Location: Hot Ditch
Lure: 3" Gulp Alive Shrimp (New Penny color)
I went Hot Ditch on Sunday, Jan 11th. After talking with local anglers at Hot Ditch before launching the kayak, I did not expect Specks over 15 ". So Instead of trying to catch bigger speck, I decided catch a lot of small ones to test Gulp Alive Shrimp (3" long and New Penny color). As I was suggested by local anglers, I headed for the creek where the hot water was flowing from (Hot Ditch).
There were 3 boats anchored in a small area. Anglers on two boats were using small live baits. Anglers here usually catch live baits by using cast nets. Anglers on the third boat were using lures. That was a perfect setting for the experiment because I could compare my catches with theirs.
First I used a single float rig with a ¾ oz weight (I was drifting fast by wind at 8-15MPH) in 6 - 15' of water. I used a 3/0 circle hook. I wanted test if Gulf Shrimp works as real shrimps (live or dead). I did not jig intentionally. I had a good bite on this. Possibly the speck was at 17". But the circle hook came out of the mouth. It happened one more time. I switched the hook. I used 2/0 J hook on a float rig. I still did not jig. I got nibbles. I did not set the hook intentionally to see if any specks hooked themselves. No specks were caught after many nibbles during few drifts. The manufacturer stated that fish won't let go Gulp Alive. I think the statement is not quite true. I thought that the fish spitted out immediately when they found it was not a real food. Well I had to set the hook to catch fish.
Secondly, I used a ½ oz jig head with Gulp Alive shrimp. Again I drifted without jigging. I got the nibbles and caught a speck at 12".
I used a tandem rig for the third experiment. I added the ½ oz jig with a Gulp Alive Shrimp to the Float Rig with a Gulp Alive Shrimp. This time, I tested the effectiveness of jigging while drifting with the tandem rig. I got almost twice as many as nibbles when I jigged than when I did not jigged. Because Specks were very small, my hook-ups were not as good as the number of nibbles.
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Summary:
I caught more small specks than three boats combined by 2:1 for 3.5 hours period. I caught 11 specks at 9-12" when they caught about 5-6. There were two reasons I caught more. I think I was drifting over the hot spots while the boats were anchored in the same spots. Secondly, the Gulp Alive Shrimp puts our more scent than live baits.
I did not have enough experiments. But I think Gulp Alive Shrimp will work well with the tandem rig with little jigging motions. I could cast the tandem rig just like a single jig and could retrieve it slowly and it worked..
I confirmed what someone suggested. Gulp Alive Shrimp needs to be re-dipped (soaked in the container) often because the scent wears out fast. I changed the Gulp Alive Shrimp every 10 minutes.
I learned that some anglers drift with float rig without jigging. But I found that small jigging action improved the nibbling (because the specks were small) by almost 100 percent.
By the way, I cast MirrorLures lures when I did not jig while drifting. I did not have any hits.
Also as suggested, I used a Twist Lock container (by Zip Lock) to keep Gulp Alive Shrimp. I heard that the original container leaks.
Joe
Lure: 3" Gulp Alive Shrimp (New Penny color)
I went Hot Ditch on Sunday, Jan 11th. After talking with local anglers at Hot Ditch before launching the kayak, I did not expect Specks over 15 ". So Instead of trying to catch bigger speck, I decided catch a lot of small ones to test Gulp Alive Shrimp (3" long and New Penny color). As I was suggested by local anglers, I headed for the creek where the hot water was flowing from (Hot Ditch).
There were 3 boats anchored in a small area. Anglers on two boats were using small live baits. Anglers here usually catch live baits by using cast nets. Anglers on the third boat were using lures. That was a perfect setting for the experiment because I could compare my catches with theirs.
First I used a single float rig with a ¾ oz weight (I was drifting fast by wind at 8-15MPH) in 6 - 15' of water. I used a 3/0 circle hook. I wanted test if Gulf Shrimp works as real shrimps (live or dead). I did not jig intentionally. I had a good bite on this. Possibly the speck was at 17". But the circle hook came out of the mouth. It happened one more time. I switched the hook. I used 2/0 J hook on a float rig. I still did not jig. I got nibbles. I did not set the hook intentionally to see if any specks hooked themselves. No specks were caught after many nibbles during few drifts. The manufacturer stated that fish won't let go Gulp Alive. I think the statement is not quite true. I thought that the fish spitted out immediately when they found it was not a real food. Well I had to set the hook to catch fish.
Secondly, I used a ½ oz jig head with Gulp Alive shrimp. Again I drifted without jigging. I got the nibbles and caught a speck at 12".
I used a tandem rig for the third experiment. I added the ½ oz jig with a Gulp Alive Shrimp to the Float Rig with a Gulp Alive Shrimp. This time, I tested the effectiveness of jigging while drifting with the tandem rig. I got almost twice as many as nibbles when I jigged than when I did not jigged. Because Specks were very small, my hook-ups were not as good as the number of nibbles.
Summary:
I caught more small specks than three boats combined by 2:1 for 3.5 hours period. I caught 11 specks at 9-12" when they caught about 5-6. There were two reasons I caught more. I think I was drifting over the hot spots while the boats were anchored in the same spots. Secondly, the Gulp Alive Shrimp puts our more scent than live baits.
I did not have enough experiments. But I think Gulp Alive Shrimp will work well with the tandem rig with little jigging motions. I could cast the tandem rig just like a single jig and could retrieve it slowly and it worked..
I confirmed what someone suggested. Gulp Alive Shrimp needs to be re-dipped (soaked in the container) often because the scent wears out fast. I changed the Gulp Alive Shrimp every 10 minutes.
I learned that some anglers drift with float rig without jigging. But I found that small jigging action improved the nibbling (because the specks were small) by almost 100 percent.
By the way, I cast MirrorLures lures when I did not jig while drifting. I did not have any hits.
Also as suggested, I used a Twist Lock container (by Zip Lock) to keep Gulp Alive Shrimp. I heard that the original container leaks.
Joe
