P2 9/22

I made it out after work yesterday for a quick trip on P2. The water had dropped about a foot since my last outing a few weeks back and the temp had risen from 61 up to 65.

I started off long lining flicker shads on an inside bend and quickly got the first sauger in quite a while for my boat. Then moved on to pitching a few wing dams. Nothing on jig/crawler for the second trip in a row… Maybe this is another sign that we are transitioning into the fall bite. Got a few other small walleyes/white bass on pulsers and hair jigs off the tops of the wing dams.

I was hoping to stay after dark for a while but the mosquitos were horrible and chased me off.

Tight Lines!

Sam

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Thanks for the report. Seems like they are still pretty spread out.

I use flicker shads as well mostly cause the price is right, but wondering if you have ever had some run sideways? I don’t troll but cast them and I have had a few recently run sideways or pull way left/right instead of coming straight. I’m used to some amount of pull one way or another but these were excessive.

Thanks for the report…I know my last few times out on P2 wingdams were also on the slower side for me as well. A also noticed the water temp crepted back up too.

Flicker shads catch fish and are cheap but one down side to them is tuning them and keeping them tuned. Many of the # 5s are out of tune and need to be tuned before even hitting the water. Then need to be checked often after catching fish or hitting rocks. They can be tricky to re tune but it is doable.

Now most of the 7s are tuned out of the box and stay tuned a little better. When they do get out of tune it can be a real bugger to get them back. Very small turning of the eyelet to the point you cant even tell if you moved it seems to be the trick to tuning 7s.

Mike’s right that flicker shads can be tricky to tune. I have seen both 05’s and 07’s that require re-tuning right out of the box. One tool that works for me is a Reef Runner Tune-A-Fish crankbait tuner. Much easier to use than pliers.

Another key point about tuning flicker shads is try not to twist the eyelet but rather apply pressure to either the 9 or 3 o-clock position as you are looking on top of the eyelet. If your flickershad is running to the left apply slight pressure on the eyelet to the 3 o’clock position. Another thing is it only takes slight pressure (don’t bend it) on the eyelet to make a difference. If you see the eyelet move you more than likely over-corrected it.

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Where did you find those Ken?

The tuning notches on the side of the Rapala clippers seem to work for getting into the recessed eyelet of the cranks. Those same tuning notches on the pliers don’t seem to fit in there. It also seems to be helpful to for me to use the same tool on them all the time. This lets you get the feel for those small adjusts.

I had never seen that one before either so this is what google gave me:

http://www.fishusa.com/product/Reef-Runner-Tune-A-Fish-Crank-Bait-Tuner?utm_source=google_ps&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_ps&gclid=CNT9mICn-sACFQgDaQodDpEAfA

thanks for the info….I bit the bullet and bought Storm Smash-Shads to replace the flickers that were running off, but the next time ill give tuning try

Cool tool! But they are on back-order. Hopefully I remember to try again in the future. I would like to own one.

Sorry I didnt realize that they were out…

They are a bit more, but this is from Reef Runner directly:

http://www.reefrunner.com/onlinestore/accessories.php

Nic Barker wrote:

thanks for the info….I bit the bullet and bought Storm Smash-Shads to replace the flickers that were running off, but the next time ill give tuning try

Smash shads are good baits to. Little heaver than flicker shads and run a tad deeper. Nice for casting into the wind. keep in mind they are not with out tuning issues also. Same thing small tweaks of the eyelet.

Mike W wrote:

Where did you find those Ken?

I think I bought mine through the Reef Runner website. I have checked all over in town and nobody seems to stock them. Best crankbait tuner I have found. You are right about using the same tool so you know how much pressure to apply.

I can see why reef runner would sell a crank tuning tool. Reef runners are the worst I have seen for running true out of the box. They catch fish but it takes a lot of time to get them right.