Page 42 - Waves Magazine July 2019

Close-up on:

PATRICK LEMIRE

SPRINGT IM E IS LING T IM E

pring is ling time in our Texas coastal and choosing to use a live crab, carefully remove the is under the Power Pro, just enough to bring the
near offshore waters. Their arrival signals crab’s claws; besides eliminating a pinch point Spectra to full spool. I tie 12-14’ of 80-100#
the return of the first of the warm water, for you, it will also make it easier for your ling mono to the Spectra with a Lemire modified
S near surface, finny predators that many to inhale. It’s best to punch the holes through Tony Pena knot. I dull the last 5-8’ of the mono
of us eagerly anticipate. They are our most its shell with an icepick or a hook other than the to “Poor Man’s Fluorocarbon” condition. This
unpredictable species during this early period. one you are going to fish with. Their shells are great knot and procedure were covered in detail
At times, they will eat anything that smells or tough and can dull your hook point—something in my February and March articles in this alma-
looks like food — but almost any bait can also be to think about. nac section. The virtually-no-stretch feature of
turned down. the Power Pro Spectra really aids in controlling
Artificials that have worked for me, from near a big fish, close in or at a distance. Its feel of
The strong suit of these early arrivals is that the the surface to the bottom, are Snapper Slapper what’s going on at your hook and powerful hook-
biggest ones seem to lead the parade. Late March jigs in 1 and 3 ounce sizes. Pink/chartreuse, sets also work in your favor.
and April through May can produce some brutes black/purple, purple/white and all white are my
over 100 pounds. During that period in 2005, favorites. Tip them with either a whole Spanish Remember, ling are not primarily surface feeders.
several were weighed in at the Galveston Yacht sardine or squid. The baitfish is head hooked The mid-depths and the bottom are their real
Basin that went from 85 to almost 96 pounds. on the main hook and the stinger hooked at feeding grounds. Always keep a watchful eye
The Texas State Record of 108.44 pounds was around the mid body area. Be sure to leave a little for near surface cruisers. They can appear in a
caught on May 9, 1998. The 2005 S.T.A.R. Tour- slack in the stinger’s cable to let the baitfish lay heartbeat and be gone as quickly. Chances are,
nament which started on Memorial Day weekend straight and be able to flex in a natural swimming you will have time to do a maneuver I call “stop
was won by Shane Barthelmess with a 75 lb.-14 motion. They, along with other lead head jigs, chumming”. What that amounts to is throwing a
oz. brute, taken on June 1 1 out of Freeport. can also be fished with a 4” to 6” soft plastic couple of pieces of squid or a couple of sardines
Some of the baits and tactics that can be used to swim or curly tail. Those butterfly type jigs that about 6-8’ in front of your “cruiser”; the chance
get one of these beasts to boat side is the heart were covered in the November 2005 issue are is great it will stop to investigate and maybe take
of this piece. one of the new hot baits on the block. Jig them time to eat them — this is your chance to make
shallow for near surface swimmers or deeper some kind of presentation. If there are several
It’s hard for just about any ling to turn down a throughout the water column for those unseen smaller ling with a much bigger one, most of the
live bait, such as a small blue runner, hardhead cruisers. Another of those “new, hot baits” is time the smaller ones will get to those stop chum
catfish, pinfish or crab, etc. These baits are easy the castable cedar plug, an adaptation of the pieces first; this opens the chance to bait the big
to come by, whether you have to catch them at standard trolling configuration of the traditional one. All of this happens quickly, you must have
the dock or offshore. Various dead natural baits cedar plug. The only place I know of as of this a plan of action rather than a reaction. When a
to use are whole squid, a glob of squid, Spanish writing where they can be purchased is at Island- near surface cruiser disappears, go to the mid-
sardines, cigar minnows, sandtrout, etc. Artifi- er’s Custom Tackle on Galveston Island. It’s a depths or the bottom with your offering — it’s
cials that work is numerous and include spoons, rigging technique I came up with in early 2005. very likely the ling is still around.
lead head jigs, Snapper Slapper@jigs, butterfly Complete details on them will be covered in
type jigs, castable cedar plugs, soft plastic swim next month’s issue. Ling love ‘em at any depths. All the following techniques apply to live or dead
baits and soft plastic crabs. Soft plastic, 4” to 7” swim baits such as those by baits or the artificials, unless noted differently.
Storm@, Panther Martin@ and Tsunami@ have Hook size is dictated by bait and tackle size.
The live or dead fish baits can all be fished nose- a lifelike look at any depth. The same goes for When a near surface casual cruiser comes into
hooked, through the bottom of the head and out those 4” soft plastic crabs by Rip Tide@.Cutting view, cast ahead of and beyond it. The bait
the top or hooked in the back, ahead of the dor- the legs and pinchers so that they are individual, crossing its line of motion on the retrieve has the
sal fin. They can be freelined or fished Carolina like on a live crab, gives the Rip Tide soft plastic appearance of an escape move of a prey species.
rigged, using the smallest size of egg weight that crab a more natural appearance. I put a 1 h” long Casting a bait directly ahead, say 15-20’, and just
will get your presentation into the strike zone. piece of 18 gauge copper wire through the first twitching it is OK, but a retrieve toward a ling
The amount of egg weight needed is dictated portion of each claw and elbow and into the may trigger its flee response. With any bait, pull
by the current’s strength. Use the least amount body after giving it a defensive, ready to fight, it away from a close ling, stop, let it sink a little;
of weight you can, a slow sink gets more looks natural look “Wacky” rigged or nose hooked 9 pull away again if needed and stop. This will
while your bait is descending through the water inch Slug-O’s@ or Berkeley’s@ 10 inch inshore many times trigger a strike. When a ling turns
column. A bait about 3-4’ under a float is a killer eels “get bit” too. its head slightly away with the bait in its mouth,
and can be fished away from the boat for one of strike with a “J” type hook or quickly wind tight
those unseen surprise ling. If you choose the live The tackle I use for ninety percent of my off- when using a circle hook— ling spit baits a lot if
hardhead catfish, be sure to carefully clip their shore fishing is a Shimano@ TLD 15 mounted given the chance. If the ling is swimming toward
dorsal and pectoral fins close to their body with on a 7’ Allstar Graphite@ rod. The TLD 15 is you and it takes the bait, waiting until it turns
diagonal cutters, etc. before putting them in your spooled up with 300’ of white or Hi-Vis yellow before setting the hook is one way to go and is
baitwell. Safely dispose of those clippings. When 100# Power Pro Spectra@. A 50# mono backing what most fishermen do. If you try to set the

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