Throwing Short

When fishing clear water like Dale, you must be aware of "throwing short." I say this because if the fish do not have enough time to react to your presentation, all effort is lost. In clear water it is best to "throw long", and if you add a "pause" or a "twitch" or two in your retrieve, it will give the fish some "catch-up" time to hit your lure. How many times have to seen a good fish follow your lure to your boat and at the last moment make a last second attempt only to disappear in a swirl. In the dirty water of the KY, I have caught LM right at the boat's edge. I even had a 2 lb LM jump into my boat after a Sammy one afternoon.

By throwing longer, you can speed up your retrieve, thus allowing reaction strikes, and if you add a pause or twitch, it just may give the time needed for a solid hit on the lure. When you twitch a lure, it causes the "skirts", "blades" and "reflectors" to pulsate and flicker which catches the predator's eye. So the bottom line is, you can present you lure perfectly, but if you do not give time for the fish react, you have lost that opportunity.