The fishing of the place does not require a consequent box, because in vertical the hangings are rather rare if one controls perfectly the descent of its lure and that one is attentive to the sounder in the most uneven places. On the other hand, even if it is limited, it must be very varied because the places can sometimes be sensitive to the proposed vibrations.
The fishing context
When fishing the area, especially when looking for large specimens, the spots can go from 30 to 100 meters deep with currents of 1 to 3-4 knots. These conditions imply to have lures of a very varied and sometimes excessively heavy weight, especially if the wind is mixed with the game! Your selection must therefore allow you to present different vibrations but above all to be able to remain vertical whatever the conditions encountered.
Constraints to be taken into account
In the design of your decoy box and the leaded heads that accompany them, you must take into account 3 constraints related to the need for verticality of the presentation:
- Depth
- The current
- The wind
But it is also necessary to take into account the mood of the places and to have different vibrations and sizes of both hard and soft lures. But given the depth of fishing, most of your box will be made up of soft lures and some jigs.
Possible techniques and animations
The fishing of the place is carried out in vertical with two different techniques:
- The lift which consists in bringing back to the reel a soft lure (or some jigs) on about 1/3 to half of the water column
- Jigging with jigs (slow or not)
The variables
Apart from the panel of leaded heads that you must have in shapes adapted to your lures and in weights ranging from 70 to 200g, the main variables on which you have to play are :
- The forms of lures, i.e. shad, slug or jig which can influence the number of your catches in a very important way.
- The size of your decoys. Usually the average is around 20cm, but it is sometimes necessary to go down if the lures are focused on smaller prey.
- The colours, even if they fade quickly in depth. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that flashy colours are particularly popular in the locality.
The 10 lures selected
1) Crazy Eel 220 mango juice by Fiiish
The Crazy Eel 220 is a classic for local fishing and the mango juice colouring is particularly popular with local fishermen. It sinks very quickly into the water and swims even at low speed. It imitates perfectly a sand lance.
2) Crazy Eel 220 Fiiish Blue
Because sometimes natural colours are more productive, the Crazy Eel 220 in blue is an excellent complement to the previous one.
3) Giant Sayori Shad from Ultimate Fishing
The Giant Sayori Shad, with its slender shad shape, also imitates a sand lance but produces a different and complementary vibration to the Crazy Eel. A great classic that you must have in your box. Dark blue with sequins for my part or flashy as well if I still have a place left!
On days when places are focused on small prey, nothing like a Nitro shad 150 to downsize and deceive their vigilance. In yellow, blue or shiner, the choice is wide.
5) Black Minnow 160 Fiiish Rose
In the same downsizing spirit, I particularly like the Black minnow 160 with its 120g head and in pink colour. If the Stones are present on zone, you risk to make them crack also with this lure.
6) Black Minnow 200 orange from Fiiish
Bigger, heavier, flashier and more vibrant, the 200 version of the Black Minnow, in 20cm, is an excellent lure when fishing very deep and with current. It is also very popular with paddlers. Too bad it is so fragile!
7) Pink herring 150-250g of Ragot
Herring jig in all colours and weights, but especially pink, should be part of your box. This lure is incredible and is often far superior to all other jigs. It has the particularity to undulate when retrieved and can therefore be animated in a lift.
8) Slow jig Funa 160g or 180g Explorer Tackle
To be animated in "pitching", in "Long Fall" or even in "elevator", a slow jig will very often allow you to trigger keys when places are capricious wherever they begin to understand the music. As with other lures and deep fishing, it will reserve you a number of surprise species. For my part I use the Funa in 160 and 180g.
9) Gulp Alive Eel or Swimming Eel in 20cm from Berkley
The Gulp's attractant is a magnet for places and it's a shame that there are no consistent lures in their range. The only ones you can use on relatively "heavy" leaded heads suitable for deep fishing are the 20cm Eel or Swimming Eel. To go out on days when the places are difficult and you have to downsize. The other possibility is to use them in teaser or drop shot.
10) Swimfish 7.5 inches from Lunker City
Finally, to complete my box I use a shad of about twenty centimeters producing big vibrations. My choice is successfully made on the Swimfish Lunker City in 7.5 inches in the limestone color. For freshwater anglers, I recommend you to test it also on pikes ...
