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Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ Category

The hot tip is anyone looking for a great guide to fish with, contact Captain Talbert Turner. He has over twenty five years of inshore/offshore experience. He recently this past week caught a monster 30 pound striper out of Lake Murray. A true trophy! He is USCG certified, Half day charters with 2 man would be $175, 3 man $225..Talbert can be contacted at carolinadventure@yahoo.com Give Talbert a call for a great day on Lake Murray..

Old Faithful for Bream on Lake Murray – one of the most productive baits for nearly 50 years now is the Beetle spin.  Virgil Ward, a pioneer of TV fishing shows, invented it in 1958.  The bait is marketed by Pure fishing in a bright yellow hanging card labeled “Johnson” – The Genuine Beetle spin.  It can be purchased almost anywhere tackle is sold.  Any store like K-Mart and Wal-Mart around Lake Murray carries these baits in sizes from 1/32 oz. to ¼ oz. and in a number of colors.  The style is called a safety pin spinner.  The jig head is attached to the spinner frame with a bent wire catch.  The blade is a Colorado-style attached to the other end by a small swivel and split ring.  The blade spins adding flash and vibration.  The beetle spin is very easy to use and catches many species of fish here on Lake Murray.  I use this bait with four pound test line – P-line fluroclear.  The 1/32 oz.  or 1/16 oz. is best.  Beetle spins perform best tied directly to your line.  No swivels are needed.  A Palomar knot is fine with this.

Beetle spins are great for kids just starting out using lures.  They have only one hook and are very safe to handle.

They can be fished in a variety of ways.  A slow steady retrieve is best.   Riprap shorelines and rocky points are great places to fish these lures and are my personal favorites.   Boat docks and places with flooded brush or wood are also great. 

As far as color goes, my personal favorite color is black with yellow stripes and white with the red dot.  Right now Beetle spins come in nineteen different colors so don’t be afraid to experiment with colors. The bodies are very easy to change on the jig head. 

So, if you don’t feel like messing around with live bait, tie on a beetle spin and just go fishing.  Bream are aggressive fish and will attack and inhale a Beetle spin with reckless abandon.

Habakkuk 1:15  “They take up all of them with a hook. They catch them in their net.  And gather them in their dragnet.  Therefore they rejoice and are glad.” 

The tip of the day for 10-13-08 is that:  God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword.  It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones.  And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts.  Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God.  Everything is clear and lies open before Him, and to Him we must explain the way we have lived. 
Hebrews 4:12-13

For covering more water on Lake Murray for bream try casting tiny crank baits.  I’ve had a lot of success with this technique.   There are hundreds of tiny crank baits on the market.  But the ones I like best are the Strike King bitsy minnow, Rebel crick hopper, Rebel dp teeny craw and the Rapala Cd-1 countdown minnow.  They all slowly rise or suspend.  Bream love to attack slow rising baits.  These baits must be cast with light to ultra light rigs with four pound test line being the best for maximum action.  The lighter the line, the better the action.  Cast these crank baits around rip rap, woody cover, boat docks, or submerged vegetation.  Rip rap being my number one choice.  Crank and stop, crank and stop, crank and stop all the way back to the boat.  Pound for pound Lake Murray bream are great hard fighting fish.  So give this a try and it’s a great way to cover a lot of water rather than sitting, waiting for a fish to bite.

“Cast your care on the Lord and He will sustain you.  He will never let the righteous fall.”  Psalm 55:22

When fishing for panfish on Lake Murray take the brightly colored bobber you normally use and replace it with a clear transparent float.  It’s less visible to fish and will increase hook ups. 

Also with the clear water here on Lake Murray, try using lighter line, if panfish are thumbing there noses at your offerings.  Dropping down to 4 or even 2 pound test may make a big difference.  You can also make longer casts with much lighter line. 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Psalm 51:10

PLEASE practice catch and release.  Catch and release fishing is a lot like golf.  You don’t have to eat the ball to have a good time.

“Don’t forget to duck when you set the hook and miss!”
–Jimmy Houston