Somewhere along the way I realized that Nathaniel and I had both changed our cadences, and that we were using almost exactly the same presentation to catch White River rainbow trout. Apparently, it as the right combination of twitches and pauses, because the trout were finding their way to the boat pretty steadily.
We were both throwing XCalibur Xt3 Twitch Baits, as we had more often than not for two days. I normally fish Twitch Baits with series of two or three fairly deliberate jerks, with pauses of at least a few seconds between pauses, and I had shown Nathaniel the same basic presentation. I also believe in letting the fish dictate what they want, though, so I always experiment as I go, and I try to pay attention to what draws the most strikes.
Yesterday's patterning wasn't deliberate. I had just sort of changed to a much faster presentation, using several small quick twitches in each series and pauses that were only long enough to take up line and reload the rod for more twitches. I think I just sped up out of excitement when the fish started really hitting, and the faster I worked the bait the more strikes it prompted. And I'm guessing Nathaniel did the same thing, because we never talked about speeding up or making changes.
However the transition occurred, it reminded me of the importance of never getting too stubborn with presentations. It also resulted in a really fun afternoon of fishing on the White River. In the morning we had drifted with bait, a technique I had never used for trout, and caught a couple of nice brown trout.
The combination made for a great day of fishing with guide Paul Jones, who has guided on the White River for more than four decades. To learn more about the wonderful, trout-filled White River, visit Gaston's White River Resort.
We were both throwing XCalibur Xt3 Twitch Baits, as we had more often than not for two days. I normally fish Twitch Baits with series of two or three fairly deliberate jerks, with pauses of at least a few seconds between pauses, and I had shown Nathaniel the same basic presentation. I also believe in letting the fish dictate what they want, though, so I always experiment as I go, and I try to pay attention to what draws the most strikes.
Yesterday's patterning wasn't deliberate. I had just sort of changed to a much faster presentation, using several small quick twitches in each series and pauses that were only long enough to take up line and reload the rod for more twitches. I think I just sped up out of excitement when the fish started really hitting, and the faster I worked the bait the more strikes it prompted. And I'm guessing Nathaniel did the same thing, because we never talked about speeding up or making changes.
However the transition occurred, it reminded me of the importance of never getting too stubborn with presentations. It also resulted in a really fun afternoon of fishing on the White River. In the morning we had drifted with bait, a technique I had never used for trout, and caught a couple of nice brown trout.
The combination made for a great day of fishing with guide Paul Jones, who has guided on the White River for more than four decades. To learn more about the wonderful, trout-filled White River, visit Gaston's White River Resort.
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