One Lure: The Shad Challenge
As a fisherman, there are few things in this world that can be labeled as truth. Bad weather is just over the horizon, the size of the fish is about half what the beer says it was, and a bad day on the water is better for the soul than a good day at work. Life and fishing are difficult enough, creating another obstacle seems outlandish. But in THAT lies the challenge!
Great Minds Think Alike
March is a special month in a fishing shop. It is a transition period between hard water and open water. Ice houses, augers, and coveralls are stored away for the year and out come the spinning rods, tackle boxes, and bait coolers. It is also the time that new gear starts showing up on the shelves. The "brand new thing" for us here at North 40 are the Kinchou Shads and Minnows from Matzuo. While we were putting the finishing touches on the display, Daniel and I were talking about how we were each going to try them out for different applications on the river. As the conversation went on, a crazy idea began to form...
Every day of fishing presents new opportunities for both success and failure. Every tackle box has that one lure (or in my case, I have 8 of the same pattern in different sizes) that seems to catch fish when nothing else will. On the flip side, I have been known to carry around several lures still in their boxes for years without ever giving them a try. Familiarity breeds complacency. Familiar water. Familiar lures. Familiar results? Our idea was to take on the challenge of fishing those familiar waters with unfamiliar lures ONLY! No Flicker Shads. No Scatter Raps. No back-up.
The One Lure
Kinchou means "nervous" in Japanese. These baits get their name from the 'wide wobble' action that is caused from the flared gills. Couple that with stainless steel rattles, and you've got enough disruption in the water to get the attention of any game fish in the area. These floating baits have a bill that can generate aggressive dives to cover any portion of the water column: from 3 to 12 feet with the shad body and 4 to 20 feet with the minnow body, depending on size. With a wide variety of both natural and attractant colors, there is a palate for any water clarity or weather condition.
Weather Is A Fickle Thing
Every spring is different, even on the same stretch of water. This spring brought a lot of warm weather early to central Montana. A week of above average temps would be followed by a week of rain. While this back and forth is great for the farmers, it is hard on a fella that requires river access by truck to fish his favorite spots. The field roads turn to gumbo in a second and remain a sticky mess for about a week. I've had the opportunity to get on the water a couple of times this year but while we were getting sunburned, the water temps still hadn't risen into the 50s. Fish activity was slow and even the most tried and true lures weren't great producers. But what's coming next? Continuing patterns of rain and warm weather should set the scene for one of the better fishing seasons we've had in recent years.
Game Plan
There really aren't any super secret spots left on the Missouri. There are just some places that seem to produce year after year. We spend most of our efforts downriver from the dams. We target Bass, Walleye, and Pike. The swimming actions of the new Kinchou should prove to be effective for all of these species. With a wide array of color patterns and there is a minnow or shad for every situation. I'll admit that while Rootbeer landed me a lot of goldeye's it was the only color that caught bass on my little "scouting" trip this year.
We will be hitting the river armed with only our rods and a selection of the new Kinchou crank baits. Water temperatures are on the rise and fish activity is only going to get better! Check back soon to see just how we did!