chunking
02-09-2004, 01:08 PM
Line up ten fisherman and you may get ten different answers. Herring, squid, bluefish, flounder, shark, minnows, searobin, bunker, mullet and clam are just a few.
Everyone mentioned and more that weren't will catch fish. It's not like the fish got active and decided to eat a certain food. Doesn't work that way down there.
Remember a fish like a flounder, weakfish or striper can only eat what they can fit in their mouth. They have no way of biting off a piece of fish. Their teeth are not set up like a bluefish. Their teeth are more designed to grab a fish and hold on. Then they turn the fish and swallow it whole.
So we can't say that in the spring the flounder are feeding on bluefish or herring because they are just to big of a target for them to go after.
They can't open a clam and eat it. They can't swallow a whole shark and the peanut bunker aren't around till late summer.
Bait on a bucktail is important but not as much as the action of the bucktail in catching fish.
Dragging a bucktail across the bottom will catch a few fish. Working a bucktail will catch more.
The more you work the bucktail the better chance you have of a fish noticing it. While everything else is blending in or hiding down there you will have something that is advertising itself.
Dragging bucktails while drifting will account for a lot more junk such as weeds and old shells and more snags. By working a bucktail you will jump it over many of those obsticles.
Take flounder fishing. Flounder are stealthy predators. By remaining motionless and color coordinated with the bottom they are almost invisable. Moving to catch prey also makes them prey to some extent. Suddenly they are no longer just a splotch on the bottom. They can be a target for larger fish.
Their great asset is the placement of their eyes. Up top and able to look 360 degrees. Nothing like watching your own back. As they lay on the bottom scoping things out they are on the look out for food. The water can be murky and their food can also blend in with their surroundings. Their attack zone can be a very small radius. Since they expend very little energy they don't need a ton of food to keep them going.
If you just drag your bait you can pass just at the edge of that radius and the flounder may not show any interest. Work the bucktail and the flounder may find it irrestible.
By picking the bucktail up and dropping every few seconds you are opening up the area that a flounder can see it. A hop two feet verticle and a drop back down will let every flounder around know there is something that needs to be looked at. Thats the name of the game. Getting your offering noticed. Not every fish will take a wack at it but the more that see it the better your chances are of a hook up.
A bucktail is a JIG not a drag. It needs to be worked to be effective. It is the most effective way of having your touch connected directly to the hook. Stick anything you want on it for bait but but keep it moving and the fish will come.
Everyone mentioned and more that weren't will catch fish. It's not like the fish got active and decided to eat a certain food. Doesn't work that way down there.
Remember a fish like a flounder, weakfish or striper can only eat what they can fit in their mouth. They have no way of biting off a piece of fish. Their teeth are not set up like a bluefish. Their teeth are more designed to grab a fish and hold on. Then they turn the fish and swallow it whole.
So we can't say that in the spring the flounder are feeding on bluefish or herring because they are just to big of a target for them to go after.
They can't open a clam and eat it. They can't swallow a whole shark and the peanut bunker aren't around till late summer.
Bait on a bucktail is important but not as much as the action of the bucktail in catching fish.
Dragging a bucktail across the bottom will catch a few fish. Working a bucktail will catch more.
The more you work the bucktail the better chance you have of a fish noticing it. While everything else is blending in or hiding down there you will have something that is advertising itself.
Dragging bucktails while drifting will account for a lot more junk such as weeds and old shells and more snags. By working a bucktail you will jump it over many of those obsticles.
Take flounder fishing. Flounder are stealthy predators. By remaining motionless and color coordinated with the bottom they are almost invisable. Moving to catch prey also makes them prey to some extent. Suddenly they are no longer just a splotch on the bottom. They can be a target for larger fish.
Their great asset is the placement of their eyes. Up top and able to look 360 degrees. Nothing like watching your own back. As they lay on the bottom scoping things out they are on the look out for food. The water can be murky and their food can also blend in with their surroundings. Their attack zone can be a very small radius. Since they expend very little energy they don't need a ton of food to keep them going.
If you just drag your bait you can pass just at the edge of that radius and the flounder may not show any interest. Work the bucktail and the flounder may find it irrestible.
By picking the bucktail up and dropping every few seconds you are opening up the area that a flounder can see it. A hop two feet verticle and a drop back down will let every flounder around know there is something that needs to be looked at. Thats the name of the game. Getting your offering noticed. Not every fish will take a wack at it but the more that see it the better your chances are of a hook up.
A bucktail is a JIG not a drag. It needs to be worked to be effective. It is the most effective way of having your touch connected directly to the hook. Stick anything you want on it for bait but but keep it moving and the fish will come.