Here a short and fun video showing me catch some hybrids on FPH with some screenshots of what to look for! Stay tuned for more videos covering downrigging this summer if interested in learning more "how-to" information and new to the fun of downrigging. I'm no expert but consistently fill the boat with fish and I love helping others do the same. I've been catching them on #15 pet spoons which are about 3 inches or so long. I'm going to experiment using some small #12's vs bigger #15's to see if post shad spawn, do hybrids prefer targeting "fry" size downrigging bait or bigger baits? I'm curious what I'll find......any predictions??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB7dY-QsP0k

I am afraid to watch this. I really do not want to drill more holes in my boat to mount my downrigger. I used it quite a bit before I started fishing with live bait. I should probably just sell it.

On all of those screen shots, it looked like you could have just dropped a slab and picked them off one by one.


How far back do you put your lure from the weight?

Don�t sell your downrigger! Once you know the tricks to using them there is nothing better! Precision casting lol!

I put the lures about 12 ft behind my ball

so I don't have a downrigger but I do use a lot of HellPets (Hellbender w/ Pet Spoon) when they aren't taking my artificial on the cast.

Slow but eventually, rewarding day for me on Texoma yesterday. Caught two 24+ inch, 6 pound stripers slow rolling A-rigs down deep while drifting. Didn't get any bites with my standard weighted Hellbender / Pet Spoon rig, and that got me thinking.... Has anyone ever tried... or do you think it would work.... to try to tie an A-rig onto a Hellbender to try and get it down deep in the zone with the deeper fish? Maybe a weighted Hellbender with a long leader and fairly light A-rig trailing behind? Maybe the A-rig could be rigged with no leadheads and just light spoons or soft plastics rigged on hooks? Thoughts? I might experiment with that next time I do Striper at Texoma or Hybrid at Lew.

I think you're better off selling some stuff around the house and buying at least one downrigger! I was fishing solo when I made that video and didn't want to work too hard so I just used one rod instead of two (I have two downriggers) and I probably caught 20 hybrids in about an hour and a half. If I use both downriggers I often catch three or four fish at a pass (you HAVE to know where the fish are).

I have a video on my channel over my downrigger equipment (downrigging 101) and total you would spend about $175 for the downrigger (Cannon Easy Troll...I still highly recommend it after using it for 5 years!), swivel base ($70), 10 or 12 pound cannon ball ($47), Rod ($40), I now use a cheaper reel than in my video. I use Abu Garcia 6500 Ambassadeur S Round Baitcast Fishing Reel ($52) and you are rigged up for the most part! So for under $400 you are set up! No more needing several crank baits to target what depth they are at today. No more wondering if that crankbait is actually at the depth you need. No more big long turns with the boat to keep your stuff from getting tangled together. I clip my baits just 10-12 feet behind the cannon ball and once I go over the 50-100 yard area they are holding on, I use my "smart" trolling motor to quickly turn me around and make another pass with the big boat motor. Very focused attacks on these schools! If the fish are deep I find artificial bait isn't the way to go as mentioned in my first post. If you don't want to buy a downrigger I would focus on shallower fish that may be more willing to be tricked into biting artificials.

Nice video. What graph are you running? Your pictures look awesome!

Thanks!! I use a Humminbird Helix 12 with all the bells and whistles from a few years ago. I love my sonar! Very easy to use. I looked at getting a Lowrance one day because their DI is a step better which makes finding whites easier at times but I don't find their units to be as simple and easy as the humminbird helix! So I think I will forever be a Humminbird guy : )

Man I need to try the slow roll a-rig on Texoma. That sounds like a blast!

Just a guess but I wonder if the hellbender's action would get messed up by the weight of the A-rig? Heck you ought try it. For Hybrid on Lew I've caught them on a lot of "chasing" rigs where I have a small shad swimbait tied a few feet in front of a large rattle trap or some other type of crankbait. Also I'd tie a line on the back of a big inline spinner with a small swim bait or crappie jig and they'd hit that too. Anyway sorry way off topic but there is no rule as to what might trick a fish into biting.

Liked the guitar and the fishing. I bet you'll get more, smaller fish on the 12 pet spoon. Water seems clear enough that they'll find the smaller bait. I always wonder if there is magic in the pet spoon or would other spoons work as well? I think the large single hook is harder for them to throw and the petspoon has good action at multiple speeds. However I bet if you troll 2 bobby garland baby shad type bait tied in tandem you'd get fish too. Trolling my clear glitter pearl hand poured version of that bait has caught me a lot of hybrids at least on Lewisville where small threadfin abound.

Since I like to troll / fish from my kayak to get exercise my boat is too small to use any sort of down rigger. I'm trying leadcore line this summer as sort of a poor man's down rigger. It's a pain in the behind but I think I'll catch some fish off of it. I like trolling for fish so much better than casting for LMB. I really cannot explain why just something about seeing the rod jump like you captured in your video.

Nice tips Clay!

Bob Maindelle got me started on pet spoons. He chooses them not only for the action but for how light weight they are so the bait stays close to the level you want it at.

I trolled with my small #12s and quickly changed them out to bigger baits after the #15s caught four fish to its one. I even used #17s which are over five inches long and catch rate were about the same.! I love the single hook too. Big strong hook that can take some abuse plus allow for quick and easy release of the fish.

I think in the dirty water a bigger bait is much more helpful in getting the fishes attention but that may not at all be true.

I hope you do well!! Lots of ppl use lead core line as an alternative. Just got to find where they hang out whichisthe hardest part of learning the lake. Which lake do you fish? Lewisville?

That's how I do it.

Enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.