On Clickers…..seriously

Recently I made some wisecrack type posts about people using clickers while fishing for cats.

First off, let me say I know it was in a smartass tone and I really meant no true disrespect to anybody who likes to use clickers. Whatever works.

I still think that some guys “grow out” of using them. My breaking point came several years ago. In March I was on a weekend trip to the Cumberland River in Tennessee. After a good bit a scouting and landing one decent blue cat on day one we were exited about day two. We woke up to temps in the 40s and sleet. In mid afternoon, without a bite, we happened to stumble across Jim Moyer who was jigging in the middle of the river. We stopped and complained about the catfishing to him and his response was “Don’t I know it. No current, they’re holding all the water back. I’m fishing saugers if that says anything to ya.” Jim told us we were close to one good spot and we should try it before giving up. Not 15 minutes after we achored up in the spot one of the clickers went click..click..bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I picked up the rod with the line screaming out. It would slow a bit but never stopped and after a few seconds I engaged the reel and felt a hard jerk and then nothing. I thought my line had snapped, but I reeled in everything but the bait. That was the last action we had on that trip. It was a long ride home thinking about that run. That fish could have made the trip, even with the sleet and rain.

Next let me say I am in no way a flathead expert.

Later that year I was finshing for flatheads on my local river, which has a poor flathead population. (IMO due to the many setlines, limblines and bankpoles used) In fact I ran across this post on another fishing board:

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this is the first year I plan on running a set-line for flatheads. I’ve been tagging along with an old-timer for the past season and been learning the ropes. these fish are becoming harder to find. and there populations have decreased in reacent years. I recently recieved all the tackle from an older individual who has givin up the sport. any comments or suggestions on this type of fishing would be great.

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Anyway, back to my story. Flatheads are few and far between and we had a couple rods baited with bullheads that night. One of those rods gave 2 big bounces and then started clicking out line at a steady pace. My buddy grabbed the rod and gave the handle a turn and set the hook. He felt a “big” fish for about 2 seconds and then nothing. I still think about that run and fish that spot quite a bit looking for that fish.

Anyway, rightly or wrongly I swore off clickers. I would have rather had those rods load up or do something where we could have picked them up and felt the fish before setting the hook.

In the years since I’ve talked to and fished with several guys who know what they are doing and none of them use clickers. Bite detection has become one of the most exciting things about flathead fishing for me. I’ve been out with a couple guys who a frickin’ psychic about it. And JetCat turned me on to black lights for us mere mortals.

I can see how clickers can be a great backup but IMO, nothing gets the blood flowing like those subtle, slight rod bends or those POPS and then your line goes slack and then tightens up again. Stuff that would never even trigger one click.

But again, thats just me and where I am coming from.

The only time I will turn my clicker off is when I am tightlining with circle hooks… cut bait, etc.. this is why…

I am in no way a *catfish god*.. I have been accused of being a psychic a few times when it comes to fishing.. but I dont see that as true either.

The fish bite can vary greatly in aggression day to day.. some days you dont even get a chomp, or a subtle pick up.. it screams from the start to the point where you set the hook.. well.. when do you set the hook? This is a highly controversal question with no perfect answer because.. every bite is not the same.. just like every bait is not the same. If I have a 6″ bullhead on the end of my line because it happens to be the biggest I could get ahold of that day.. if a fish does grab it… its going to be sucked down like nothing 90% of the time.. but if I have a 12″ sucker on there.. it can take a few seconds.. especially if its a smaller fish.

If the fish are agressive and grabbing and running with everything they see… if you are not on freespool, you are going to lose some fish that you should have caught because they dont have it down yet.. or .. they might get stuck by the hook and have the option of spitting it before you can get to the rod if its in one of those tough spots.. at the same time, you might just get a poor hook location like the *skin of the whisker* which will give you a fish on for a minute.. until you put some force on and rip it out(unless your using 6# test attatched to a fly rod).

The clicker does nothing more than give you options if you can not, or do not detect the strike when it happens and are not allowed to take appropriate actions with your rod before they run.

The way they bite changes day to day.. lately for me its been screamers for 3-5 feet and then they stop, it almost seems like they are striking like a toothy preditor… slam it and when they stop the eat it.. oter times I see my tip jumping like crazy and here it is my weight bouncing across the bottom when the fish is heading off to the side.

The *right time* to set the hook varies day to day.. when the fish are aggresive they just grab it and suck it down immediately.. other days they seem to take thier sweet time and it seems like an eternity before they get it in far enough to get a hook in them.. one day they want small baits,the next monsters… and they put it down when they feel like it.

I will always use the clicker option.. this doesnt mean that my clicker goes off before catching each fish… yes, one needs to pay careful attention to the tip and they will learn how to detect some strikes early.. but other times there is no early detection and it turns into an all out run with a hook that is not neccesarily in an ideal position.. this is when the clicker is worth its weight in gold.

I probably have no business chiming in here, because I use spinning tackle (and I’m talking flatheads exclusively here), but here I go…

A few years ago, we started looking into “baitrunning” spinning outfits and my buddy eventually bought two of them (I probably would have too, but they’re danged expensive). They’re the spinning equivilent of clickers on casting reels. In all the time since, his baitrunner has let out line only on extremely rare occasions. We fish from the boat, with white rods, and almost invariably detect bites before any line is in danger of going out. With flats it has been my experience that you don’t “let them take it”. You do pick up the rod and feel for what’s going on as soon as you think a flat is down there, but you don’t wait once you know he’s there. Some rare exceptions occur during the spawn, when they do a lot of picking up and moving of the bait, and you still want the rod in your hand then. With the rod in your hand, you don’t need a clicker – you can feed line if you need to.

So clickers, or baitrunners in my case, have been useless. I’ve seen cases where I think they’ve been counterproductive, too – when the fish have run with the bait and eventually dropped it. Another buddy was into clickers on his casting rigs a few years ago and lost a few that way. Hard to know, but I think a tighter line would have hooked them.

Clickers may have come in handy in the old days, when I was more about catching a buzz than catching fish – we probably didn’t have as close an eye on the rod tips then.

With white rods, headlamps, and reflective tape on the ends of the rods (originally for sandbars, but handy in the boat too) we seldom miss the first movement of the rod that says “this isn’t the bluegill anymore”. I rarely even need the headlamp until the fight has brought the fish under the boat.

A lot of it has to do with the angle and the action of the rod. I am advocate of somewhat lighter tackle. Rod tips anyway. Some rods, in a 45 degree angle, will bend over pretty far before any line is released from the clicker.

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With flats it has been my experience that you don’t “let them take it”. You do pick up the rod and feel for what’s going on as soon as you think a flat is down there, but you don’t wait once you know he’s there.

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That is the way I was shown and is what I believe in now.

Visability of a St Croix rod at night is about as good as a snowman in a snow storm…

I hate taping glow sticks to the rod tips for a number of reasons…Matt, you mentioned reflective tape…are you talking about the red stuff?

Although the sound of a screaming run…that doesn’t happen to often…makes my heart pound…the thonnnggg of a strike with out a clicker is IMO more memorable…speaking from recent experiance.

Wasn’t there and artical someplace about feeling where the bait was in the cat’s mouth…something about you could feel if the tail of your bait was all the way in? Anyone recall that…maybe an old post?

Brian, I know they make white reflective tape for joggers to stick to their shoes and jackets. It shows up pretty well – haven’t run one down on accident in years.

When are you giving up on those clean-water fish and coming down to Coralville?

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I hate taping glow sticks to the rod tips for a number of reasons…Matt, you mentioned reflective tape…are you talking about the red stuff?

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The stuff I’m talking about is white and comes from the automotive section at Wally World – it’s a buck and a half for enough to do about twenty rods. Make sure the rods are clean and dry and don’t leave a seam on the line side (never had a problem so far – also don’t use more than goes around the rod just over once. We’re talking a pretty narrow piece).

It shows up even without the headlamp on my darker rods, but with the headlamp there’s no mistake. Tape a coupla spots on the last foot of the rod.

Good tip! I was planning on doing that after this last time out. I bought a white rod, and noticed how nicely my blacklight picked it up. I love my St. Croixs, and the tape will help greatly!
Tuck

I use them and they have their strengths and weaknesses like anything else. I lost a hell of a good fish one year because I had a run and I set the hook before engaging the brake. Whenever I am fishing near wood or other hazards I use it less. If you happen to fish a desert wasteland like I do I like to have a bit more line out just for fun. It is much easier to get a rod out of my holder without 80 pounds of fury on the other end of it. You certainly can’t argue with Matt’s success record.