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Water clarity = soft plastic choice?

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senkosam View Drop Down
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    Posted: 30 Aug 2018 at 12:21pm
Last year was bad for algae bloom in many local waters. The fishing didn't seem to be too affected in the waters I fished but there were some dead fish in others. In southern NY, the rainfall has been ridiculous and kept the algae at bay, but the amount of algae stain is still noticeable. So, for the hell of it I thought, why not use thicker lures that are more easily detected by the lateral line and eyes? So made some with thicker bodies or tails, length the usual 2". It couldn't hurt....


Granted, there is no way I can prove the thicker baits' easier detection was key, but at least I know that fish no matter how small, didn't shy away from baits having more mass.

This is what I've used and others like it before that day:
They also worked but not as much in the same water on the same day.





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puglee62 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Aug 2018 at 12:27pm
hmmmmm..... very interesting.Thats something else to try when the bites a bit shutdown and theres algae about.We have a lot of trouble with blue green algae hereThumbs Up
that's no how ye make porridge!
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senkosam View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote senkosam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Aug 2018 at 1:40pm
Didn't know you had the same problem in your corner of the world. In Florida it's gotten so bad that the government is investigating whether the problem is only man made or a combination of global warming and pollution from fertilizer runoff.

But the other theory I was batting around regarding thicker lures was the territorial nature of predators of any species. Get too near a rattlesnake, you get bit same as for any wild animal. When water reaches temperatures over 80 degrees like it has here for the last two months, fish get a little antsy maybe due to higher metabolisms and an in increase nervous energy. Add territoriality to the mix and a lumbering lure as pictured in the post, might just get more fish to strike.

Many of the strikes recently were on the light side like they are in the colder water of spring. It's almost if they aren't in the mood to strike, but have no choice. In fact many of the fish I've caught have empty bellies, usual for late summer, meaning less feeding happening until water temperatures begin to drop signaling the beginning of a seasonal change.

In waters with less algae, the strikes have been more aggressive and pronounced, though in both types of waters the variety of soft plastic designs that catch fish is great. This weekend is going to be much cooler and bring water temperatures down. It should be interesting the change in fish aggressiveness in the algae-bloom plagued waters.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ducks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Aug 2018 at 2:48pm
I was over in Mass and NY this time last year for work, and was fairly amazed at the amount of algae in basically every body of water from the Charles River to bird baths in Central Park.
It actually put me off fishing while I was there due to the risk of bringing back nasties (or having gear confiscated for not being cleaned).
I wondered if some part of the problem over there comes from people moving between water ways.  Generally over here if we have an outbreak the waterway is closed to use so the chances of cross contamination between not connected water bodies (at least directly by people/boats/fishing gear) is reduced.
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senkosam View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote senkosam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Aug 2018 at 12:32am
Too bad our government agency - Dept. of Environmental Conservation - is useless when it comes to our waterways and only do something long after contamination and pollutants have become concentrated.
For decades a large local reservoir has been polluted by toxins and carcinogens from dumping and seepage of drums buried from a local Air Force base. Only last year was testing done showing the above results (unless bribes kept the results quiet for all those years.) The contamination involves two other smaller lake and streams that empty into the main lake and citizens are being tested. Same thing happened in Ohio - far too many cancers per the population all due to lead pipes city-wide.

I called the agency to inquire about the algae build up in a small local public lake I fish. No answer back.


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