Part 2
Catchin’ kokanee ain’t easy.
But it can be done and one of the best
ways to go about it is to follow closely what’s happening at the
headquarters of the folks who make the best kokankee catching lures you
can get your hands on.
I’m talking, of course, about Mack’s Lure,
the company that brought us lures like the famous Wedding Ring decades
ago. They’ve been making equally productive fish-catchers ever since.
Today there’s plenty of evidence that they’re still at it.
The men most responsible for this are guys
I’ve told you before. They are Bob Schmidt, the general manager of
Mack’s Lure, and Bobby Loomis, the company’s director of sales and
marketing. I’ve had a chance to watch with keen interest the impact
this pair of angling experts are having in the sport of fishing.
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Bobby Loomis knows how to catch kokanee. He also knows how to design and use the products that help us all do it. |
Let’s take a closer look at just one of the
wondrous tools they’ve come up with that have had such an impact in
the field of kokanee fishing as well angling in general. I’m talking
about the Mack’s Lure Smile Blade. If you aren’t already familiar with
what these tough little plastic spinner blades can do for your
piscatorial pursuits you’re in for a treat when you find out.
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These wondrous little
Smile Blade plastic spinner blades weren't around when Mack's Lure began
marketing tackle many decades ago---but they sure as heck are now.
You're missing a bet if you're not using them for kokanee. |
The Smile Blade is simply a smile shaped hunk of tough Mylar plastic
with a hole in the center. All an angler has to do is slip a bead or
two onto his line or leader and then run the leader up through the hole
in the center of the plastic blade. With the use of a Mack’s Lure Stop
Knot (you’ll find Stop Knots shown at this website under products) you
can position the Smile Blade anywhere you want. It can be positioned
right ahead of your lure or up the leader a ways.
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Mack's Lure Stop Knots let you position your Smile Blade right where you want it. They're also really easy to use. |
In either location it’s going to spin at
speeds you’ve got to see to believe---and that’s just for starters.
I’ve said the Smile Blade isn’t a lure in itself, but you know
something---it just dang near is! I say that because once that little
blade starts spinning it adds a swimming action to whatever is trailing
along behind.
This is something else you need to see to
believe. I urge you to do what I’ve suggested here before. If you’ve
never observed one of these remarkable little buggers in action, get
some and take the steps I’ve already detailed. Let’s say you’re
planning to troll for kokanee. Add a pair of beads ahead of your hook
and then slide a Smile Blade down your leader.
The next step is to add your worm or
whatever bait you plan to employ. Now don’t start fishing. Instead,
just drop this rig into the water alongside your boat and pull it along
at different speeds where you can watch closely what’s happening.
You’re going to see that lure come alive!
Chances are when you think of the Wedding
Ring the first fish that comes to mind is trout. That’s probably as
it should be because darn few lures, if any, have put more trout in the
boat than the Mack’s Lure Wedding Ring.
But kokanee, despite what a whole lot of
anglers still seem to think, are not a trout. They are landlocked
sockeye salmon. The landlocked variety we call kokanee haven’t been
out there in the salt water as have their ocean-going cousins. They
spend their lives in the country’s freshwater lakes where they’ve been
introduced.
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A catch of kokanee like that pictured here is tough to beat at dinnertime. |
I started out this column with a mention of
the Mack’s Lure Wedding Ring, a lure that probably has caught more
trout over the past half century for anglers who troll for trout than
almost anything. Check a Mack’s Lure catalog, something I do
regularly, and you’ll find the original Wedding Ring is still right up
there in front.
But that’s not all you’ll find if you’re a
kokanee angler. Go a couple of pages further and you’ll find a few
changes in the design of the original Wedding Ring that are aimed
especially at putting more kokanee in the boat. And then go a couple
pages more and darned if you don’t find yet another lure named the
Kokanee Pro. That one, instead of carrying the metal spinner that
comes with the original Wedding Ring, is equipped with one of those
action-inducing Mylar plastic Smile Blades.
I expect I needn’t say much about the high
regard people who like to eat fish have for ocean going sockeye
salmon. They’re tops. But you’ll find a whole passel of fish lovers
who’ll verify that fresh caught kokanee give ‘em a good run for
bragging rights come dinnertime.
In my last column I told you mainly about
the most productive sizes and colors of Mack’s Smile Blades. You can
use this information in so many different ways, especially if you’re
into making up your own rigs.
But you don’t have to take time to do this
unless you choose. Why? Because as the product category at this
website shows, you can select from a variety of rigs all made up and
ready to go. We’ll take a closer look at what some of them are in my
next column.
You’ll find that column right here beginning June 1.
-To Be Continued-
