What To Bring On Float Trip?

[padlnjones]

Hi,

About twenty years ago I used to wade fish the local creeks in TN for smallmouth and bluegill, etc. I had good success with artificial crawfish lures especially. I got into whitewater canoeing and put the rods away (but kept them). Now, we are going down the buffalo from Ponca to Woolum May 11-15, and I have dusted off and oiled up my ultra light and light duty reels for the trip. I apologize in advance, because I know this question gets asked all the time, but what would be the recommended baits to bring along, without buying some of everything....can you catch live crawfish along the way, and fish live bait?

Any links to other tips for fishing the Buffalo would be appreciated.

thanks,

david

[GloryDaze]

You'll probably get 20 responses on what lures to use, but I'll bite-

Wacky worm- green

Tube- Green

Craw- crankbait

That's all I would bring, but like I said everyone has their "go to lure"- Where in TN?? I used to live there and was limited to the Harpeth just outside of Nashville.

[RogueAgent]

I like to throw a Zoom Fluke Jr. (4 inch) with a #2 Gamakatsu wide gap hook unweighted on 4lb line. Smallies tear it up on the rivers around here.

[padlnjones]

Thanks for the replies...i lived in Hardin County, Olivehill to be exact...I have lived in Nashville, too, and spent some time fishing and canoeing the Harpeth...

[Wayne SW/MO]

Brown and green tubes willprobably be your best bet.

[padlnjones]

Brown and green tubes will probably be your best bet.

this may be a dumb question, but is that one tube that's brown and green, or 2 different ones? love your kitty picture!

[Al Agnew]

I'm going to maybe take you in a different direction. If you are not used to fishing from a canoe, fishing tubes and other such lures that you fish rather slowly and close to the bottom can be frustrating if you aren't well-versed in their use. The canoe is constantly moving either from current or wind, and keeping touch with such lures in such conditions isn't easy. That's one thing to consider.

Another thing to consider is what kind of fish you really want to catch. Interested mainly in smallmouth? Or perfectly happy to catch goggle-eye and sunfish with your smallies?

Third thing to consider is your tackle. UNLESS you are perfectly happy to catch lots of sunfish and small bass, ultralight is not necessarily a good choice. If you hook a big smallmouth, your margin for error is considerably less with ultralight. It also necessitates playing the fish long enough that if you want to release it, the stress can cause the fish to die later. But most importantly for your purposes, ultralight limits the types of lures that you can fish successfully...for instance, it's very difficult to get a good hookset while fishing tubes and other soft plastics with an ultralight rod, and it's not easy to fish some of the other lures you probably should be using. A decent medium or medium light spinning rod and 8 pound test line is in most cases a better choice of tackle.

So...you'll find it easier to use lures that you can simply cast out and reel in fairly fast, lures like crankbaits (Rebel Crawdad in the smaller sizes or other diving crankbaits with bodies of 2-2 1/2 inches), spinnerbaits (1/4 ounce single and tandem blade safety pin types in white, chartreuse, or black), 1/4 ounce buzzbaits in the same colors, floating Rapala minnows. The easiest soft plastic to use in this type of fishing, and usually quite effective, is a curly tail grub on a 1/8 ounce jighead--you just cast it out and reel it in at various speeds.

The tubes and such are great baits, and you can use them when you stop the canoe in a good-looking spot and wade or fish from the bank.

I wouldn't recommend using live crayfish unless you're experienced at it. Even if you want to keep smallies, you can't legally keep very many on the Buffalo, and it's far too easy to deep-hook them and injure them badly on crawdads if you aren't experienced and careful.

If you really want to use the ultralight and want to catch all kinds of fish but not necessarily big smallmouths (although it can happen), one of the most overlooked things to use is a simple white marabou crappie jig. Just cast it out and reel it fairly slowly and steadily, letting it sink a bit around good cover like rocks and logs. Another real easy bait to use on the ultralight that will catch a lot of fish is a Beetle-spin.

[padlnjones]

Al,

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. I will part of a flotilla of 8 canoes (16 people, not a fishing-oriented trip) so likely won't be fishing from the boat much. I have an ultra light (4#) and a light (6#) so that is what I'll bring. I'll be happy to catch whatever I can, and release. thanks for the warning on using crawfish; I hadn't considered the ill effects of that.

I'll make a list of your suggestions and do some shopping....Maybe next year I can plan more of a fishing trip and be more prepared.

thanks again,

david

[Gavin]

I'd agree with Al...tubes and senko's are very effective plastics but its darn easy to gut hook fish with them..You really have to develop a touch for those baits, pay attention, and watch your line closely. I usually fish plastics on medium or medium light spin gear with braided line with a 6-8' leader of 8lb for better sensivity.

From the boat..It often helps to have a lure you can see, so you can detect strikes visually as well as by feel. Zoom Flukes, buzzbaits, spinner baits, floating rapalas, and suspending jerkbaits are my usual choices, followed by a curly tail grub, or an 1/8 oz or 1/4 jig with a trailer. Cheers.