The Kraft mini marshmellow has a dual purpose. Buoyancy and aroma. I normally use larger pre cut squares of netting for tying up
spawn bags. We do our best with Brown trout singles, but I usually save them for the rivers and streams where there are other anglers
fishing. The Brown trout eggs are so deadly that one can almost hook a fish on every cast. Notice I said hook instead of catch. Brown trout eggs are so deadly when angling for trout and salmon that they should be illegal.
Fish can smell in parts per billion with a b and that sense of smell is what drives them to bite.
The next on my list of favorite spawn for catching these is a toss up between King salmon singles or Steelhead singles. Coho and Lake
trout singles would be last on my list. Not that I can't catch fish on all of them. It's just that trout and salmon have such an incredible sense of smell that I go with what I've found to be their favorites. Of course eggs in the skein (connective membrane), that have not turned to being single eggs also works in the same order I've already mentioned. Single eggs are preferred as some will burst when tying off the bag with thread more so than eggs that are still skein.
When tying up the bag which is done just before casting out, which I will explain further, is done right before putting one on the hook
which is a small Eagle Claw style 42 egg hook in a size 14. These are small hooks that hide easily in a spawn bag. The purpose for tying these bags up just before baiting up with one is the aroma. As the four corners of the pre cut square of fluorescent pink netting material are gathered together for tying up, I will do a few half hitches with some orange thread for the purpose of tying off the bag. As the thread in tightened, some of the eggs will burst and the egg juice will start to slowly dissolve the marsh mellow and the aroma that the marsh mellow imparts to the surrounding water really appeals to a trout or salmon's sweet tooth.
The buoyancy part of the equation is the other reason for the marsh mellow. On the 6' leaders of two pound test, we will place a very
small split shot about 6" from the hook. ( size 7 water gremlin pinch on style). This split shot size is barely enough to overcome the buoyancy of the floating bag.
The marsh mellow bag freshly tied has a buoyancy that will allow the presentation to slowly tumble in with a wave, and then slowly tumble back out with the waves and then the undertow action. With the small split shot roughly 6" from the hook, this allows the floating bag to be about 6" off the bottom. This height off the bottom is perfect for a trout or salmon swimming along the bottom to see.
The buoyancy allows the bag to tumble in and then tumble back out again with the wave and undertow. Using 6' leaders from the 2-way swivel where the main line is tied to the leader, a pyramid sinker is then attached to another snap swivel on the main line. (Usually 6 lb main line but sometimes larger if the surf is rough) This snap swivel allows the fish to pick up the bag and start to swim off with it without feeling the weight of the pyramid sinker and the weight is on a 2 way snap swivel with the sinker clipped on the swivel and the other end of the swivel is where the main line is threaded through the other end of the swivel.
This allows the sinker to slide on the main line. Depending on wave height, 1 to 4 ounce pyramid sinkers are used.
This presentation took a few years to fine tune, but it works anywhere on the Great Lakes for trout and salmon. It's all in the presentation.
To sum up:
1. Freshly tied bags with a mini marsh mellow for buoyancy and aroma.
2. A small spit shot with just enough weight to barely sink the marsh mellow/spawn bag. Allows for searching action with the waves.
3. Light line leaders and small hooks.
4. Long noodle rods that can absorb the screaming 35 mph runs a steelhead can make. As they scream some line off the spool,
the rod will bend completely over absorbing the shock on the leader. With shorter and stiffer rods, the sudden impact on the
leader from a screaming run will break the leader. The long noodle rods that are designed for 2 lb test and are a crucial part of
the presentation.
5. Another important part is changing the 2 lb test leader after every fish. A 6' leader of two lb test will often get stretched out,
and what was a 6' foot leader at the beginning of the battle can easily be 7' long by the time the fish is beached. To fish with the same leader for a second fish is just too much risk as the leader will sometimes break after being stretched out. It's just better to replace the leader.
6. Lastly is changing the bag after about a half hour of fishing with it, as the water will soak into the marsh mellow negating it's
buoyancy.
I cannot tell you how satisfying it is to actually smoke the competition with this presentation. One case in point that comes to mind is
one time fishing at the mouth of a small creek, where by mid morning there were 72 anglers spread out over almost a half mile of shoreline. ( A quarter mile to the north of the creek, and a quarter mile to the south of the creek. We showed up at midnight to be able
to have first dibs on the prime spot where the creek flows into Lake Michigan. While 3 of us caught our limit, we released well over 30 fish, much to the chagrin of the other anglers. Between all of the those other anglers, they caught 3 fish combined for for 72 anglers.
With our limit and the ones we released, we were near 50 for the three of us.
After releasing a few by mid morning and with almost but not quite, a limit on our stringers, a gent fishing right beside of us on the south side of where we had our rod holders out in the surf. He approached us and said, "You guys are probably pretty nice guys and all, but you're really starting to piss me off. lol. I explained the presentation, and then tied a light line leader/small hook to his rod and hooked him up with a freshly tied spawn bag with marsh mellow. It took him about 5 minutes to hook up with a fish. He was one of 3 anglers other than us that caught one. How do I know that everyone else had only 3 fish amongst all of them. We arrived at midnight,
stayed up all night and caught a couple before the sun came up. (One was a very nice brown), and then we stayed all day until after dark releasing fish all day and being careful not to put that last fish we each needed to complete our limit. We watched the anglers coming back to their vehicles to leave and talked with a few of them. That's when we learned that only 3 fish were caught amongst all of them.
That's what some would call a die hard fisherman. Up all night and fished all day. We could have left with our 3 man limit by 9 am, but we were have too much fun. More so because of all of the other anglers watching us put on a clinic.
Here is my personal best on a two lb test presentation. My largest steelhead was caught trolling with 10 lb test and a Bagley floating minnow similar to a Rapala. It was a Skamania strain that weighed 22 lbs.
Here is a PB steelie for light line that was fooled with the light line/small hook presentation. 17 lbs 6 oz
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