Jackson: Fishing deep doesn't have to be difficult

Some anglers, and I use the word some very judiciously, tend to forget lessons from the not-so-distant past.

With five decades in this business, I have collected a few chunks of knowledge that I also forget every year.

I am opening that creaky door to flying brickbats from readers who have opinions as to how to catch fish during these somewhat difficult lake turnover times.

Vernon Hills angler Phillip K. sent an email to my outdoor radio show about this topic.

"I have fished lakes where I know where the deep water separates itself from the shallows and long flats. And even after listening to several so-called fishing pros at the various outdoor sports shows sharing their expertise in how to fish deep water during the fall period, I can never apply what I learned, or I just simply forgot everything," he noted.

Tackle innovator Ron Lindner understands. He and brother Al were stymied on a recent outing as they searched for walleyes suspended near the bottom.

"These fish showed up on the fish-finder screen," he explained. "In fact, the hooked signals we received indicated we were over a deep school of fish, probably walleyes, but they wouldn't even look at our baits."

So the brothers Lindner changed lakes and found cooler water, along with fish that seemed to be in the mood to hit a lure and live bait. They switched to Jigging Raps.

And so we now come to the stage of this column where I again tell you I am just a writer and radio talk show host. I never claim to be expert, but rather someone who has learned a lot from the experts.

So if I may, these suggestions come from years of frustration and an unwillingness to apply the teachings as to how to find fish and get them to strike.

I don't get paid by Normark to hype their famous Rapala lures. But if some works well and I don't share that knowledge with you, I wouldn't be serving the readers who look to learn a few things from this column.

In a recent telephone conversation with both Ron and Al Lindner, they told me one of the best-selling lures on the market today - and when it first came out - is the Jigging Rap.

This is a sinking lure with a single hook on each end of the lure's body. It was made extremely popular by ice fishermen when they wanted to fish deep, especially for lake trout and bottom-hugging walleyes.

It sinks fast and darts from side-to-side, imitating what's believed to be an injured baitfish. The lure's action is controlled by the fisherman when a strenuous jigging action is imparted down the line.

"The Jigging Rap is not specifically an ice lure," Ron Lindner declared. "A lot of deep-water smallmouth, walleyes, and lakers are taken on this lure during the warm-water months on any number of lakes."

This wild-swimming artificial lure, he noted, also can make a difference on a lake when fish appear to have lockjaw.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at mikejacksonoutdoors.com.