Does your family always ask what you want for Christmas; and then buys you socks (or a tie)
Well here are a few items that are not cheap, but could go a long way in helping you catch fish next year
Looks like my flash didn't work on the photo's, but they are good enough to figure out what I mean.
I have been having great success pulling "eel tails" instead of 6 inch shads on my umbrella's. Charlie Schneider (Big Will II) was the first to turn me on to them a couple of years ago. I still pull 6 inch shads on umbrella's during the Spring Trophy Season, but after that, it's always eel tails. They reduce the drag of the umbrella, allowing them to get deeper, and they are easier to pull in with a fish attached. I like the white. The green loses color and gets real "washed out" in the sun. I have been steady replacing the green with white.
They are not cheap. I think they are 50 cents a piece. I used to use 6 inch twister tails on my summer and fall umbrella's, and they were very cheap. The eel tails give a larger profile, so I prefer them to twister tails.
The second piece of tackle that has been very good to me this summer and fall season is the 6 inch green clear shad with mylar imbedded. They also come in 9 inch as well, but the 6's have been "money" for me this season. I have also run two 6's as a tandem on my WWB line
How do I keep them from getting tangled up (because the are both 6's and weigh the same)? I run one off a 12 ft leader, as my top bait. The second one goes off a 6 ft leader, but I "splice" a 2 oz. weight in the middle (3 ft down the leader).
These green mylar shads ($2 each, ouch) are threaded onto a long shank ounce (or ounce and a half) jig head of any color. Not only do the fish seem to gobble them up, but because they don't have any hair (buck tail/parachute), they can withstand being dropped in the muddy bottom and are self cleaning.
If they do hit bottom, check for "sea squirts"; I picked up a fair number this year running my crap as deep as I could (that's where many of the fish were late fall).
These can be run as a single lure off small (9" or 12 " umbrella's) or as tandems off opposing arms on big umbrella's.
I have no idea how the 9 inch shads work in the spring, but I may have a few out there to try next year.
Every year, something gets "hot". A couple of years ago, the summer bait was Rock Hall red hoses. These were "killer" lures for two years; this year, not so much. Of course, I jigged more this summer/fall than in previous years
So take a look a my "dark" photo's and see if you want to pick up a few for Christmas. The eel tails were mostly bought from Tyler's Tackle in Chesapeake Beach during the winter shows (Marty's in Edgewater has them too).
The green mylar shads can be had at Marty's, AllTackle, and Angler's. I'm sure others have them too, but these are known places.
I started out getting a tip two years ago from Greg (Bfaithful) and didn't try them out. This year, Doug (mates on Backdraft) told me about them as well. Figured it was time I put some in my spread
At the end of the year, about half my lures were these. The other half were buck tails of various weights. My only concern, is putting them on jigheads like BKD's. Their hooks are strong, but rather thin. I have been finding jig heads with substantial hooks on them for these trolling baits.
Hope this helps someone. My boat is "naked" and ready to be shrink wrapped for the season
I hope everyone has a great Christmas and Happy New Year.
5th (Marty)