fishing reels shimano baitrunner
Fishing in the middle of a warm summer night for Large-mouth bass when your the only person around is one of my favorite things. This is a great pattern for the dog days of summer when the bass are buried deep hiding from the sun and the heat of the day, not to mention all the people and anglers on the water in the summer months.
Top-water fishing in the middle of the night is prime fishing. This is when the big large mouths are less spooky they start to roam, and come out to hunt.
I will go with a spinning setup of a 7′ medium heavy st croix rod with a Shimano Stradic reel spooled with 20 lb Power Pro braided line. I will use this set up 90% of the time as it is much less maintenance and no picking out the occasional birds nest aka.. back lashes in the dark. I also keep it very simple as far as lure selection using only a few specific lures that I call my “Night Stalker” baits.
My ” NIGHT STALKER ” Baits
- 3/8oz Buzz Bait w/black skirt
- 1/2oz Zara super spook Jr in any dark color you have
- 1/4oz Rebel pop R in any dark color you have
- 3/8 oz Black Jitterbugs..1 straight and 1 crack back if you have one
- 5/8 oz Boze sumo frog in black
That’s it, that is all you need for a night of explosive top water action and possibly some of the biggest fish of your life. Now by no means do you need all these lures to start fishing at night these are just my recommendations. There are lots of times when I am just sneaking out for a quick trip for an hour or so and I will just bring one rod and one lure usually the buzz bait.
I will always start with the buzz bait and use it as search and destroy weapon varying my retrieves from the slowest crawl I can get and still keep the buzz bait waking the surface, to an erratic rip and burn as fast as I can retrieve. I will try every speed in between until I find what the fish are keying on.
I make a mental note of missed strikes as to where and how the bait was missed… IE are the fish jumping out the water over the top of my lure or snapping at the back missing it do to speed. I will then follow up with one of the slower presentations like the Zara spook or Pop R.
Now for what what makes fishing at this time of the night a blast and what I like most… Take your black jitterbug and make long casts, and crawl it as slow as you can while retrieving it parallel to the shore lines or along the out side edges of weed lines, lay downs or logs.
If there is some bright moonshine I will look for where it shines on the water and cast the jitterbug as far as I can where the light is shining and crawl it threw where the moon shines on the water with an enticingly slow gurgling retrieve and oh yeah….. hold on!.
If your not getting strikes change up to your cracked back jitterbug and if still no strikes then, bring out your secret weapon. The Boze sumo frog…… and throw this bad boy every where!
Start by bringing it from open water into or over the weeds, lilly pads, and logs don’t worry about snags you can throw this lure everywhere. Also try throwing it right up to the bank and bring it out from the weeds or pads and into the open water.
When it comes to setting the hook at night with frogs I do things differently then I do in the daytime when I can see better and in those situations I prefer to set the hook immediately.
At night time I do just the opposite and I wait until I feel the weight of the fish before I set the hook, as you wont always feel the strikes, and your biggest fish a lot of times will just inhale the bait off the surface with out a big showing jump and splash when attacking the bait.
So now that you know how, where, and what to use….get your gear together and get out there on those hot summer nights you just might end up hooked liked me.
You can find more of my Bass Fishing articles, tips,and tricks at http://www.tournamentbasstackle.com
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2010! SHIMANO Baitrunner BTR12000D Spin Fishing Reel $189.99 |
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2010 SHIMANO Baitrunner BTR8000D Spinning Fishing Reel $179.99 |
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2010 SHIMANO Baitrunner BTR6000D Spinning Fishing Reel $169.99 |
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NEW 2010 SHIMANO BAITRUNNER 12000D FISHING REEL $169.99 |
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NEW 2010 SHIMANO BAITRUNNER 8000D FISHING REEL $159.99 |
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2010 SHIMANO Baitrunner BTR4000D Spinning Fishing Reel $159.99 |
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NEW 2010 SHIMANO BAITRUNNER 6000D FISHING REEL $152.99 |
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NEW 2010 SHIMANO BAITRUNNER 4000D FISHING REEL $144.99 |
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Shimano Baitrunner XT 6000 RA Fishing Reel $131.61 |
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Shimano Baitrunner DL 4000 FA Fishing Reel $99.09 |
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Shimano Baitrunner ST 4000 FA Fishing Reel $77.41 |
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Shimano Baitrunner 4500 Spin Casting Fishing Reel $61.00 |
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Shimano BAITRUNNER 12000D SPINNING fishing Reel NEW $48.00 |
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SHIMANO BAITRUNNER 6500 SPIN FISHING REEL NEEDS ANTIREV $28.00 |
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Shimano BAITRUNNER 6000D SPINNING fishing Reel NEW $15.50 |
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Baitrunner 4500B Reel $125.95 A mainstay for offshore spinning enthusiasts, the Baitrunner reel provides a secondary drag system allowing your bait to swim free for a more natural presentation – with the bail closed!… |
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Shimano Baitrunner D Spinning Reels SHM-BTR8000D Shimano’s newly redesigned Baitrunner “D” series has undergone the most drastic changes since it’s original conception in 1989. Have no fear these changes Shimano’s R&D team have made an old favorite even better…. |
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Shimano – Baitrunner 8000 Front Drag Box … |
France has become an extremely popular destination for the carp angler, especially with so many different carp lakes in France choose from and many that have carp in excess of 40lb to 50lb plus.
However, due to the sheer size of the carp, you do need to have sensible equipment in which to land these fish. Most people recommend at least a 2 and 3/4 test curve rod or more, plus baitrunner reels are a must. We actually use the Shimano 8010GT baitrunner reels, and although there are some more modern ones on the market, we prefer these to anything else. But a lot of people also opt for the large big pit reels that hold a lot more line, as some of the places you may choose to fish could be quite a considerable distance from the bank.
In France there are a lot of privately owned fishing lakes such as Rainbow Lake, L’Etang de Tricherie, L’Etang du Chef de Ville, etc, that hire boats and many other lakes such as Bills Lake and Brittany Mill Lakes that allow you to use your own or hire out bait boats.
Also, many carp fishing lakes do not allow braid and the best option is monofilament line and we have found that Ultima PowerPlus is an excellent quality fishing line, yet a higher breaking strain line is needed when you are carp fishing in France compared to fishing most lakes in the UK.
Some lakes are also extremely strict on the type of tent where it must be a bivvy, but like ourselves where we do this as a family, we have a large tent which is not gaudy in colour but needs a bigger swim than most, so there are certain lakes that we could not go fishing at for this reason, so it is sensible to check out these details prior to booking your carp fishing holiday.
Now bait is something that differs from lake to lake and in some French carp lakes they will only allow specific types of bait and it is necessary to check this before you go, for instance, tiger nuts or certain ground baits are not allowed.
Mobile phones are the norm these days, but apart from these that need charging, you do have to consider things like bait boats if you have one, but there are now plenty of carp fishing lakes in France that do cater for charging different equipment you have, and when it comes to facilities, something you may not have really thought about is the need for a freezer, hang on forget this, what about washing facilities? Well forget this as well, we need the fridge, not just for the bait, but that cold beer or chilled water on a really hot day!
And although we all know the drive and survive aspect, there are now numerous different carp fishing lakes in France that have complete packages available right through from accommodation, to all of your equipment supplied and even lakes that supply a complete service from the flights through to full board, along with exclusive fishing and some of these include Dream Lakes, Croix Blanche, Willow Lake, Lake Juvanze, Brittany Mill Lakes and many more, plus some lakes are also available as an exclusive family holiday.
However, the cost for these and the all inclusive carp fishing packages can be considerably more expensive than making your own arrangements, but it can certainly save you a lot of hassle and keep the Wife happy!
Rules and regulations vary at the numerous carp lakes in France and some allow you to fish with three rods, whereas others are four and night fishing is only allowed if the owner has a permit for this, so again it is always a good idea to check these points prior to booking.
Other points you feel are essential for you, like local bars, restaurants, shops or swimming facilities, etc are also good points to check on, plus most people find that the carp fishing is best during the months from April through to October, but do bear in mind the further down South you go in the height of summer with hot days, most of the action will happen at night when it is cooler, so you had better be prepared for lack of sleep!
On one session near Bordeaux, we were getting up and down to the bite alarms at least two to three times every night and by the time our stay was coming to an end, we pulled our rods in just so that we could get some peace and quiet and catch up with much needed sleep before the long drive back home!
But saying that, when you are catching 40lb plus carp each time, the lack of sleep becomes insignificant and if you want to try catching a fish of a lifetime or just beating your personal best, then a carp fishing holiday in France is definitely for you!
Martyn Davis European Traveler, Author, Photographer and Business Development Manager, For all your French holiday needs and travel guide to France, with tourist information, landmarks and attractions – Fishing Holidays In France
