Good setups from the derbies

The last two weekends I participated in two derbies. The first on the 4th was at Don Pedro and the second was at Berryessa. Since some of you asked I thought I would show some of the stuff I use. At the first derby these are the combos that I had the best luck with. Since some of you asked I thought I would show some of the stuff I use.

The dodger on the left is reflecting the light a little different but it is a Black on Black dodger. The left combo I call my licorice special. I have two little dots of UV blast on both sides of the black dodger. There seems to be something about the yellow bead that just brings it all together.
I also had good luck with this homemade setup.

I call it button and bead. The button is made with mf plastic and some glow powder. This one glows the normal natural green. I have others that glow purple. The button is to give it a different action muck like a wiggle fin.
At the second derby my best luck was with this combo.

I did not have this at the first derby as I bought in between the two from Bass Pro. I really like the SEPS “copperhead” dodger. I guess I am just a sucker for the copper stuff. Another lure that took a fish at Berryessa was this one.

I ran it behind a watermelon dodger. This is one of my old home made things. This one you cut the hoochie in a way that it looks to have open plankton filters on the side. I added stuff to make more movement and color in the water. I have always caught a fish every time I have used it but on the other hand I have never caught two fish in one day with the thing. It is one fish and time to change up as it has never pulled in a second fish.
Since HiTech told me the secret is out on my secret corn scent I thought I would go ahead and post it. I get triple sterilized daphnia from the pet store, (freezer section for fish food) and run it through a mortar & pestle. I think it works great. The up side and down side is that it is not oil based. This makes spillage easy clean up, it does not leave a long time order on the lures, and will not increase the “meltage” of the plastic lures. On the other hand it will not hold the scent in the water very long. This requires an overnight soak to ensure it is inside the corn and not just a cover that washes off just as soon as it hits the water. It worked very well for me.

For a tackle bag I use this.

It is an old camcorder bag that the camcorder became useless a long time ago. And for keeping the lures in a less of a tangle I use this setup.

The pink stuff was a pool toy that I bought from PayLess years ago. I have been cutting chunks off it ever since. I push in a toothpick end and use that to put the swivel over and Bob’s your uncle you have a way to keep things a little neater.

GREAT STUFF! Thanks for sharing.

Many of the same lures work well on Flaming Gorge too! I guess all kokanee hve the same taste?

Shower Curtain Clips & the DR

Thats some good looking"Stuff"!!

I've also picked up a few tips while fishing the Kokanee Power Derbys here in Oregon! I'll try and explain the "Shower Curtain DR Clip" that I saw and used at the Green Peter Derby last Sat.

This is for your D.R. to clip on the cable instead of bringing the ball up each time the release lets go.
Pick up some regular Shower Curtain Clips(Ace Hardware) add a 2oz. round weight and a release to the shower clip. Instead of bringing the ball up attach the release to your line and the shower clip around the DR cable and let it drop down to the ball! I've had as many as 4 shower clips on the ball before bring them all up to the surface!
Saves a lot of time!!

Kokonuts

Pipe foam

I too am using the foam to wrap all of my gear. I am using 1/2" pipe wrap foam the only problem is I can't find the kind with out the glue seam. Anlother use of the pipe foam is drilling out a box for a piece of 1/2" pvc to fit through. Slip it through the box and pipe foam then put the pvc caps on the ends. When you change out your riggs just place the hooks in the faom and lay the rest in the box. This keeps the tangles to a minimum.

Look at the Dollar Store for the Kids version of the foam, its sold as a toy for the swimming pool I think. The foam is one of the many things I find at that store!!

Another use for foam is holding the Dodger close to the rod when not in use. Cut a piece of foam about 1" wide and slip it over the rod tip & down over the Dodger. Keeps the Dodger from spinning & getting the line wrapped around the rod.

Kokonuts

Remembering - I started reading your post and then chuckled.... as soon as it said fished the last two derbies... I was like hmmmm I was at those derbies.... wonder who this could be... Then I saw the reference to a licorice setup and I knew who it was. Thanks for sharing your tacklebox. Your secret sauce was safe with me...Don't be afraid to to soak that sauce, or any other, more than a day, week, month, 2 months.... ;-)

Interesting on those tubes that the leader length seems to be pretty long, guessing 12-14 inches? I run mine usually 8-10 on the tubes but the kokes get to decide what they like and if it catches fish then that's the ticket. Hope to see you out there again and I always enjoy talking tackle, especially home-made setups.

Kevin

Metal Manipulator and Kokonuts you ideas sound great but some pictures would be nice also so I am sure I have the right idea in my head. HiTech I assure you it is and optical illusion. I have 9" to 10" on my tubes. Just look at the grout lines in the tile. they are about 5" by 5". The button and beads on the other hand is a little longer as the button imparts its on action.

remembering...very nice looking set-up's, thanks for sharing!

Kokonuts...the shower curtain clip idea sounds interesting. Got a question... how do you put a load on the rod when the curtain clip slides on the wire?

Silver Bullets,

It does work with the 2oz. weight although you cant load the rod as much. I switched to Okuma LC reels this year to have better control of the line I let out and it helps when you dont want to go all the way down to the ball. I havnt tried it with a heaver weight, maybe 3 oz. would be even better.

If you are stacking 2 lines with a regular stacking clip the shower ring will stop there. It works well when you only have one release on/near the ball, Then you can raise/lower the ball and let the SR go to the ball.

Kokonuts 101idea101

remembering said:

Metal Manipulator and Kokonuts you ideas sound great but some pictures would be nice also so I am sure I have the right idea in my head. HiTech I assure you it is and optical illusion. I have 9" to 10" on my tubes. Just look at the grout lines in the tile. they are about 5" by 5". The button and beads on the other hand is a little longer as the button imparts its on action.

Click to expand...

Never let traditional leader length thinking prevent you from truing something that everyone says won't work. I recall a day a few years ago where a friend outfished me 10 to 1 with an extremely long leader 18 to 20 with a Hoochie and dodger setup. My shorter leaders with the same Hoochie and Dodger were nt getting hit. Some guys use an extender leader so they tie them up all fairly short 6-9" but could add a small length of leader in between to switch it up if needed. Keep up the experimentation and tackle fun.

Kevin

trying mixing the daphnia in some pro-cure scent. use the largest foam you can or your leaders will have a tight coil to them.