Opening Day Strategy

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steelheadbrowns

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Afternoon all.

Just wanted to ask what the first bait will be on your rod come 8:00 on April 18th. I am still deciding whether to spin or fly fish. If I fly I will be throwing a Bugger. If I am spinning it will be a Panther Martin or a single egg. Just curious as to what we are all thinking during the great "Cabin Fever" days.

In the mean time TIGHT LINES.
 
People are going to complain about your bringing up bait.

I live in SEPA, so the first thing I cast was bread. I fly fished a few times in the weeks before the opener, though. I rarely fish stocked waters that close.

For the upstate opener, I'll probably fish bread again, and switch to the fly rod once the crowds leave.

Good luck!
 
I'll probably throw a bugger but for opening day all 3 of those are good choices.
 
the real strategy is finding a spot to fish ;-)

Do what ever you want. Those stocked fish are there for your enjoyment. But if i was fishing a wild trout stream stocked with trout, id use my fly gear.
 
I cracked and bought a jar of Powerbait because I didn't want to contend with shoulder-to-shoulder fishing with a fly, and figured this way I could just stow it away with the spinning rod in the back of the car for when I'm bored.

Then I didn't bother to fish, because it was too crappy for me to get out and contend with shoulder-to-shoulder fishing, and I couldn't find my old spinning terminal tackle box and had no sinkers or hooks, anyways.

Guess we'll see how long that PowerBait holds out, maybe I'll use it next year.
 
My wife took my five year-old out yesterday for a few hours. She started off with Powerbait and had no luck. The fish were really hammered on and weren't interested. So being a blond woman with a blond kid, of course she got some "bait help" while on the stream.

A young gentleman offered up some of his "fish crack". Yes, I said "fish crack" :-D She balled some up on the hook, cast it out and voila, fish on! She had never seen anything work so well on stockies in all her years of fishing. She was told that it's cornmeal, molasses and a few others things from a home concoction. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

I harassed the stockies for a quick hour or so yesterday, but they were just hammered all weekend and wanted nothing to do with my buggers...
 
Was just talking about this with someone else the other day. They were telling tales about someone who'd come up with something very similar that he'd hawk to people at the stream side as a miracle bait.

As I understand it, he'd take vasoline, smear it on a cookie pan and then make little pools of Anise liqour, then cook it down to a putty.

I noticed as I was staring blankly at rows of PowerBait that one of the similar products was anise flavoured. Who'd of thought trout like black licorice?
 
I was steelhead fishing a couple weeks ago and some guy was hammering fish on a , i #OOPS# you not, zebco 33 reel and his "organic fish food" haha
 
What I wouldn't do to have my old Zebco 33 and cheap white fiberglass rod back. I'm not sure what happened to them, but they met some sort of sad fate probably 25+ years ago.
 
wgmiller wrote:
My wife took my five year-old out yesterday for a few hours. She started off with Powerbait and had no luck. The fish were really hammered on and weren't interested. So being a blond woman with a blond kid, of course she got some "bait help" while on the stream.

A young gentleman offered up some of his "fish crack". Yes, I said "fish crack" :-D She balled some up on the hook, cast it out and voila, fish on! She had never seen anything work so well on stockies in all her years of fishing. She was told that it's cornmeal, molasses and a few others things from a home concoction. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

I harassed the stockies for a quick hour or so yesterday, but they were just hammered all weekend and wanted nothing to do with my buggers...
Click to expand...

I used to use a cornmeal doughball for carp as a kid. It had a lot of cornmeal, eggs, jello, and the secret ingredient, vanilla! The carp loved it, and it smelled good enough to eat. Apparently the vanilla (or anise) is very potent in the water and very attractive. I've never used it on trout (now a fly fisherman) but I'm sure it would work. Look up an exact recipe online... carp doughball.
 
I caught what ended up being my largest trout for a number of years on vanilla dough. I just mixed vanilla with bread and kneaded until it was dry. I was 12 when I caught it, and didn't get a larger fish until I was in my 20s and a full time fly angler.
 
I guess I'm gonna have to rub my green weenies on the vanillarama air freshner in the car now....
 
jayL wrote:
I caught what ended up being my largest trout for a number of years on vanilla dough. I just mixed vanilla with bread and kneaded until it was dry. I was 12 when I caught it, and didn't get a larger fish until I was in my 20s and a full time fly angler.
Click to expand...


isnt it kind of ironic that we do all this work and spend all this time on fly fishing when these fish could be caught with a hook and a dough ball :) haha
 
http://www.gameandfishmag.com/fishing/trout-fishing/gf_aa013501a/

I'm a strict C & R, barbless hook, protector of the resource fly-fisherman, but I have to admit that the thought of tearing off a piece of marshmallow and sticking it on a hook is somewhat intriguing....

I missed all this stuff us a kid, so I may have to live it through my kids for a brief period in time. She's got the fly rod; she just needs a few more years to grow!
 
Anyone scout your opening day spot after the stocking, before the season opens? I sometimes walk the stream with some corn, bread, or dogfood and throw it in the stream to see where the fish were put. If I'm camping out, I'll make sure I'm close to a spot with a good amout of fish.

anyone else do this for the first day?
 
but I have to admit that the thought of tearing off a piece of marshmallow and sticking it on a hook is somewhat intriguing....
Click to expand...

When i still bait fished i used velveeta cheese. Worked great ;-) on Both bass and trout.
 
what ill do is start whipping fly lines around till the crowd gets scared and leaves lol nah ill just probably use the ol meal worm maggot combo or minnows catch about 40 to 50 and then go get lunch and break out the fly rod toss a bugger or an egg pattern maybe even a san juan or a green weenie
 
flipnfly wrote:
ill just probably use the ol meal worm maggot combo or minnows catch about 40 to 50 and then go get lunch and break out the fly rod toss a bugger or an egg pattern maybe even a san juan or a green weenie
Click to expand...

Here is something I don't understand...maybe its just because a major reason I started fly fishing was so I wouldn't have to bother with bait. I can catch a bunch of fish without changing the fly but I would usually have to re-bait every time I caught a fish. Not that its wrong or tabu or anything...

I just wonder why you would go back to baiting a hook.
 
Because fly fishing is seen as overcomplicated, among other misunderstandings that your average Joe Spinfisherman has.
 
I know that but flipnfly said he would fish bait in the morning...and like I said flip, that,s cool, I just wondered why?...now that I think of it if you are fishing with some kids who are fishing bait, that's one thing but...
 
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