Trace Setup Argument

[...kRiLLin...]

I have a question, as dof  as it mat seem lol, i had an argument with a friends dad, He's About 65 Yrs old, and obviously fishing for over 20 years.

He says, since he was young, he's used a particular trace, no matter what he's targetting, 50cm line from the hook to the swivel, and 50cm line from the sinker to the swivel, single power swiver, not the triple swivel, with no leader, swivel directly connected to the mainline. The only thing he changes when he changes spots is the bait, and he wreckons he still catches wherever he goes on that setup, Langebaan, strandfontein, baileys cottage, and he has the pics to prove it.

He says he's tried changing to different setups for different species but this setup proves more worthier.

He doesnt even change Reels, he's used the same Pen 500 Jigmaster for 20 years, just changes line.

What do you guys think about this??? i cant say its k@k praat cz he has the photo's to prove it, and its not like he can operate photoshop to photoshop the pics lol........

I'm a little bit confused as to how he goes out with the same trace every trip, and catches at least 50% of the time, and i go out with different ones for different species and catch 5% of the time? 

 

Whats your thoughts?????

 

[Mangi]

I think that we have made fishing too complicated for ourselves. My dad also uses one trace for everything, and he gets his fish when he goes to the water.

If it aint' broke, why fix it?

 

[A_Mooi_Vrou]

that trace works 100% ! (fixed trace)

 

[Carlos Moran]

Its more where and when you fish than how you fish,the old timer knows his conditions and spots,hence the high sucess rate,no fish will swim past food thinking that the trace is too long,short etc.All the fancy hooks and traces comes into their own when you fish comps or crowded spots,but firstly you still have to find the fish!!

 

[Marthin]

well said carlos....

You will catch fish on the trace described. But i would suggest looking past the old timer's traces, and check out his bait presentation, and more importantly, when he goes fishing, where he goes fishing, and EXACTLY where he casts when he goes fishing.

I've seen a couple of times, where 10m to the left right shorter or further has brought home a fish.

My uncle's father now 80 or thereabouts, once watched me cast for a bit, then told me cast there next to that rock... i did in my opinion there or there abouts, he said no not there, NEXT to it. i did so again, and bob's ur uncle!!!!

Reading of water is something i'm still learning, probably the worst of my fishing skills, and then once you can broadly read the water, where exactly to put that bait... that's why we sometimes just shake our heads when a "local" walks up to where we've been fishing the whole day, with a cheap rod and old reel, casts 40m and lands 3 fish, packs up and walks past again.

 

[Katonkel Tom]

Also another thing to take into count was that fish numbers where alot higher 20+ years ago! Does he still catch fish every trip now??

 

[...kRiLLin...]

He still catches boet, this guys like a fishing legend i tell u haha

 

[Mouldz]

...kRiLLin... wrote:

He still catches boet, this guys like a fishing legend i tell u haha

I have a uncle like that,I think its karma or something ,he will say hes going to the pier to get a musselcracker and he will come back with one ,or he will say I am going to sea the cob must be biting and he will catch cob ,If i see him somewhere and ask why hes not fishing he will say no nothings gonna bite today and trues Bobs your uncle you will hear of no catches that day.Always laughs at us guys with our fancy rigs and traces and mutis

 

[JJ Pienaar]

it's all about convidance and spending as much time at the water as u can, with the right bait . . .

 

[surrey estate]

ja ny thats how it goes.one day god willing,we'l b like that krillin

 

[marinello599]

had a similar scenario at Franskraal one year,but not with the trace setup but bait presentation.
Its amazing how sometimes we take our time trying to present our bait as neatly and to the most natural form as possible,and here comes this ou topie with his jigmaster and his "mustard colour" stokkie,klaps on a stukkie morsige sardine (no streamline,dont a darn look natural) and klaps the fish left to right.
And even when he gives you the opportunity to cast in the same hole he did,using the same bait.....you still dont get anything,then he politely tells you "ek gaan nou reg langs jou gooi,dan vang ek weer eenetjie".
Sad day that was,im still traumitised lol.....felt better the next day when i went back and did exactly what he did....put on a vinnige,morsige stuk sard and was into the money!

Moral of the story....."Always try and steal with your eyes when fishing next to these ou topies,not only looking at their trace setup but where they're casting,what the water looks like,days that they fish i.e tides,wind etc.the ou ballies....they know their story (okay not all of them,steer away from that ballies that rocks up,gooi's over six ouens line and looks at them like they cant cast straight:lol:1

 

[Maestro]

We were in the tkei recently and we fished with a local of the area.We used hmg rods and diawa and shimano reels. He had an old graphite rod and a kp scarborough reel. We had diff traces for each species and mind you,we know the area quite well. He used a fixed trace with a 1/0 hook the entire 6 days,and he caught more fish than us,and bigger fish! Eventually i figured out that we were casting too far compared to him,and all our fancy equipment counted for nothing.Sometimes it's the casting distance that makes all the difference,not the trace or equipment.

 

[RINEX]

Cast where the water look different.It is not the equipment that we have, fish dont care if you have a imported reels or other fancy stuff all they see is bait,and it must be at the right spot easy for them to grab.I was standing at Harmony Park many years back and there was this laaity with a handline koffieblik-style (for those of you who knows it) landing a monster Steenbras and left the "Big Guns" red faced next to him.At Arniston (as my friend describe the event)he were standing on this reef casting about 60m in front of him.Suddenly he heard a splashing sound not far from him.as he looked back, it was one of the local guys casting on a spot appropriately 4/5m away from him.It wasn't long and the local went vas with a nice Gallie.My friend said he could see the Gallie being dragged past him with a piece of Redbait hanging from its mouth.He later met up with this local only to see his equipment "Penn 49 with hardly any line on,and the rod needed at least 4 eyes.

 

[subaruseun]

true that hey... no need for 7.2:1 gear ratios either.

learn from the oldies, my dad only fishes his abu 10000 with good success, he casts a maximum of 40-50m and applies the fixed trace method. when he speaks of how easily they caught on a regular basis with simple tackle, i keep reminding him that his generation and those after him literally wiped out the fish stocks and now we have to resort to various methods and tactics to catch fish...eg different trace lengths

reality is that the fish stocks were higher back in the day and you could throw the fish anything on ANY TRACE (big shoals fighting for a piece of food) vs current days where presentation to lure the fish away from your mates line to your line!

 

[jb2]

This drives home a couple of points that I keep making.

When you arrive at a fishing spot try to find the old guy on the rocks with a bashed up old penn 49 spooled with milky white line and a rod held together with electrician tape. He is almost always the guy with the best catch.

The other is that when we go diving we almost always find that fish are concentrated on one spot and often on ones side of a rock or pinnacle.

There might be a reason why the fish is on the seaward side: (actively feeding and waiting for goggas and nunus to be dislodged or resting on the landward side in the shelter of the rock.

Some rocks are too smooth to offer shelter and others have nice overhangs and caves. Not all rocks are the same.

 

[lloydfox]

good thread, enjoying the reading.

At Jock's se baai once i was fishing whole day nothing but crayfish stripping my bait, and here comes this old timer, asks me if i caught anything, i say no, he laughs, he casts in, not even 2 mins, and he is vas with a cob, next cast same thing, vas with another cob. he ups and leaves, qucik sticks, all of 10 minutes fishing for him and he gets two sizer kobs, and he never even had a tackle bag/box with him, just his rod and a bait bucket around his waist and a hessian bag for his fish.

You must give it to the old timers, they got some skill and styles.

 

[AF]

This is a good thread, my uncle who has passed always seem to get the fish and i would blank after trying everything and copying him, he would just laugh and tell me jy moet reg lewe. Still trying to figure that one out.

 

[Craig Van der Poll]

...kRiLLin... wrote:

I have a question, as dof  as it mat seem lol, i had an argument with a friends dad, He's About 65 Yrs old, and obviously fishing for over 20 years.

He says, since he was young, he's used a particular trace, no matter what he's targetting, 50cm line from the hook to the swivel, and 50cm line from the sinker to the swivel, single power swiver, not the triple swivel, with no leader, swivel directly connected to the mainline. The only thing he changes when he changes spots is the bait, and he wreckons he still catches wherever he goes on that setup, Langebaan, strandfontein, baileys cottage, and he has the pics to prove it.

He says he's tried changing to different setups for different species but this setup proves more worthier.

He doesnt even change Reels, he's used the same Pen 500 Jigmaster for 20 years, just changes line.

What do you guys think about this??? i cant say its k@k praat cz he has the photo's to prove it, and its not like he can operate photoshop to photoshop the pics lol........

I'm a little bit confused as to how he goes out with the same trace every trip, and catches at least 50% of the time, and i go out with different ones for different species and catch 5% of the time? 

 

Whats your thoughts?????

I have caught a few unusual fish in my time, I am yet to catch a fish that carries a ruler though! Just saying!

 

[Pretty Fly]

My dad used to make a loop at the end of his line for his sinker and another loop about 50cm above that for his hook, this was his trace and he always caught fish. Tried it last week Tuesday out of sheer laziness and simplicity in the dark, and landed 3 - 3.5kg kob. My mate fishing a sliding trace blanked.

 

[Henning Venter]

all good and well and i always said "keep it simple" , BUT AND A BIG BUT.... this only works if you fish alone or just the two of you!!!

it gets very technical when fish a nationals or a comp where 150 okes fish for the same fish!!!! thats when tricks help to get the pull FIRST!!!!!