are deadly at times. Many anglers are so confident about the bright tail plastics that they seldom if ever use standard, solid color wigglers anymore. Worms and grubs that are completely fluorescent from head to tail are just as deadly at times. They have spelled "skillet" for many bigmouths.

Still, the one place where fluorescent colors are head and shoulders above anything else is in spinnerbaits. Under certain conditions during the summer and fall months, they will outfish regular spinners many times over. Even at times in spring they are superior to the regular spinnerbaits.

WHERE TO USE FLUORESCENT LURES

As in any type of fishing, concentrating on productive areas and working structure properly are vitally important. I am not advocating disregarding all the other variables that affect fish movement and behavior,... I am merely recommending fluorescent lures as an extra tool or advantage for anglers when fish neglect your regular offerings for one or more reasons.

Fished properly and in the right location, fluorescent colored lures will produce anyplace regular colored lures will - and some places they will not. 

Bright lures have produced exceptionally well for me around shallow water weeds, stumps, brush and other cover. 

They have also been effective along mid depth and deep water structure and breaks such as ledges, creek channels, sunken islands, sloping points and other natural and man-made structure.

(did you catch that? Spinnerbaits fished deep on structure....the reduced amount of light in deeper water may work well with the fluorescent colors) 

In lakes and areas that receive a lot of fishing pressure and fish become difficult to catch, sometimes a wild colored fluorescent lure will make them strike. With proper location, depth and retrieve speed, at times, fluorescent lures are irresistible.

(So sometimes they work, sometimes...😉 )

Many thanks to The Structure Cafe on Facebook.

Use Your Eyes Find Potential Hot-Spots Pt 2

By Buck Perry (cont’d.)

Fishing Facts, Oct 1983

Excerpt:

HIDDEN HOT-SPOTS

Earlier it was indicated more would be said about the structure situations at the causeway and the dam. I'd like to discuss these man-made structure situations in a little more detail, due to the fact they are not so cut and dried as some of the other situations we have discussed in the past. It is wise to point out features we are likely to encounter in some Flatland reservoirs. Of special importance are those features which could be called "hidden" hot-spots.

Figure 8 is a top view of a causeway (road) crossing a reservoir. The purpose of the figure is to show a condition that occurs in Flatland and Lowland reservoirs.

It shows were the original channel was diverted during the construction of the roadbed and the bridge. In this case, we should keep in mind there are three major "contact points" to the causeway. Number 1 is at the bridge (both sides). Number 2 is where the old channel comes in contact with the roadbed on the upstream side, and Number 3 is at the old channel on the downstream side.

Quite often, the most productive water in a situation such as this is the rocky riprap just adjacent to the old channel (both sides), AND, the breaks and breaklines along the old channel and the bypass channel. Where the two come together could be the hottest spot of all.

When working a causeway, be sure you check to see if the old channel was cut off by the roadbed. One key as to whether this occurred is to note the position of the bridge. If it was built rather close to one of the shorelines, most likely a bypass channel was dug.

Figure 9 is a top view of a dam in a Flatland reservoir. The purpose of the dam was for flood control. Here again the original channel was cut off during construction of the dam. At times a bypass channel may be noted, while at other times the diversion occurred in such a way, and at such a depth, it cannot be clearly defined.

As structure fishermen, a dam such as this must be checked out thoroughly. Trolling the rip-rap can be highly productive. The lake may be so full of debris, (trees, bushes, etc.), and the wind and water color so bad, the clearer area at the dam may be the only workable area in the lake.

When fishing, or planning to fish a Flatland flood control reservoir, we should look it over, as discussed in this article. If a causeway is shown on the road map, we should head directly to it to see the terrain and lake condition (debris, etc.). Of great importance is to note the water color on both sides.

The next spot to examine is the dam. While driving slowly over the dam you should observe both sides. The major condition to look at on the "lake" side is the water color and the degree and direction of the wind. On the back side of the dam, there are three important observations to be made. (1) The color of the discharge water; (2) How active is the fishing in the "tailrace." (It could be a "run" is in progress, or the conditions of weather and water may be such, the tailrace is the only fishable spot.)

The third thing to note on the back side is the position of the old channel. This could be the most important observation of all. This shows the location of the channel on the "lake side." This will show the location of a hot-spot on the rip-rap (and the breaks and breaklines of the old channel). This is where concentration of effort must be had, both trolling and casting.

The question may arise as to how we can be sure we are at the old channel when we get on the lake? (The condition and depth of the old channel may not be well-defined even with a depth sounder.) When crossing the dam, you should note the location of the old channel (on the back side). Then you look toward the lake side, and see if a big rock or some type marker isn't on one of the posts of the guard rail. 

[Editor's Note: This means Buck has fished the lake recently.]

- from Facebook page, Structure Fishing. 

Use Your Eyes To Find Fish

 ...aka, "Potential Hot-Spots"

By Buck Perry

Oct. 1983

Excerpt:

One reader asks: "In your reports you say we must develop a productive structure situation from the standpoint it must extend from the deepest water in the area all the way to the shallows. 

I understand the structure, such as a bar, must 'go all the way.' If the ridge-like bar does not go all the way, it must have breaks or breaklines on or connected to it that DO go all the way. I'm very much aware of the fact that the channels in a reservoir are the deepest water in the area. 

Where I run into problems is when the channels have silted in and I can't see any signs of breaks and breaklines in the area. In my lake the channels are silted in so bad I can't see any bars, breaks or breaklines below 18-20 feet. What do I do in a situation such as this?"

Fig 10.

Let's look at Figure 10, above. 

Such is the condition he talks about. It is a side view where a nice ridge-like bar extends out to a depth of 18-20 feet where a well-defined breakline occurs. Beyond this breakline the bottom is rather flat with no recognizable breaks or breaklines. 

Due, of course, to the silt that has filled the channel and covered the breaks or breaklines in the immediate area. 

Note that the recognizable structure (the bar) extends toward the deepest water in the area. It does not extend to what we'd call (on an average day) the sanctuary depths (below 20 feet — if available).

His question was: "What do I do?"

This question comes as rather a surprise. Your guidelines as a structure fisherman (Spoonplugger) are to use structure (breaks and breaklines) as your guide to where the fish will be found - and caught. 

You have been taught not to spend time where these features are not present. This is the reason we say, "Do not go out into a channel and wander around like some lost duck — 'hoping' to run across a fish." 

If you have no guidelines as to where the fish may be found, then get out of there and concentrate your efforts where they WILL be found.

You and I are saved due to the fact the fish become active periodically and may move toward the shallows. Sometimes, they linger there.

We are saved again, because you and I can recognize the features of the bottom the fish will use in their migrations and movements.

 Since fish do not move constantly nor consistently, this means we have to exercise patience at times, and wait for the fish to come to us. 

The secret to success is to, "hit," and probe the right places, and be there waiting. Since how far the fish move toward the shallows is dependent upon the weather and water conditions at that time, and due to the fact the weather and water conditions are usually not in our favor, we should concentrate our efforts as deep as possible, BUT NO DEEPER THAN RECOGNIZABLE FEATURES THE FISH USE IN THEIR MOVEMENTS.

You asked what do you do? 

You should work the obvious feature (bar in this case) down to and including the 18-20 foot breakline. You do not go out beyond the "base" of the breakline, where it goes flat again. You check all structure situations to the last recognizable feature. Check and recheck all the best ones. 

If you have interpreted the weather and water conditions accurately, you should expect contact with the fish once or possibly twice during the day...somewhere aming the right places you are probing.

Lure Speed

 Lure Speed Is More Important Than You Think

By Buck Perry

Fishing Facts, April 1983

Excerpt:

At times the term "speed" is not fully understood. Quite often it has been asked why I used this word instead of the word "velocity" when talking about how fast the lure is moving through the water. There's no doubt the term "velocity" would be a more accurate word, but those who have studied our material (books, Home Study Series, etc.) should recall it said: "FOR THIS STUDY, we will use the term 'speed' to denote how slow or how fast we move the lure through the water."

Many fishermen have a tendency to fish too slow at times. This is especially true during the hotter parts of the season and when working the shallows. Most of them have been told so many times in the past to fish "slow," they give no thought that a lure moving faster may do the trick when all else fails. One thing for sure, most of the food a game fish takes isn't "lounging" around!

In order to get the fishermen thinking "faster," I figured the word "speed" would do the trick. When hearing or seeing "speed control" in fishing, many would be thinking of a lure moving at a FAST rate. (Although he should know if he worked a lure in such a way as to let it remain still for a spell, without movement, the speed would be ZERO!

Do not get the idea when I talk about "speed" it means you and I are to go out and race around like some maniac. When I'm talking about speed, I'm talking about speed CONTROL. This control should be from zero to the point where you may think the fish can't catch the lure.

It is important to keep in mind, in order for our speed to be effective, we must control our "depth" AT THE SAME TIME. If we try to check out speeds in a particular depth, and a different speed causes the lure to leave that depth, we haven't accomplished very much as far as "speed control" is concerned. To put it another way-if our speed (how fast our lure moves through the water) is so slow or so fast we lose control of DEPTH (where the fish are), then our speed is "off" one way or the other.

Most lures will fail to maintain a certain depth long before the speed is too fast-or fast enough. Some lures will not keep a desired depth if moving too slow. To handle speed and depth control, you and I must select the right fishing gear and learn to use it in such a way that the CONTROL of depth and speed (at the same time) becomes automatic. We never forget that all our questions about fishing successes and failures should be answered in terms of depth and speed control-NOT in terms of size, color and action of lures or baits.

RIP-RAP...Overlooked Bass Cover?

This discussion from Rich Zaleski covers one of my favorite areas of focus when fishing...rip-rap. In fact, I tend to prioritize on a quad of features when the game is casting for fish:

Wind 

Wood

Weeds 

Rocks

These provide both visual casting reference, and they hold fish fairly consistently...if well-chosen.

 That means:

A. Being adjacent to the deepest water in an area. 

B. Preference for sharp depth changes from deeper water to shallow.

But, truth be told, I will go for rocks first, if they're available. And if water is being pushed into, or along them, I'm there. 

Find the rocks, find me.

🎣🎣🎣🎣

By Rich Zaleski

Fishing Facts, OCT 1983, excerpt

Keys To Successfully Fishing Rip-Rap

(refer to drawings above)

SHALLOW RIP-RAP

- Other forms of cover (timber, brush, weeds) mixed with or adjacent to rip-rap.

- Inside weedline facing rip-rap bank.

- New rip-rap added to existing rip-rap bank (indicates an area that had eroded, which is often a clue to existence of current irregularity).

- Culverts or pipes extending through rip-rap causeway (may be totally submerged).

- Depth change along otherwise uniform rip-rap bank.

- End or "tailing end" of rip-rap stretch.

DEEP RIP-RAP

- Rip-rap reaching all the way to submerged river channel.

- Turns or other irregularities in rip-rap bank.

- Submerged roadbeds bordering base of rip-rap.

- "Hidden" rip-rap along deep edge of submerged roadbed or around base of otherwise smooth concrete bridge abutments.

GENERAL

- Current flow, or moving water, abutting rip-rap. Wind-pushed water, for example.

- Randomly sized and shaped rocks with large nooks and crannies between them.

- Foreign objects (rip-rap often borders roads and, unfortunately, this sometimes makes them ideal, illicit dumping grounds for discarded appliances, autos, etc. This practice is abhorrent, but such items do often provide breaks at which fish take up residence.

NOTE: Any stretch of rip-rap may hold some fish, but some are more productive than others. 

Items such as those in the chart above add to the attractiveness of a particular rip-rap stretch. 

In checking out an area, extra effort should be devoted to these and similar situations. Stretches without such irregularities should be fished much faster in an effort to pick off a straggler or two. Areas within a rip-rap stretch that contain breaks as described above, are more likely to be holding or contact spots which deserve more effort.

Thanks to Brian at the Facebook group, "The Structure Cafe," for the article excerpt.

Put In The Effort

 ...in a departure from discussions on deep water fishing success, here is an excerpt that aligns with industry promotion, and the orientation of most anglers today: shallow, weedy, edge-and-back waters!

PS... pay close attention the the graphic drawing.

--- --- ---

Extra Effort Means More Fish!

By Larry Larsen

Fishing Facts, April 1983

Excerpt:

I've fished some hard-to-get-to places on the St. Johns River near Jacksonville and other tidal waters on the Gulf of Mexico (at Apalachicola, Florida and Murphree Wildlife Refuge, Texas.)

Access was very tidal-dependent on some of their tributaries. A boat could go in on a high tide but generally could only come out on the following high tide. More than once l've seen tournament anglers trapped on a small canal awaiting a high tide. 

They miss the weigh-in and take the brunt of jokes when they do make it back to the ramp. 

☆ The lesson here is to know your water and any influences that may limit your accessibility.

Going through locks is often an excellent way to gain access to out-ot-the-way waters. Many times the water below the locks receives considerable pressure, while the water upstream goes virtually untished. 

☆ But make sure you find out the operating hours of the lock. If the lock tender closes up and goes home, you've got problems. So check!

Not all of my adventure travels into difficult areas have been successful but, generally speaking, being able to reach the difficult-to-get-to waters will prove worthwhile. As long as the fish are there, of course.

☆ Fishing Rule #1: "Fish were the fish are. You can't catch em where they ain't!"

- Buck Perry

I can easily credit some of my best catches of trout, bass, walleye, crappie and catfish in the past 25 years to adventures in challenging access.

If you see me walking through 15 foot high cane fields (as I've done in Hawaii), or across flat pasture land, or boating into a flooded forest, you'll know what I'm after. 

The great fishing at the end of the journey will usually make it worth the effort of getting there.

The Starship Jig

A Galactic Jig Modification 
David Hutton
Palmetto Fly n Fish
Jan 8, 2021 (update 2025)

I have always done poorly with jigs and soft plastics. Supposedly they are the number one artificial bait, ever, at least according to Field and Stream:

Curly Tail Grub Is #1

But, the jig-and-soft plastic lure has left me in the lurch, never producing all that well.
Well-meaning people have said, “Just add a piece of worm to the thing – that'll fix it.”
This practice of adding live bait to an artificial lure is called, "tipping," by the way. 

Now, to be fair, the jig itself aids in casting, and the combination of baited hook and weighted head form a compact presentation. I have used them a lot that way - jigs are effective with live bait. Add a worm, and it's on!

But the soft plastic portion creates a new thing... a lure.
My thinking has always been that live bait should NOT be needed with lures.
As the jig/soft plastic combo is a lure, and is reputedly #1 among all lures, well, I reckon it shouldn't need "tipping."
I mean, if you are tipping the lure, you can't say the lure did the job.
Really, all you have done is create a more elaborate way to present a cricket.
In the end, I wondered what all the hoopla is about.

"Jigs? I dunno...."

Which started me analyzing what might be wrong with these things – or what might be wrong with me. 

This could go either way.

What's With The Jig Anyway?

So after studying the jig and grub for awhile, I came to an obvious conclusion:

They don't really do all that much but fall to the bottom.

You can hop them.
You can bounce them.
You can drag them.
You can retrieve them

But in the end, their main trick is to go back to the bottom. They may have a wiggly tail, but they're made of lead, after all.

“So what if they didn't sink so fast”? I wondered.
This lead me to try lightweight versions. These took longer to get to the bottom, but you sacrifice good contact with the lure. Its hard to tell what's happening with them.
“Lets go the other way,” I mused, “...lets make them really heavy.”
Yeah, that's no good either. Too heavy and you may as well be fishing with a millstone.

I ended up with a lot of different jig heads over time, in several styles, colors, shapes, etc.
But that darned plummeting action just stuck out like sore thumb.

The Spark
Prior to that time, I had been using a totally different kind of lure to catch fish.
It was a micro-size Johnson Silver Minnow, with a soft plastic trailer on the rear.
It was nothing more than the old spoon-and-pork lure, but downsized.
Now that was something.
The old Johnson Silver Minnow doesn't weigh all that much compared to it's large surface area, so it wobbles... it's really a weedless, wobble spoon.
Add a soft plastic curly tail to this lightweight, wobbling lure and it changes the game.

Now it becomes a slow falling, twisting, spiraling, swimming kind of lure. I caught as many fish on that seductive, slow swimming drop-action as on any retrieve.
That's when I realized I wanted THAT from a jig.

Experiments
I first tried squashing regular ball head jigs into a flattened profile, using a specially made punch.

It produced a wide, flat bottom surface that showed some promise. It was kind of like the Space Shuttle entering orbit. But it wasn't quite there, and it still tended to just drop.
I wanted my brainchild to swim, and to fly.

Which is where I suppose the idea finally struck me.
“If something is to fly, it needs a wing,” I muttered.

Well, I guess I muttered. 

Okay...I probably muttered.

It was one of those times, just before the brainstorm hits, that one mutters.
So I'm pretty sure I muttered.

The Starship Jig

The Starship Jig Is Not Original
What I did then is just what I said – I added a "wing," in the form of a clear plastic disc.

In earlier years, I was an aviation electronics technician in US Navy rotary wing squadrons – helicopters, in other words. Those who know something about aerodynamics will immediately recognize the connection between a rotary wing and a disc wing.

Basically, that's what I came up with.

As often happens, though, I learned I am late to this party.
"Jig Discs" have, in fact, been around before I dreamed them up.

The things come in packs of 15, in fact, with nice logo lettering, even.

Here's what they look like:

Here's a link: Jig Disks

You'll notice there that I said, “they come in packs of 15....”
But I found that you can't go anywhere on the linked website to actually PAY for them. The pay links are dead-ends.

Everything else on the site seems to work, and there are some innovative ideas there. But if you can't actually purchase the stuff, well.... it might be a good idea to know how to make them yourself.

So I made my own.

I also changed them up a bit, in the form of a tight fitting attachment point.

The commercial Jig Disks have a large hole that slips over the eye, necessitating the use of a snap clip or something like it to hold the whole affair together. This does make it so they might fit on any jig, so that's good.

With, mine I used a press fit over the eye of the jig, i.e, the hole is smaller than the eye, so no extra hardware is needed.
That seems to be pretty good, too.

You could make these as big as you want, of course. Mine are are about 1/2" in diameter, sized for bluegill jigs - 1/32 and 1/64.
If you have a magnifier, you could go smaller.
Obviously, you could also go larger if you want.
The one thing you have to watch out for is that the disc doesn't interfere with the hookup, by getting in the way of the point.

So lets be clear: I broke no new ground with my panfish-size discs. Someone beat me to it, and I'm not taking credit for the idea.
However, I can make them, where I can't BUY the others.

So, I did something special in my mind.
Don't stop me, I'm on a roll!

Making the Starship Jig
The first Starship Jigs I made were cut from clear plastic, heavy stuff taken from product packaging. I just traced a circle and used scissors. 
From there I tried punches. This is a bit neater and delivers a more consistent result. My homemade punches are thin walled tubing, stainless mostly, ground to a cutting edge.
But you can also buy punch sets to help ease the job.
Here's a set of hollow punches from Harbor Freight:

Hollow Punch Set

You don't need machinists grade stuff for punching discs from plastic, so these would do fine at $8.99
For five times as much, you can get punch and die sets on ebay. A little more precision, and a very cool tool.
Whether the cost is justified is your call.

Once cut out, I then poke a teeny hole in the center with an awl or embroidery needle. This hole is then forced over the jigs eye; I just use my thumb to do this.
The idea is to have the disc grip the wire shaft below the eye. NOTE: the hole must be fit to the hooks wire diameter, and not to the width of the eye.

Now you have a jig head with a "flying disc" attached on top. And they're so cheap, you can have them for all your jig heads.

So How About That Name?
The genesis of the idea was the rotary wing of helicopters.

But they really look a Federation starship from the hit sci-fi franchise, “Star Trek.”
Kinda geeky, I know.

Starfleet Saladin-class interceptor

But I'm sure you see the resemblance, and that is how they got their name, “Starship Jigs.”
Like the discs themselves, this isn't original, either. But they have the desired effect, and they do go where no jig has gone before.

The jig is slowed and even has some rudimentary "flight" characteristics on the fall. It spirals and seems to float a little as it falls through the water. Its something of a swim-glide action.

I should stress that most of this "flying" action depends on hydrodynamic drag induced by the trailer. In other words, you need something dragging behind to help the disc "hang" in the water. Jig bodies with curly tails work well, and a large tuft of marabou or buck tail may also work, too.

I came to preferring shad dart jigs for this, because of their elongated shape, but you can do it with any jig.

Where Are They Now?
I must confess that I never really wrung out the concept; I tried them, they worked, I moved on.
I got into fly fishing around that time and that ruined me. I haven't really revisited them until recently. I'm currently working on another lure project, so I have to get that sorted out first. But I'll make some more Starship Jigs for this season and do some updates.

In the meantime, you might want to tinker around with it and see what happens.

Thanks for reading, and Tight Lines


David
Palmetto Fly n Fish

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