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By Cap'n Chuck Duggins

Let's face the facts. This old Cap'n, is a real pig fisherman, at least when it comes to color. Now I don't mean I fish for pigs, but that I will fish with just about any color! I have proven, at least to my own satisfaction, that my fish, on my water (smallmouth on the Penobscot and Piscataquis Rivers in Maine) simply don't care all that much about color - most of the time. Oh, I'm sure there are times when it makes a difference, in most places, and occasionally I suspect it makes a minor difference here in Maine. But I don't let it bother me, because I have proven that day in and day out my methods let me work around any color preference some of my fish may be experiencing. Let's look at why this might be so.

The Rivers

Rivers in Maine are not heavily traveled and due to their lack of depth and overabundance of rocks and ledges, they are pretty well guaranteed to eat a prop or two each season. I fished them for over ten years with a jet drive, beat on the Jets pretty severely, and finally learned where to go and more importantly, where not to go (most of the time). The result is a comparatively isolated population of smallies that get exercised only infrequently. We fish a five or six mile stretch of the Piscataquis and stretches of the Penobscot from as little as two, to as much as fifteen miles in length. We are blessed with a fair number of ramps, especially along the Penobscot. These rivers average over a hundred yards wide with a wide variety of depths, rarely over about twenty feet, their flow frequently broken up by islands.

The Fish

They're not overly used either, have enough to eat but no great surplus, they grow big (up to about four pounds) and sassy, but slowly. A 20- to 21-inch, four pound fish is upwards of 16 years old. One of the controlling factors to population density (I believe) is low availability of good spawning habitat. The dominant year classes just do not let the smaller fish spawn successfully. Talk about upset teenage males, those guys are really upset! Prey species range from creek chubs and sucker minnows to juvenile bass, hellgrammites, leeches and frogs, along with anything that washes down that might be food. If they don't take it quick, it's gone. I really hate fishing under such tough conditions!

The Equipment

Nothing fancy is needed; bait casting, spinning, spin casting, or fly casting are all perfectly usable and acceptable. Live bait is prohibited on the section of the Penobscot that we use the most and that portion of the river is being managed as a trophy fishery, so there is both a slot limit and a one-fish, daily bag limit imposed on it. In view of the slow growth rate of these fish, along with the fact that we strongly encourage catch and release, these are very reasonable regulations. Sensitive rods and line are a big help when these fish get on a soft bite, which they do with some frequency. Sometimes, especially in the fall, the only way you can tell you've been bit is the disappearance of "bottom feel." These are terrible, terrible handicaps we labor under. These are also the circumstances that lead me to be a real pig as far as color selection is concerned. I have, on occasion, ordered a batch of Big Ikas (92B's), specifying only that some are light, some dark and some in-between. And when the order came in, we fished some dark, some light and some in-between, never once having to put away a partially used bag regardless of color! What we did do was try, at all times, to have at least two colors being presented to the fish. Only rarely did they show any preference, at least any that I could see. As a normal matter of course, I start each day with each of the three of us in the boat fishing a different color and a different depth. As soon as several fish are caught on one combination, I switch both clients to that one and I work on finding something better. The exception to this comes when the client wants to do it their way. Then I watch them make it work, which happens often, or sometimes my way turns out best, and they decide to switch.

Getting Started

Okay, so you're new to the game of soft plastics. You're interested in starting with the most foolproof set-up but you can't afford one of everything. So how do you get started, where do you begin? There are only three places where the fish can be - on the surface, on the bottom or someplace in between. Wouldn't it be nice if three lures would cover all three possibilities? Actually, we do it with one lure, using three color and two rigging options. My first choice is, and has been, the Big Ika - but unless you are fishing consistently for fish larger than a pound, I'd recommend the slightly smaller Ika (92's). It's your choice, you'll probably get more bites with the smaller ones and you can still catch an occasional larger fish. I just happen to know where many of our larger fish live, so that's what we fish for.

The Colors

Finally, and what this was all about in the first place, the three colors. When fish are feeding on, or just under the surface, they are usually feeding on bait fish. Most of these are silvery to white on the bottom, which is what the fish see the most. I like Smoke w/black & hologram flake (#238) or Blue Pearl w/black & hologram flake (#239) for fishing the surface, rigged on the #6 Yamamoto Split-shot hook (53-15-6). When they are on the bottom, I suspect they will feed on a slowly moving crawdad, leech, or any of a wide variety of mature mayfly or dragonfly nymphs, which are mostly black or brown. I like the Smoke Root beer w/ green and copper flake (236) for this bottom application. I rig it with a 1/8 oz. to 1/4 oz. split shot, depending on current speed and water depth. When they are in between, they may be feeding on anything mentioned so far. I fish either the same rig used for surface fishing, but allow it more time to fall towards the bottom, or use the bottom rig with the split shot reduced to 1/16 oz., to slow the fall rate.

The Hook

I use the split shot hook with what I refer to as the "Lip Rig." Imagine the blunt end of the Ika as being the head of a minnow. I start the hook in under the chin, through the full diameter of the Ika, and out the top of the head, much as you would put a bait hook through the lips of a minnow. There is only one more thing to remember, but it is the most important: DON'T SET THE HOOK! If you are new to fishing and you haven't learned how to set the hook, good! If you already know how, forget it. When you even suspect there's a fish, just start cranking, slowly and steadily, maintaining slight tension on the line at all times. I know this doesn't sound right, but this rig doesn't look right either! It just catches fish - with only three colors!

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