[Ben Field]

Just putting this out there as a 'thinking out loud' kind of thing, rather than an actual question (its one of those things that nobody can answer with a committed answer), but...

Why are so many fish being caught on the drop? There's lots of talk about fish nipping or slapping baits to disable them, but I don't actually see and comparison in sink rates between a somewhat more neutrally bouyant baitfish and a 3g jighead on a light line. The jighead sinks like a stone.

Could it actually be the sharp change in direction that causes the fish to bite?.... A change in direction towards safety and escape?!...

Downwards is surely the natural direction for a fleeing baitfish to want to run(?) - since that's where the cover generally is. Any baitfish that swims upwards in to open, clear water is dead meat. That's one natural (1) point for a fast sinking baiit in a downwards direction.

Also there's the old (and accurate I believe) coarse fishing theory about fish committing to a previously static bait if it is twitched and looks like its going to get away (2 points). Its the same thing, but this and the above both point towards fish committing to baits that are looking like they're going to get away/escape - so the fish commit!

Downwards sinking baits are also tralling towards the predator (3) - who if he/she had it right would be positioned below the target.

I'm only really bringing this up because I know that I (and probably others) will have long been thinking that the reason any sinking bait is successful is for one reason only and that it looks like it's sinking, injured and unable to continue swimming forwards - making it an easy target.

Of coarse, more lightly weighted baits (or unweighted) will sink slowly and more naturally. They're still sinking obviously but its only once you get to this point I guess that most of us would actually have been right in our understanding of why a sinking bait is attractive.

Sorry if this is sounding like its all over the place a little bit. Just thinking out loud. To be honest, when I have imagined baits being taken on the drop before, I'd pictured the fish following them for at least a short spell (out of interest and looking for a chance to attack), and then pictured the bait stopping and sinking as if it couldn't run any longer - injured stylee. I rarely now think that's the case and suggest that baits are taken on the drop because it looks more like they're actually trying to escape (and may succeed), rather than them being injured. Its a much more natural explanation.

Feel free to throw stones. :x

 

[Marc Westwood]

Caught many trout on the drop, often just as I start to pull the fly. I wonder if the fish thinks food then hunter instinct kicks in when food starts to move away.

Popular with certain patterns, a montana pattern often catches on the drop.

 

[trev richardson]

Ben,
Doesn't the slow dropping bait suggest something is dead or dying and is an easy meal but until the lure is moved in some instances the fish may not realise it is edible or this may just trigger a natural instinct to strike...especially if other fish are around??

You don't pick easy one's do you....... The meaning of life..now that should keep you busy for a while.

 

[Ben Field]

Yep, thats what I'm saying guys.

Marc, definitely. That counts for static floating or suspending baits too but the theory is the same as I mention above with the bait moving away, having previously been stationary - the predator doesn't want it to escape so quickly snaps it up. I think there are probably loads of techniques based on that when we start to think about it. its why pauses are so successful obviously.

Trev, gotta keep the olde brain cells tickin over ;-) Slow dropping DOES suggest its dead or dying, but thats my main point really in that any jighead of about 3g or over (which is still very small) is going to drag any bait down at such a rate that it can't really be classed as slow or natural anymore - unless you compare it with a fit and healthy fish bolting down to cover.

All I'm really thinking about or suggesting is that there are 2 ways of looking at sinking baits - rather than the 1 obvious one that I'd always thought about (dead/injured). Past a point quite far down the 'weight' scale (3g?), the sinking isn't necessarily dead/dying, but more like "well and truly alive and looking for a place to hide".

 

[steve mullins]

Most predatory fish spend there time using the cover of deeper water to ambush prey from below.So they are more likely to see then attack a lure as it falls into there normal attack depth rather than a lure thats going out of it.

 

[trev richardson]

Ben,
Agree with the weight theory...i.e. too much getting into diving food rather than dead but couldn't you increase this with a neutral bouyancy weight...... thinking in terms of lead and wood? mixture to give you the casting weight..if needed.:rollineyes:

 

[Ben Field]

Be nice if you could I think, but with jigheads it'll be difficult. Obvioulsy its possible with hollow plastic lures to vary all sorts of sink rates, but to balance out a purely lead or tungsten weight would take a big big mass of wood (or similar). You'd get to the point where you'd basically be fishing a hard bait rather than the soft you started out with.

...although maybe there's a market there somewhere. They'd need to be bigger overall than your standard jigheads, but slow sinking varieties (if they made them small enough) would be very useful.

 

[trev richardson]

Yep you're right mate. Maybe only get to 6 - 10 grams at a realistic size?

When are we building the prototype????