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| I'm sure this one has been beaten to death on this board, like it has on most other boards, and the last thing I want to do is whip a dead horse or re-invent the wheel here.
I started using them this season, and so far have only taken about a 4# walleye on one, fished down a saddle slope into 28 feet of water. (She sucked it back as easy as a 1/4oz jig, we were impressed). Basically all I do is swim-glide or hop-glide them real tight to bottom (I've modified the hooks on a couple to stop them from hanging up/gathering trash).
I know guys pull/twitch them hard and obviously rig them as a throw back also. How are you guys fishing this bait in your starting line-up? (ie: NOT as a throw-back, but as an all-day lure type)
THANKS |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I am still working with different retrieves. One that has been RAISING (not catching) fish is straight crainking with the occasional rip. Not a pull, but a rip. I have been getting more hits, and hookups with actually fishing it similar to a minnowbait and ripping more often. It changes from day to day, and lake to lake. One thing that has been mentioned here from the great dawgers is make sure to rip it up when it is close to the boat. Those that have been following have been reacting, and closing hard on the bait when I do this.
Hope this helps. |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | I've had the same thing happen to me when just straight reeling them, fish just follow.
Now, I rip them hard with a snap of the rod to about the 2 o'clock and reel back fast to the 12 o'clock postion. I keep doing this till I'm about 10-15 yds from the boat and then I stop and let the Dawg swing straight in till it's straight under the tip of the rod, then I pump the bait to the surface.
I've done waaaay better with this bait doing this. I've had fish come straight up underneath it and hammer it at the side of the boat(including my largest Walleye to date) and I've had fish crush it out from the boat after a hard rip.
That's just what works for me. |
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| As I have posted before, I use the 9 inch Bull Dawg exclusively. They sink at a rate of about 1 foot per second. I sit a fair distance outside the weedline and cast up into the weeds. I count-down the bait to right above the weeds and work it back just like a jerkbait. When I figure I am at the weed edge I allow it to sink for about four feet and continue in a jerkbait retrieve. When my line in vertical below the boat I rake up on the rod and reel up the slack line and pause the bait about four feet or so below the boat and then go into a figure 8. Have caught Muskie on each part of this system.(depends on how active they are) Like I've said before the majority of the hits I have had on Bull Dawgs feels more like extra weight than a real strike. If you feel extra weight set the hook if it wasn't a fish it doesn't hurt anything and you can just continue. If your interested in the Raking technique I wrote an article in Esox Angler on Raking crankbaits (can be applied to other baits as well) Vol. 3 Issue 1 (Winter 2001)
SV |
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| Great stuff so far, thanks guys.
Even when you're working a 'Dawg with the harder rips and stuff, will fish still take light? Or will they crunch it like any other jerkbait?
My biggest hurdle with these hunks of rubber is their hooking %age, especially on a soft take where the fish moves at you. Can't say I've ever had a hard time telling when a fish has grabbed my Suick etc. |
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| I ALWAYS use my stiffest rod and of course super line with the drag down tight throwing Bull Dawgs. Be ready to hit the release and thumb the spool on the rake and pause. I release and thumb the spool on the figure 8 every time.
SV |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Every fish I catch while ripping those baits just destroy 'em. No question that a fish hit it.
Now while ripping a J Mac jig through the weeds I've had "bumps" and all of a sudden my line was moving the other way, but they just crush the Dawg.
I hated the Dawg for years but it has now become one of my "go to" presentations.
I need to start throwing the Mag model, all I throw now is the Regular size. I think I'll need a heavier rod for those hunks of rubber! |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | I am in the same boat as PK. They have become a go to bait now, not just a throw back. They usually inhale the thing, and that is what you are feeling. It can very from a light bump similar to a bass or walleye picking up a jig, or they can rip it hard. Most of mine have been bumps that I feel. |
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Posts: 2112
Location: The Sportsman, home, or out on the water | Love/hate the dawgs. Love the old dawgs, hate the new dawgs. However, my presentations are cranking/ ripping over the weeds, and working them like a glider. next to my hair, it's my best bait. work them on a flexible leader.
http://muskynightmare.tripod.com/muskynightmare/
Rob |
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | my best luck has come working them fast and furious with alot of erratic jerks and twitches, ive gotten my 2 biggest fish that way. however this year in canada i was working a major coldfront situation and nailed a fish bouncing and jigging a mag dawg slowly off the bottom, and also was the only way that particular day i could get them to follow was to bring them up right off the bottom. |
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| Guys--great info. Much appreciated. As long as they'll crunch the bait, I'll keep throwin it. The points about using it in your starting line ups are well-taken, too. That says a lot. |
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BullDawg Techniques