by Capt. Frank Hommema
Maybe fish where they aren’t and then change it up? For some reason this year, every time I go where the fish should be they aren’t. I started looking for places I had given up on, where I had found no fish for the last couple years, and you guessed it. Fish find hiding or feeding places and then pressure from anglers or possibly the depletion of food sources or maybe they just wanted a change of scenery cause them to leave. Fish that left that spot and returning seem to be leaving the places they have hung out in for the last couple of years. When you are out looking for fish, think 4 years ago or more, where did you used to find fish? For new comers, go to places you have never seen a boat or where you have never fished. Since people may not having great fishing days, why try where the fish are already getting pressure? Your first instinct may be to go where you see others fishing but I believe that is in-grained into people. To be fishing and not catching we need to change not only where we fish, but also the way we think. Another thing I have changed is the color of my leaders and hooks.
My go to is the Hi-seas Fluro-Carbon Clear leader, but I have also now started using the Yo-Zuri Pink leader and the brown color. To me, the color leader material is not real fluorocarbon, as the main benefit of fluorocarbon is that it bends light the way water does so if you add color it does not bend light and colored mono would be as good. The other thing I am changing is my hook color. An angler may come in and want a Red Jig head with yellow eyes and a white under side because that is the only jig head that will catch fish. So why not your hooks? Right now, if 10 people go out 2 will have the trip of a life time, 3 will have a good day, 3 will do OK, and the last 2 will have a bad day. To increase my odds, if I have two rods out each has a different color hook, different color line, and a couple different leader colors. This past weekend we were not catching much so I switched to a bronze Mustad hook and got a couple smaller trout. We left and went fishing on the in-coming tide as the water was much clearer and I tried the green Chartreuse hooks and caught more fish than the black hooks. I do not think it will make a difference most of the time what color hook you use, but when it seems it could make a difference between catching and fishing. So, change it up and maybe change your luck!