One small change can make a big difference.

Like all sports, fishing is no different in that one small adjustment or change in style can throw your whole game out of balance. This can be viewed or dismissed as a slump in form or simply a run of hard luck. There are two things you can do when experiencing an angling slump. Firstly, you either ride it out, or you can work out why it is happening. Good anglers make their own luck and if it’s gone astray, chances are it’s your own doing.

Last season over the course of several trips to the Murray River, good mate and fishing companion Gus Storer gave me an absolute caning. With a string of giant cod over several trips, it seemed Gus could not put a foot wrong. With a five-dollar wager forked out on each of these occasions not to mention a dint in the pride, this slump was beginning to hurt. It wasn’t as though the chances weren’t coming my way, quite the opposite. My strike ratio was almost double that of Gus but his hookup rate was running close to 100%. Where he was pinging almost every fish that took his lure, I was lucky to get one in four.

We were both using the same make of spinnerbait rigged with stinger and soft plastic trailer, this was obviously not the problem. Our retrieval speed was similar so too were the areas we were fishing. After some thought and a few more missed strikes the answer finally came. A strong man, Gus has a unique if not bazaar style where he holds the very butt of the rod in his hand and winds with the rod tip held high. This looks very uncomfortable but it works for Gus and who am I to question a man with wrists strong enough to do this all day? Myself, on the other hand had progressed over the season from holding the rod low and to the side to holding it at the same low angle but now pointing it straight at the lure during the retrieve. Similar to looking down the barrel of a gun, everything was directly in line with the target.

The problem had been in front of me the whole time. Cod are an implosion feeder, this means that they inhale their prey along with a vast amount of water that is expelled through the gills. The problem with a straight down the line retrieve is that there is very little if any give in the line or the rod. This means that when a fish implodes upon the lure it cannot be drawn into the mouth, hence so many solid strikes for so few hookups. Lift the rod as in the case of Gus, or simply turn it to the side a fraction during the retrieve and the lure can be drawn backward through movement in the rod tip. This is even more pronounced with a supple or relaxed grip, not so relaxed that the rod is torn from the hand by the strike. Yet soft enough so that rod and hand are drawn far enough for the lure to be inhaled. You would be amazed the difference this small adjustment made over the next few trips where I managed several good fish for as many strikes and recouped a little of the hard earned cash Gus had previously won. The little things in fishing make the big difference.

Catch more fish using a stinger soft plastic combo.

While many anglers are still yet to fully grasp or accept the full potential of spinnerbaits as an effective lure on an ever-increasing variety of fish. Those that have tasted success still debate the pros and cons surrounding the need to add a stinger soft plastic combo to this style of lure. The addition of a stinger is not a new concept but one that has been used by some anglers for near on twenty years. Understanding why and how fish feed is to realize the benefits of running a stinger soft plastic combo on spinnerbaits especially where native fish are concerned.

To the small predatory fish, the overall effect of the flashing blades on a spinnerbait is possibly not viewed as a single identity but instead as a writhing cluster of small baitfish. Amongst the flash and pulsing skirt, there is a lot going on not to mention the vibrations sent forth by the turning blades. It’s a swimming smorgasbord and the wiggling tail of a trailing soft plastic is an opportunity to good to refuse. In nature, its instinctual for the strong to predate upon the weak and those that lag behind are the first to fall. With the addition of a stinger soft plastic combination, this illusion is portrayed and smaller predatory fish like golden perch consistently fall for this instinctual take. At least 70% of golden perch we catch over any given season are pinned on the stinger hook alone, reason enough to run one. When it comes to larger predators like Murray cod, the benefits to running a stinger hook are a lot more obvious.

Unlike smaller predators, Murray cod especially larger fish will view the spinnerbait as a whole or single item of prey, something to be scoffed in a single mouthful. They will rarely nibble at the offering; instead they will engulf the whole thing in a single implosion of water. In this case, the soft plastic stinger combination is not so much about presenting the weak or slow straggler its about adding bulk and providing the means to carry an extra hook. A large meal is far more likely to create a response from a large fish as in energy spent for that regained. The extra hook itself is simple mathematics you double your chances of coming up solid and when it comes to hooking into a giant cod then I’m all for those odds. At a guess, I would rate at least 30% of our hook- ups on large Murray cod would come on the stinger hook alone.

The majority of the overall catch would be made up of the fish being caught on a combination of both hooks with the rest caught on the front or pre rigged hook alone. It really comes down to one simple question why as an angler would you not want to increase your hook up rate by adding a stinger? It’s a question that in common sense terms escapes me and the answer I suspect hinges more on tempting fate than tempting fish.

The downside to swinging an extra hook is that most anglers are of the opinion that it will increase the chances of becoming snagged. And while there may be some credence to these thoughts, the overall increase in snagging is very small. When you wind a spinnerbait it travels in an upright position whether it has one hook or two does not alter the angle on which it swims. This vertical presentation allows the spinnerbait to ride the timber well so long as you keep up momentum. Increased snags come from pausing the spinnerbait when they come up against a snag this allows them to fall on their side. You should not pause the spinnerbait until you have hoped over the snag it is then you can allow it to freefall a small distance down the other side before you recommence the wind. This technique is deadly on cod and a shore fire winner when practiced correctly. There is however, a notable increase in snagging when you look for depth with your first cast, this is especially true if you allow it to freefall all the way to the bottom. Once again, this allows the spinnerbait to fall on its side opening up the opportunity to snag. In saying that, this is exactly the way I fish them on the first cast to any snag. Being struck deep on the drop has yielded me many a large cod and those capture well and truly over shadow the inconvenience of a few extra snags.

Spinnerbaits are an excellent lure that have the effect to create plenty of opportunity, having the foresight to rig them with a stinger soft plastic combo provides the means to grasp it when it presents itself.