Ring worms???

I don’t know what it is but I can’t seem to get a walleye or sauger on a ring worm. I was in down on the river both days this weekend and the only thing I was able to catch them on was minnows. Anyone have any pointer for me that might help me boat some fish with these things. I tried dragging them, pitching them and vertically jigging them, I tried different colors and all that I came up with were garbage fish. Maybe it’s just too similar to bass fishing and my mind physically won’t let me catch walleyes this way. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

What pool did you fish?

What I figured out was its similar to bass fishing when pitching but you dont really pump or jerk the bait back to the boat. Cast it out and lift it back to the boat.. Lift, reel the slack and lift.. Like James says in the video, let the current and the tail of the bait do the work for you.

We went out of Everett’s.

Derek, were you out there yesterday? we were the guys you said were crazy yesterday. We were pulling in while you were leavin, at least I think it was you.

Actually Derek it wasn’t you I was talking too, I got my names mixed up

I fished Pool 4 yesterday as well. The ringie bite in the AM was good… 2 – 3 fish a pass. Once the sun got up (not that we got to see it through all those clouds and snow) the plastics bite slowed down to NADA.

My suggestion is to get down to Pool 4 early and stick to 12′ of water on the WI side below the dam. Start out in front of the big tree in the water and start drifting. Drop the ringie to bottom, lift 1 foot. Hold. Try the Cotton Candy color. It took most of our fish yesterday.

You won’t have to wait long.

It was pretty cool down there with all the snow. What boat were you in? I was fishing the wig dams on the other side for a while we did pretty good on minnows, then we decided to go over by the tree you are talking about and try ring worms for the last 2 hours or so. We didn’t have a bite on them. But like I said I don’t really know how to fish them yet either. I’ll be back down there this coming weekend to try it again.

I just think you were down there at a tough time yesterday.

We decided to sleep in because the bite was slow on Saturday in the AM.

I came off at Evert’s yesterday at 1:00 and the bite was pretty slow when we left. We were getting about one fish a drift at the end, with the 3 inches of snow that accumulated in my boat, it was time to head for cover.

Firecracker was the best color for me most the weekend. Chart/peeper was #2.

Stick with the ringworms. You won’t mess around getting your hands wet in a bait bucket when you develop confidence with them.

As you can see my crew was happy, but ready to come off the water.

Sully

Hey Derek ,What video are you talking about? I have not seen this video and would like info on where to see it or get it. Thanks HOOKSET

http://bfishntackle.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=26

What do you guys do when pitching in the wind? When using lighter jigs, your line gets a big bow in it. Are you still looking at the line for the bite or switching to a heavier jig?

Thanks Derek I`m going to order mine now.HOOKSET

we actually had plenty of fish biting on the minnows all day, so they were there and eating, we just didn’t have the technique down to get them on ringies. Do you guys have better luck pitching them or dragging them? And are the mornings usually better than evenings? It did seem to slow down more towards evening for us

That picture is a bit crazy with all that snow! I’ll stick to the warmer weather coming soon…

When pitching in the wind;

1 – get closer.

2 – fish a heavier jig if needed.

3 – put the wind at your back or quartering over your back as much as possible to keep the wind from blowing at 90′ angles to my line. Minimize this angle as much as possible.

4 – become a line watcher!

Thanks James.. I kept thinking, what if I’m getting bit right now while I got this 50 foot bow in my line..

Quote:

---

Do you guys have better luck pitching them or dragging them? And are the mornings usually better than evenings? It did seem to slow down more towards evening for us

---

JBongers,

That was James and I that talked to you at Everts right as you were heading out of the bait shop.

I have good luck casting and dragging the ringies. It’s like anything else when it comes to fishing……….one day they want it one way, another day they want it the other.

The morning or evening bite question is a tough one. I have to say morning for me on the last couple of outings cause I have not fished in the evenings.

The bite usually intensifies come late afternoon when the sun starts to set. If you were catching fish in 15′ to 25′ of water at 2:00pm those fish will most likely have moved up in to the shallower depths that are in close proximity to the deeper area you were targeting earlier in the day.

thanks for the info. I decided I’m going to give the ringies one more try. you guys going to be down there this coming weekend again? I’ll be there both Sat. and Sun.

Quote, “Maybe it’s just too similar to bass fishing and my mind physically won’t let me catch walleyes this way.”

I know exactly how you feel It was the same with me, and I still can’t figure out why it is that even though, I now have all the confidence in the world for plastic river eyes, when it comes to area lakes, I never accidentlly catch an eye on a deep weedline when I’m bassin-go figure!

I think I read for a couple years about plastic eyes before I finally caught one, but when you do catch one your confidence starts to build. When you catch two your confidence is higher yet, etc. etc. etc.. Do your self a favor and don’t give up on them.

Good fishn to ya!

P,S, I see that your from South St Paul, ringys work on pool 2 too.

The toughest part I’ve had to get past is going so light with the jigheads. But I have been convinced! You really want to go as light as possible to make those ringies look like something naturally floating along with the current. Good luck!

dd

I don’t know what it is but I can’t seem to get a walleye or sauger on a ring worm.

Yup that about says it all for me. I have to admit that I don’t get to the river as often as I would like but if they are not biting on vertical jig technique then I troll cranks. If that doesn’t work I have a beer. Nothing will humble a person more than to be fishing a spot (catching nothing) then have some one pull up next to you and catch one every pass.

Although a great deal of it is confidence…….primarily being confident on what your bait is doing.

There is a big factor:
Boat control and bait presentation is CRUCIAL to putting fish in the boat.

The superdoo and the paddletail are Awesome baits for catching saugers. No minnow needed…….just a few jigs and hold her steady. Bang, fish on!

The k-grub and ringworm require a bit more patience and focus. Here, you are targeting larger walleyes. While the guy in the scour hole is pounding little cigar-sauger, one after another…….You are not targeting that when pitching k-grubs. You are looking for that tuna that is going to bite. So, with that said, having a 5 or 10 fish day may be all that you are going to get. 5 fish over 5 hours is brutal patience, when you are watching everyone else boat eater saugers……

However, I’ll take 5 walleyes, ranging from 20 to 30 inches over 50 saugers that barely break 15 inches in 5 hours of fishing!!!!! Heck, I’ll take 1 walleye at 28″ in 10 hours of fishing…….

Stay focused and have patience.

You hit the nail on the head there Gary!

dd

I hear ya Gary. I know that my main problem is confidence with pretty much all plastics. I’ll get the hang of it though, if it takes me all spring.

The other difficult portion to fishing plastics is what to use, when to use it, where to use it, and what color do I use.

It is much easier to dial this in when you are on the water 2 or 3 days a week…..Let alone 5 days a week. To go down there 1 day a month makes it very difficult to dial in the “what/when/where/color” factor. You have to work hard to sort out the varibles.

Read what people say for colors and listen to them. If they started their day out with Chartruese Pepper and then switched to Purple/Char tail because it got brighter out……There is reason!!!!

Also, Talk to Dean at Evert’s. Listen to him when he gives you the up-to-date advice. He is one of the straightest-straight shooters I know when it comes to telling his customers where/when/how/what color to use to catch fish.

Listen to the people on the site. Take NOTES!!!!!! Dang, is that ever important!!!! Take notes of colors, time of day, water clarity, and weather. It all paterns out!

If you carry confidence on putting a fat-head on an orange jig for saugers, then you just have to carry the same confidence for the plastics. You had to learn how to jig with that minnow before you started catching fish. Same thing applies here!

The other thing I would add is get good at fishing 2 rods. I’m not big on fishing 2; but if you are trying to figure out a pattern having another color going helps figure out whats working and whats not a lot faster.

dd

dd

Fishing two rods is something I’m totally new to. I like to concentrate on one rod and hang another over the side as a deadstick. But when dragging, that deadstick line is always dragging bottom or riding too high off the bottom.. I tried holding one in each hand and that seem to work better but it certainly something you need to get use to..

im heading down to pool 4 on sunday im woundering what is the current down there like rate now is it like last year when u had to use damn near 1/2 jigs all the time? also when using 3 way rigs what size weights are being used rate now? What color ring worms and hair jigs have been working so far this year??

I don’t know if the moderators will let this post stay. If not, I understand.
I run a little hobby jig shop just north of Madison. I bought a lot of ringworms this past winter thinking I’d get rid of them easily. So far, not too many guys are interested. Too far from the river I suppose. Anyway, I’ve been selling them for 5 for $1.00, 50 for $8.50 and 100 for $15.00.
Anybody that wants to stop in this afternoon (Friday the 10th)from about 3:30 to 6 p.m. or Saturday from about 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and pick some up, I’ll sell them to you for $.75 for 5, $8 for 50, and $13.50 for 100 if you tell me you saw this thread on IDA. Here’s my address
3938 State Road 19
De Forest, WI 53532
Look for the sign along the road.

Its still way early.. you’ll sell them..

I hope you’re right. My offer still stands however.

I think the moderators should be O.K. with your post being as the major sponsor already made their dime by selling them to you. If not, I think it would be fine to advertise them in the classified section. But, like Derek said, it’s early and you probably won’t have any problem selling them starting in just a few weeks.