Mack Attack Articles

Although my ice-out experiences have primarily been limited to Lake Erie marinas and its wester basin reefs, these techniques are highly effective in marinas and on its walleye pre- and post-spawning reefs.

Horizontal is when casting or trolling. This is primarily a swimming and darting action. In order to increase its flash and vibration, I routinely add a spinner blade to the split ring on its tail with the line attached to the nose and a snap swivel to minimize line twist.

There’s a well-worn phrase that’s used in our sport of angling that “90% of fish caught are by only 10% of the fishermen”. Is it because of superior skill or attention to detail? Probably, a little of each. This article is about you becoming an instant member of that “10% Club."

One of the most difficult presentations in sport fishing is fishing to suspended fish. A line counter on a baitcaster reel is one method of delivering your offering to where the fish are located. Another, is watching the fall of your lure on the screen of your electronic fish locator.

Vertical jigging on a slow drift is about as close to the perfect presentation that one can achieve in sport fishing because of absolute control of lure placement and its resultant downward flutter. The downward flutter is the most effective lure action that causes a fish to strike.

Last month I was walleye fishing on Lake Erie during perfect weather conditions — cloudy weather with a gentle "walleye chop." Rain was forecast for the next day, but the walleye were slamming my offerings on this day. They were nice fish, measuring in the 25- to 26-inch class. I could not wait to get back out the next day.

To answer the question to the title of this month’s article, I feel that there is no better month to fish for kokanee than September. In addition, a Sonic BaitFish™ (SBF) is the lure that has the potential to catch the most kokanee by vertical jigging!