Topic Areas  Tackle Talk   Myths are a widely held but mistaken belief and misunderstandings are a failure to interpret something correctly. That sentence covers a lot of the misspoken words used to help recreational fishermen become “better catchers of fish.” At times I wonder where so much bad information about fishing comes from and how easily it is accepted. Even more surprising is why it isn’t challenged. Remember, just because someone says something doesn’t mean that it is correct. This seems to be especially true about fishing. Much bad information is passed on with, hopefully, good intention, but really not tried and tested for validity. Before accepting any information about fishing as “gospel”, please check it out for yourself before passing it to others. I recommend that you try any of the things in future columns you read and think will work for you, before telling others to try them. Saying so, let’s get started with some prevalent tackle talk. Tandem Rigs (two lures on separate leaders and on one fishing line) (printable version, click here) I seldom use traditional tandem rigs when fishing, but when I do use them, I do not use the misnamed “three way swivel.” It is only a junction for three lines, and may turn a little, but never does it perform as “a swivel.” When using the conventional three way swivel and catching a Striper that spins, you usually end up with the two leader lines wrapped.. There is an item available where two swivels are joined with the loop of one between the loop and barrel of another that may work better, but I have never tried that arrangement. I found that bending a length of stainless steel wire ninety degrees, with a circle in the middle and circles on the ends, with snap swivels in all circles, performs a much better “three way swivel function” of keeping lines separated and twist free. Also, if your lines get wrapped, by unsnapping one line you can usually speed the unwrapping process. I do, however, use a tandem rig that is not conventional. For some summer time fishing, I use an eighteen inch bar with a circle in the middle and with a circle on both ends, with snap swivel placed in all of the circles. From the end snap swivels I use equal length of one hundred pound test mono leaders of twelve to sixteen inches length. I suspend two “Storm Shad” lures, both either four or six inches long, and one black and green, the other with a greenish color, on the end with Duolock snaps. This allows me the ability to quickly change damaged lures or leaders while fishing. I normally pull six of these rigs at a time. If something works and catches Stripers I fish that type on all my lines that I currently use.  Tandem Rig Fishing (printable version, click here) Trophy Striper season usually means fishing in the upper part of the water column and maximizing the number of lures you use when trolling. The type and size of the prey that the Trophy Striper feeds on is about twelve inches long and the fish are both species of spawning shad (American and Hickory) and also includes any large menhaden (about twelve inches in length) that have entered the Bay. Planer boards will help you increase the number of lines you can use and allows keeping more lines in the upper part of the water column by extending the width of your boat. Most fishermen also try to keep their lures as far away from the boat noise as possible, as well as, closer to the surface.  Tandem rigs (two lures each) are also used by many fishermen during this early season. The lengths of the two leader lines to the lure vary according to what users feel is necessary and usually are at least fifteen and twenty foot to the lures from their junction at a three way swivel. Many use a spoon (non weighted lure) for the top running lure and a weighted lead headed lure to run in the deeper position to give separation between the two lures. If you use two lead headed lures most likely they both will have an 8/0 jig hook and use an 8/0 trailer hook. Both are positioned to come out on the top of a nine inch soft plastic shad. The jig headed lures used usually have a minimum weight of three ounces to carry an 8/0 hook. To obtain separation of the two lures a bottom lure of six ounces is used and is needed to have, at best, a minimal separation of about one foot. Even then the bottom lure is running fifteen foot deep if you let out one hundred feet of forty pound test monofilament. Few fishing lines float as high as monofilament and most of the super composite lines with thin diameter would run nearer to twenty foot or more with that much weight at that distance. There are a few 8/0 jig headed lures that are made with a “no weight” plastic head that you can purchase to run in the top position. However, by using a threaded twelve inch soft plastic shad with a 10/0 hook protruding out of the bottom of the shad you can obtain the length of a lead headed parachute with a nine inch soft plastic shad. If you use a jig head with a six inch soft plastic shad, you can obtain the same length when using a 9/0 hook threaded nine inch soft plastic shad. These “no weight” types of lures on the top of the tandem rig, used with a three ounce lead headed lure below, will allow you to keep the rig at about the four and five foot levels with forty pound mono out about one hundred feet.  Why use a threaded shad (hook on the bottom)? Simply said, it will swim upright in the water because of the hooks weight and it will reduce pull downs, without catching a fish, to an absolute minimum. Think about the hook position on hard plastic trolling, casting, and even jigging lures. They all have hooks on the end or on the bottom or in both places, but never on the top. Most off shore soft plastic lures now have hooks on the bottom and/or the end. Most predator fish, which includes Strippers, attack from below their prey and stun their prey by mouthing it. They then release their prey and approach from its head to swallow it. Why? If swallowed tail first the prey’s dorsal fin(s) might get stuck in their throat and result in a starvation death for the predator if the prey cannot be disgorged. If a hook is located in the top of a lure, when it is attacked, the hook ends up facing out of the predator’s mouth initially. The predator’s path upwards will be altered by a sudden jerk sideways by the forward motion of your lure. Unless your lure is released very quickly and turns to an up right position, the lure will slip out of the predator’s mouth. And more important, your lure will move away, instead of being stunned and floating as a bait fish would. If the predator continues the attack and maneuvers to the head first approach to swallow your lure, your fishing line will deny the attempt. Also remember, at three miles per hour your boat and your lure is traveling almost four and one half feet per second. A lot has to happen very quickly during the initial part of the attack to catch the predator. When the hook is positioned on the bottom of the lure and is attacked the hook points into the mouth and as the lure slips it will be positioned to hook in the outer jaw, tongue, or the other jaw as it starts to slip out of the predator’s mouth.  The threaded soft plastic shad is called a “naked shad” and as such is a very effective lure to use as a non-weighted fishing lure. The nine inch shad originally came with a slot in the bottom for threading. Another good reason is if you go fishing in Virginia you can use teaser rigs with all of your shad teasers threaded with a hook to increase the chance of a hookup.  Hooks to use for threading and best results are size 10/0 for twelve inch soft plastic shad, 9/0 for nine inch shad and 5/0 for five and four inch shad. Push a utility knife blade (a) into the bottom of the shad about two thirds of the way back to the tail. This action will reduce the possibility of tearing a slit in the shad when pulling the hook into the shad body. Actually, a tear does not stop Stripers from biting your lure, and even with the slit you make, a tear will happen occasionally. You could, instead of cutting a slit, just push the threading needle into the shad one half of the width of your hook’s gap between the shank and the point. Tie or crimp a length of mono on a hook. Position the threading needle into the slit (b) no more than half of your hook’s width. Place the needle on a hard surface, with the tag end of the mono in the needle (c), and turn the shad upright. Gently push the shad down on the needle guiding it out of the front of the shad. Pull the needle out of the shad and pull the hook into the shad (d). Stop pulling when the shad is in the “original” shape. Place a toothpick down from the top of the shad through the hook eye and to the bottom of the shad. The toothpick will help stabilize the hook. Cut the toothpick even with the top of the shad. Your “naked shad” lure is ready for you to use.  Smaller shad can also be threaded with the hook on the bottom using the instructions above and an 8/0 saltwater hook is used for six inch shad and a 5/0 hook is used for five and four inch shad. Another way is to start the hook at the front, with the shank on the side of the shad and slide the shad on the hook until you reach 2/3’s of the way to the tail. Turn the hook point to exit out of the bottom of the shad.  To increase the effectiveness of the naked shad lure you can add flash material, such as Flashabou or Krystal Flash (fly tying materials), by threading pieces through the shad with your needle. You can use the threaded shads on teaser rigs and get good results, also. It is safest to carry a few replacement “naked shad” instead of threading when on the water. Do you lure and line assembly on shore where it is safer. Why increase the chance of getting a hook, needle, or a cut in you hand while on board the boat, use the time for fishing, not rigging.  Planer Boards (printable version, click here) Planer boards help you keep more line near the surface. I have caught more Trophy Striper off my planer boards up high then deep in the water column. You can also use them effectively in the late fall season in the Bay if the large stripers return. They do not work well on Stripers that are less than thirty inches in length. The problem is that the release used to keep your fishing line on the planer line will not release for the smaller fish’s weight. Also, when the smaller fish are present, they are located deeper in the water column which requires more weight to reach them and creates the need for a tighter hold on your release mechanism.  To construct a pair of planer boards that can carry up to four fishing lines, follow the instructions that follow. First cut a 1” or 2” x 6” x 8’ board in half. Using the directions below, create one planer board that is used on the starboard (right) side of a boat. When finished with the first planer, reverse the instructions to create a port (left) side planer.  Locate the center of the board length and place a mark with a pencil (a). Using a compass and a pencil, draw a 90 degree cut line across the entire center of the width of the board. Check the saw blade position, it should be vertical (90 degrees) to the table top for this cut. Cut the board across at the center line mark. On both of the smaller boards draw a vertical and a horizontal line at the center of both boards. Draw a 60 degree cut line across the width of the board, crossing the middle mark. Tilt the saw blade 45 degrees and cut the board along the marked cut line, with the 60 degree tip to the left of the saw blade. Mark the other board with the 60 degree line across the board in the other direction. Cut the board with the 120 degree line to the left of the blade. If you follow the instructions above, you have the boards cut to make a left and right running planer board. If not, talk to someone how wants to make a pair and make both cuts the opposite of the way you made yours. That way you both will have a “matched pair.” Next, place the two boards together as shown below (b). The top board is placed with two inches extending beyond the bottom board. Clamp the boards together before drilling the three holes shown. The hole to the front is drilled about three inches from the top and about 24 inches from the back of the board. The two rear holes are drilled about 2” from the back and from the top and bottom edges. Unclamp the planer boards. On the board that was in top position mark and then drill the series of three holes. Place a mark for the center hole 21 one inches from the back of the board and two and one half inches from the top of the board. Place the other two holes centers the same distance from the top and about inch between the centers from the center of the first mark. These holes allow you to adjust the running of the planer, if needed. Drill all the holes five sixteenths of an inch wide.  Reverse the ends of the other planer board and drill the holes using the same instructions.  To help preserve the wood and, more important, you should paint you boards with a bright and highly visible color. Use of a flag on each board will also help other fishing boats avoid your boards. If you do not make your boards highly visible, you are fooling your self by thinking others can always see them. Maryland may be issuing use restrictions requiring these two conditions, as well as, limiting the maximum length of the tow lines. .  Paint all of the boards with a bright yellow or international orange paint (c). You want your planer boards to be recognized by other boats to avoid fishing line tangles. You can add a flag by simply drilling a three thirty second inch hole in the back outside board of each planer. Using a eighteen inch stainless steel welding bar as a pole and attaching a piece of yellow material (plastic or cloth) on the pole. You now can assemble your planer boards (d). Place a 5/16” nut and washer about one inch and a half from one of the ends of a 12” threaded rod. Place the rod in the front hole of a painted board. Place another washer and nut on the same end. Do not have the rod extending out of the outside nut. Repeat the process with the other board. Place the two back rods the same way in the back of the boards. Now tighten the inside nuts of all the bars. Then place a 5/16” eye bolt in the second hole from the front of the series of three holes with nuts and bolts as on the long rod ends. Add one additional nut on the end of the eye bolt. His serves to lock the eye bolt from coming loose. Carry wrenches with you when you try out your planer boards. You can adjust the performance of your boards by moving the eye bolt.  I’ve pulled in a few floating planer boards that were missing the eye bolt because a single nut vibrated loose. If you loose a planer board when fishing, you have to pull in all of your fishing lines. And also, the other planer board must be taken in. And, to make matter worse, a fish might bite and delay your returning to the area where you lost the planer. It will also be a rough day with wave action that shook the planer loose adding to the possibility that you will not find the planer board. That’s why I advocate a locking nut on the eye bolt. Also, one of the boards recovered had a short piece of a line that indicated someone failed to check the condition of the tow line. Do check your tow line’s condition for nicks and abrasions when retrieving your boards. You can attach your fishing line to the planer board with number 32 rubber bands, as shown below (e). A Douloc snap is placed on the rubber band. The snap is pushed through the rubber band at least four times and then pull the snap closing the loop in the rubber band. The snap is opened and placed on the planer line. By letting your fishing line out, the snap slides on the planer line. You determine the amount of fishing line to let out visually. This practice works well and is simple to use. Storage of the planer tow line (f) has been made easy by the introduction of a device called a “wheel.” Actually, it looks like a small tire turned inside out. It is about ten inches in diameter and made with black plastic. Drill a hole 3/8” in the high side near the edge. Cut a short piece of 3/8” poly tubing and place it in the hole. Tie a knot about one foot from the end of the tow line. Place the rope through the poly tubing. Slip a snap swivel on the end and whip the rope enclosing the snap swivel. Then whip another snap on the other end of your tow rope. Wrap the tow rope on the wheel. Finish the other tow line. Plan to attach your tow lines to high and sturdy metal rails or such other metal posts you have on your boat. The higher up is better to help keep your tow rope from dragging in the water. Simply take the snap swivel on the loose end and attached it to the eye bolt on your planer. The line will feed off the wheel and the planer will run out until the tow line is fully extended. Assign one person the task of wrapping the tow line back on the wheel while another pulls in the planer. Bass Pro Shop carries “wheels” in the Baltimore store.  Puff Lure (printable version, click here) The puff lure is one that once you start making and using it you will wonder why other lures are made the way they are. The final lure can be configured in many ways. Just to name a few, weighted or non-weighted, fat or slim appearance, using of a varied collection of heads, and using only one hook that you can replace or refinish if the original rusts. And, most important is that you will reduce/eliminate the number of pull downs that do not catch a fish. Enough hype, here is the construction details. The puff is constructed on a tying post. The post is made from polypropylene tubing (a). The size of the center post is based on the amount of hair (thickness) you want. You will find applications for all three sizes of the polypropylene tubing posts and many uses of the puff. The four sizes of the tubing are one quarter inch, one half inch, three quarter inch, and one inch. The smaller size of the tubing (call the post) will fit in the next larger size (called a flange) and it will stop the hair from slipping off the post. The larger tubing size is the smaller part of the finished post. One quarter inch or less in length is used for the flange. When a large post is used, you can place smaller sizes of tubing inside the post to reduce the size of the hole, if necessary. Heat seal the flange end by using a propane torch and passing it through the flame. Bucktail look -- To start tying on hair, overlap the flange and post about one inch or more with the hair (b). Wrap four or more times around the hair and about a half inch away from the flange. Reverse the wrap direction towards the flange making six wraps. Check the hair distribution around the flange. Move the hair if necessary to equally distribute it around the post. If unable, start over. Continue wrapping until you have about one quarter of an inch of wrapping. Slide the hair down to the flange. Make three wraps away from the flange. Apply super glue and let it dry. Then cut off the wrapping thread. Trim off the post at the end of the wrapping. Apply super glue on the exposed hair in the wrapping. Then cut off the heat sealed end to the length you want to make your puff. Puff lure assembly -- Your puff lure is ready for assembly (c). The weighted bucktail puff lure is shown with all of the parts that you can use. You start with the threaded shad and put the pieces together. Place a locking bead on the mono right in front of the shad to keep the next group of parts from slipping down the mono and causing the shad to slip into an inappropriate position. (You can make your finished lure longer by moving the locking bead away from the shad). You can use an egg sinker, one to eight ounces, on the mono next for weight if desired. Then you can place one half of a plastic golf practice ball to make a fat lure presentation. Then you place on a puff. (You can stack two puffs together to meditate a mistake of bad hair distribution or if you did not use enough hair in the construction of a puff). You can also trim off the belly of the shad that is covered with the puff. This allows the hair to collapse when a fish strikes and helps assure a “hookup.” Puff lure heads -- Finally you reach the position of the lure head. What to use? You are only limited by your imagination. Some of the types that I have used successfully are a large bead, a plastic pipe end cap, various sizes of plastic bottle tops, ends of small and large plastic Easter eggs, jig heads of various sizes and shapes with a hole thru the middle in lieu of a jig hook, and, most recently, plastic squid bodies (where you also can add up to three ounce egg sinkers). The predator and the bait both have eyes that look up and forward. When a large Striper attacks it starts below the prey, it cannot see the bait fish eyes nor can it be seen by the victim. You will attract more Stripers if you add reflective material to the puff, such as Krystal Flash or Flashabou, then eyes ever will. If you feel that you must have eyes, I suggest that you use the flat stick on type and save your self some money. By the way, how many fish have red eyes? I have never caught a fish that had other than black eyes.  Daisy Chains -- A daisy chain is usually composed of three teasers spaced on a length of mono and used in front of a lure (d). Teasers can be a shaped piece of soft plastic attached with a small snap, spinner blades, artificial hair, or a combination of these items. The type of teaser used is dependent upon where the chain will be used. If used with a top unweighted lure on a tandem rig, the teaser is a puff which is not weighted and placed on the main line. When used with a weighted lure in a tandem rig, each teaser is crimped to the main mono line with a short leader (e). You can also use a weighted Daisy Chain to provide a little more lure depth separation between lures if you use puffs with or without plastic. You can add weight under the last puff or distribute the weight under each using egg sinkers. Note that active daisy chains (those with plastic teasers) will attract more fish than an inactive chain. I now use a single weighted lure on my planer board fishing lines with a puff daisy chain with plastic teasers instead of pulling tandem rigs. I feel the trade off of using active teasers offsets the need to use two lures to attract one Striper to bite. Plus the incident of fishing line wrap is reduced and, with no long leader to pull in by hand, you wind the Daisy Chain to the rod tip and net the fish.   Boat Talk -- coming soon Recipes ROCKFISH POACHED IN CIDER -- submitted by Captain Bruno Vasta  A great way to prepare your Rockfish with a distinctive flavor by poaching in apple cider was recently presented in The Washington Post. Served with steamed green beans and /or small potatoes is a quick and easy recipe.      Ingredients       Directions 1 small onion 5 ounces of sliced mushrooms 1 pound of Rockfish filets 2  tablespoons unsalted butter Freshly ground black pepper 1 cup of Apple Cider ¼ cup of Apple brandy Peel and mince the onion and place in a large skillet with the melted butter using medium heat (@250 degrees). Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 – 7 minutes until the ingredients are translucent. Cut the Rockfish filets into medium size pieces and season them with salt and pepper or even a little McCormick’s lemon-pepper seasoning. Arrange the fish in the skillet in a single layer and move the onions and mushrooms around the fish. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the cup of Apple Cider and the Apple Brandy. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 more minutes.  Transfer the fish to a deep serving dish and keep warm, leaving the liquid in the skillet. Increase the heat to 375 degrees and add another tablespoon of butter. Stir in order to reduce the sauce slightly. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Pour this sauce over the fish, add the vegetables and potatoes. Should take no more than 30 minutes to prepare. Takes a lot less time to consume. Real tasty!  Enjoy.     PANKO-CRUSTED ROCKFISH -- submitted by Captain Bruno & Dotty Vasta  Panko, or Japanese-style bread crumbs, goes a long way in low-fat recipes that re-create the crunch of fried fish. In this recipe, combining lemon rind and parsley boost the flavor of the Panko. We have tried this recipe with Chesapeake Bay Rockfish and even some nice Flounder filets. A real treat.       Ingredients       Directions 1 cup of Panko 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley ¼ teaspoon of salt, or to taste Non-stick cooking oil (Pam) Grated parmesan cheese 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind 4 to 6 ounces of Rockfish filets 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 4 tablespoons of lemon juice Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Use aluminum foil to line the bottom of a baking dish. Combine the Panko, grated lemon rind and parsley in a shallow baking dish and mix well. Take the filets and pat them dry on paper towels, then place them in the lined baking dish, then season lightly with salt and pepper. Use the mustard to evenly coat the tops of the filets. Then working with one filet at a time, invert each filet onto the Panko mixture, pushing down gently so the crumbs adhere to the mustard coating. Return the filet to the baking dish and repeat with the remaining filets. Use Pam to lightly coat the filet’s crumb topping.  Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes; then turn the oven up to broil, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese over the filets then broil for about 1 to 2 minutes just to brown the crumb topping. Take each serving plate and put a little lemon juice across the bottom before placing the filet on top. Serve immediately with a few lemon wedges and some steamed broccoli. A glass of white wine always goes well with this dish. Enjoy!  Communications     Fishing Reports     Fishing Partners    Chapter Supporters     Home      About Us     Topic  Areas      Photos       Links