paulc Posted June 8, 2007 Posted June 8, 2007 I have been on hunting forums for many years. Like the topic said, i just found this site and can see that it is a great fishing forum and it seems that it is well moderated as well. Here is a brief bio. We moved from Southern CA to South East New Mexico several years ago and there is almost no fishing where we live. While the hunting oppurtunities are awesome and I am obsessed with big game hunting,i went almost 2 years without going fishing since we moved out here. This year we got a place up in Logan NM right on Ute Lake (this is 4.5 hours from where we live). We have been up there fishing many times already this year and it is really the first time that my youngest son (9 years old) has really been fishing. He is obsessed with fishing now and i have never had so much fun than me and him out in the boat fishing. One day we fished 17 hours straight with no breaks eating while we fished. Started early in the morning and then set up lights and fished till 11:00 at night. Here is the question. This lake has large mouth, smallies, blue gill, walleye, white bass and crappie. We have tried all types of lures but we always go back to the same thing. Curly tail jigs in 1/8 0z up to 1/2 oz depending on depth or speed we are fishing. The reason we keep going back to this lure is that it catches every fish in the lake. Our favorite is ultra light rod and real 4#-#6 test and the 1/8 oz lead head with a 2" tail in white or grey/black. We Caught 8 keeper bass (large mouth 12-15" and smallies need to be 14" and we have caught them up to 16"), 5 keeper walleye, nine 1/3 lb blue gills, 2 white bass the last time out besides all of the shorties. My son also had pretty good luck with a Yamamoto Ika 3" on a lead head. By far, my sons favorite is catching bass. Can anyone recomend other lures that we would catch larger bass but, not give up all of the action we are getting into. I have Senkos, lots of the new plastics, crankbaits, etc.... but we keep going back to the leadhead with a curly tail jig. I am not sure if he has the patience to fish senkos, tubes and worms yet (this includes me) Would like my son to learn some other techniques, but, it is hard when you are catching fish. What other lures would you recomend that we can catch some larger bass, and still have lots of action. Thanks for anyones opinion here. Quote
rvrnr64 Posted June 8, 2007 Posted June 8, 2007 How about watermelon flukes on a drop shot rig? That worked well for one of my friends so I'll be trying it as soon as they get here. I ordered mine from Case Plastics. Theirs are called Jacks sticks. I will say this though my biggest smallie was caught on a live minow about 4" long. Quote
eastkybass Posted June 8, 2007 Posted June 8, 2007 Welcome to the site. Have ou tried using small cranks? through the same area you are using the curly tail grubs. Quote
paulc Posted June 8, 2007 Author Posted June 8, 2007 The first time i fished the lake was early spring and the H20 temp was still like 48 degrees. The last few hours i tied on a small shallow running white crankbait like a big 0 and murdered the white bass and got a large mouth and 2 walleye. Since then have not had a shallow running crankbait bite that and the lake is full of snags. Keep in mind my 9 year old snags everything including the shore. I have bought some flukes but have never tried them. I understand these are fished like the curly tail jig? Like fishing light line because the lakes ifished in So Cal most were overfished and light line gave you an edge. Thanks for the responses and welcomes. I noticed there is a tackle section. Having been a moderator on another site should this topic be moved since it is a tackle question? Quote
Super User Grey Wolf Posted June 8, 2007 Super User Posted June 8, 2007 WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote
alex24 Posted June 8, 2007 Posted June 8, 2007 I think a good thing to do if you want to try new lures is to leave the ones that you used a lot at home. That way you can try the new ones and practice to catch fish with them! enjoy, Alex Quote
IdahoLunkerHunter Posted June 8, 2007 Posted June 8, 2007 Welcome to the forum. My favorite lures are plastics. I thow the occassional spinner, buzz, and cranks when I can't get anything to take the plastics. I will say my best used are 5"-6" senkos, fat ikas, shads, sweet beavers, and tubes. RW posted back a thread about grubs and I've been throwing them every once in a while with a little luck. Dark colors on dark days, and lighter colors with refelctiveness on sunny days seems to work pretty good. I have been killing the smallies on a watermelon/chartereuse gold flake shad and senko on sunny days, and a smoke/silver reflective senko on cloudy days. I rig most of the time T-rigged weightless or s-carolina. You can use the shaky head method but you must fish a lot slower. Quote
paulc Posted June 8, 2007 Author Posted June 8, 2007 Alex24, that is way to harsh. I dont have that kind of will power. Idaho, that is where I am leaning. Its just getting us 2 hyper guys to slow down and be patient. All of the advice we are getting is helpful. I printed the whole thread on Carolina rigs and gave it to my 9 year old to read so that he can start thinking along those lines. Quote
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