# Catchin females ?



## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

:BI saw this morning on the Maumee Tackle website that a fella caught a 32 1/4" and 13.5 lbs. hog.Congratulations to him,that's a fish of a lifetime.

My question is,soon you'll be seeing pictures of fishermen proudly showin of their catch and some of them have multiple females on their stringer.Not tryin to start a pizzen contest or get flamed in the process but I been doin this river thing every weekday for many,many years and I could prolly count the legal hens on one hand.I do have two on the wall.I've done a lot of jiggin on the reefs also and I don't think I've ever caught a legal one there either,although I have foul hooked a bunch.I've even foul hooked them ice fishing. 

Is there some secret technique that I haven't seen yet?I don't want to keep hens I just would like to be able to catch them,I put enough fish in the freezer ice fishin and the jacks that I only seem able to catch in the river.

I'd hate to think all these hens that I see pictures of were foul hooked?And if you had a big one mounted that was foul hooked,how much sastisfaction could you get from that?That would be like mounting a big buck you found dead or hit with a car.

I'll admit,when I was a kid fishin in Fremont before the flood walls were put in,I fished lead and put a lot of fish on my stringer that should have been released.We'd even pick'em up out of the flooded grass behind Krogers.I didn't feel any sence of accomplisment doin it and it sure didn't seem very sporting.

I just want to know how to catch them legal?

Time to get a beer and some popcorn.This otta be good.


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## Jigging Jim (Apr 3, 2010)

Taking a guess... it may be that the timing of the egg-laying makes the difference. Maybe, as the females get real close to the actual time of spawning, they stop eating. If they are a little early to let those eggs go, they still feel like eating something - so they bite.... Just a guess.


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## sdkohio (Jul 26, 2008)

I would have to say the female still bite, just not as aggresive as the males. I caught a few legal females last year. Fishing down there I see most people release the foul hooked fish, of course there are alsways a few idiots.


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## Lundfish (Apr 7, 2010)

I caught one female in that river during the spawn full of eggs. A good sized fish. Caught 100% legal 2 years ago. She went right back where she came from to lay them also.


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## juicebox (Apr 22, 2008)

I'll answer that question for you rutnut. the secret to catching females in the river is....... Alot more people keep snagged fish than we think, or atleast naive people think. i bet this is your answer as well. be safe out there. still haven't made up to the maumee to fish the river yet, ever.


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## Fishaholic69 (Apr 6, 2007)

I have caught some nice females before but mostly I seem to catch the males more often than not. maybe they are just too busy laying their eggs? good question tho.


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## saugeyesam (Apr 20, 2004)

Been fishing the Maumee run for 15 years and I've only ever seen one female caught and that was a 10 pounder my buddy caught last year she inhaled his jig. She was packed with eggs but was still hard and not ready to dump yet. So I'm guessing they do still eat. Now he didn't feel a hit so to speak, just more or less dead weight. I've seen maybe 2 foul hooked females in all the years I've been going up. They can be caught legally but you're probably gonna get more Jacks than anything.


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## sdkohio (Jul 26, 2008)

I do agree that most of the legal fish caught are males, but I have enough experience to know that the females do occasionally bite. Some may say that I am naive, but I know that I caught 3 legal females last year and 24 legal jacks, so it is possible that these fish do bite. I do see snaggers, however I also see A LOT of snagged fish let go.


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

Ive been fishing the run for 15 years now and ive only caught 3 legal females over that time.Yeah they do occasionally bite and its possible but if i see someone with 3 or 4 females on a stringer its a no brainer.


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## juicebox (Apr 22, 2008)

guys I'm not calling names on anyone, as I to have caught females legally in fremont. I'd say that of all the years I've fished the sandusky,I'm 38, I've landed three legal females. so i have to agree with whats been said, a stringer full of females is definitley a no brainer.


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## Fishaholic69 (Apr 6, 2007)

3 legal females in 15 years? I have caught 3-4 a season at least for the last 3 years. don't know if they were spawned out or full of eggs as I fly fish and catch and release all my fish. if its snagged I roll cast and unsnag it or I break off or whatever.


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## JimmyZ (May 18, 2004)

Big females are like black ducks for me. Maybe one a year if I'm lucky. I wont keep though. Did one time and what a mess filleting. Not worth it. Black ducks on the other hand hard to release.


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## ccart58 (Mar 5, 2010)

I have said this and still say this, I have wanted ODNR to put a 15 in limit on eyes for years, now they are slowly doing this they have added a few more lakes this year but it should be a statewide thing! And also I think you should be allowed to keep only one female eye this time of year! anyone who knows even a little about fishing can tell a male from a female (its not like you have to pull its painties down to check) this would put a end to seeing a stringer full of female eyes that may or may not have been caught legally! Every female that is being kept is takeing away hundreds of eyes that wont have a chance to hatch! This is just my opinion so let the bashing begin. LOL


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## jfan (Aug 11, 2006)

I've caught legal females, no where near as many as the males. If you have a jig tic a rock in front of their nose or at their lateral line, their instinct is to strike. There's an old book about fishing the salmon runs that talks about this. Those fish are done feeding for life, yet some still catch them. Years ago, there was a guy that used to fish the towpath with a flyrod using those techniques and he always seemed to catch his share.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I know what's goin on.I started this thread with a touch of sarcasim.Since there isn't an unsollicited sarcasm or pot stirring forum,I put it here.

I've been fishin these rivers for 40+yrs.I fish almost every weekday from early March-middle of May.I've foul hooked litterally thousands of fish,especially in the days before I started fishing floaters,25-30 yrs ago.The reason Gary @ Maummee tackle doesn't allow hens in their tournament anymore is because he knows,for the most part,they don't bite.I fished in most of his tourney's, including the first one.The limit was ten and the guy that won it was a co-worker of mine and fished less than 30' from me.His stringer was over a hundred pounds and he snagged every one of them.I'm not gonna mention any names,but that is why Gary uses the rules he does in his tourney.

Gary also addresses this issue on his daily river report today.In the daily pictures of successfull fishermen is one fella who's on there a couple days in a row.Today he's holding a hen and proudly smiling for the camara.I would have to assume it was foul hooked because the 4 he had his picture taken with on Friday were,I watched him do it.

As far as confronting people you see doing this it's allways the same responce."What,are you a game warden? or Why don't you just mind your own business?"

Hey,I'm no purist,nor do I think I'm above or ethiclly superior to anybody.I guess I was just trying to see if any of these guys that keep multiple hens would try to defend there actions,or better yet,enlighten me on their techniques,which I'm pretty sure I already know.

I do regret that those fish don't get to spawn but the real reason I posted this is,I just don't understand how keeping snagged fish and puttin your mug on the internet can give you any since of accomplishment?


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

My belief is the females bite, just alot lighter. I'll toot my horn a little bit here. I have a real good "feel" for the bite down there. Every year I catch maybe upwards of a dozen legal females. I think most guys lose females in heavier current or just don't feel the hit. One thing I think is that the females don't come in as spread out as the males. I think you get a few concentrated pushes of females and that's it. They are all business and don't waste time getting where they want to go.


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## revpilot (Feb 10, 2009)

Redhunter1012 said:


> My belief is the females bite, just alot lighter. I'll toot my horn a little bit here. I have a real good "feel" for the bite down there. Every year I catch maybe upwards of a dozen legal females. I think most guys lose females in heavier current or just don't feel the hit. One thing I think is that the females don't come in as spread out as the males. I think you get a few concentrated pushes of females and that's it. They are all business and don't waste time getting where they want to go.


What kind of equipment are you using  a dozen legal females every year ?


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## Scum_Frog (Apr 3, 2009)

In my eyes it doesnt matter if your pulling females out now or during the rest of the year.....either way a kept female is one less female spawning....weather its now or 6 months from now.....who cares.....15" plus is getting fillet'd.


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## BornWithGills (Feb 26, 2006)

A lot of things contribute in my opinion: where you fish being a big one, what kind of tackle etc, but when i see a picture on maumee tackle of two guys with 8 fish and six of them are big hens my first thought is snagging. This is my first year back on the run in a few years but the last year i fished it hard i caught 186 fish and only 1 of them was a female. Although if I recall I've fished next to redhunter and he is a hell of a fisherman. Good luck all:B


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I will agree on one point that was brought up,current.The places I usually fish have heavy current and keeping big fish hooked up is pretty tough to do.I use the medium round head floaters and I lose a lot of fish when they come to the top open their mouths then,pop.Usually about a foot before I can get a net under them,a lot of them don't even get that close but I can feel them shakin theirhead.


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## Tailchaser (Feb 5, 2009)

With all the years that I fished the rivers, I believe most bites are aggression. We are invading there territory & with all those fish in a given area. They might get a little pi**ed. They are there to check out the real estate, do there duty, & scram back to there native & feeding waters. It's just another cycle like the salmon, but walleyes return & live a lot longer. Some of course become permanent resident fish. I haven't fish the river in 2 years, but, might go down for a cast or 2. I always enjoyed the river, respected it, & had a lot of fun. If everybody uses a little common sense, there is room for everybody. Good luck & be safe !!! Don.


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

revpilot said:


> What kind of equipment are you using  a dozen legal females every year ?


Same equipment as most. Just really, I believe it's about the feel. I'm not saying I keep a dozen. I almost always let them go. I might keep 1 a year at best. Too messy to clean. I'd bet alot of the guys that fish everyday and pull limits everyday get the same results, maybe more.


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## The Producer (Nov 5, 2009)

heres my 2 cents. every living thing has to eat to survive. while spawning is
their main focus, they still gotta eat. there are so many factors in the
equation. current, egg development, forage, weather,barametric pressure, 
bottom contour, leader length, jig size, weight just to name a few. 


egg development plays a big role though. the bigger they are the less room
that fish has inside it. the barametric pressure increases or decreases the 
pressure in the river because it effects shallow water. a fully stuffed female
with high pressure prolly won't bite just out of pure discomfort.


current, bottom contour, leader length, weight, and jig size can effect the 
catch ratio. those fish breath the jigs in sometimes. just to prove this to 
a buddy i used a bare jig hook (that the foam came off of) and sucessfully
hooked 2 fish inside out in the mouth (both released). we had limited and i 
wanted to prove a point to him. there is no way in that chocolate milk river
that they seen a bare hook and ate it. small jigs fit in the little gap when
they breathe very nicely. weight slows the rig down to give them enough 
time to let this happen. usually in my experience, when we catch jacks 
they like a certain speed. so do the females, always slower than the males though.
current and bottom contour directly effect leader length.heavy current usually 
makes me use longer ones to stay out of the snags and in light current shorter
ones are the ticket. the longer the leader the more surface the water can grab
and it floats higher and viseversa.

forage goes without saying, no food means hungry fish and tons means full
fish.


now with all that said i catch about 6 legit females a year in a low water
level spawning season and around 8-12 in a high water spawning season.
all except one I released. every year is different so the numbers are never 
the same. some guys are just plain lucky and will catch them. but when all 
the factors are just right and all the stars align, LOOK OUT! lol


I am not a pro so dont take any of this to the bank. these are just my
experences. I 100 % agree that most are snagged. happens all the time.
also agree about satifaction part as well. hunger makes people do crazy
things and dumb ones will always do dumb things.

thanks for reading!


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I fished from 8- 10 a.m. caught six on Chartruese and hot pink.the fishing was pretty good but not as good as Friday.I fished the same spot and the water is a little too low.No hens today either,very nice sized jacks though.


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## CAPSPIKE (Mar 21, 2011)

Lets put the hens back. I concur with rutnut245. And good luck


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## AvianHunter (Jan 23, 2009)

If you fish the river enough and you use floaters odds are eventually you are gonna hit a female in the mouth. Nobody in this world will ever convince me that she "hit" the floater though. Your floater hit her. Period.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

But us Saugeye guys catch them PIG egg-laden females on Husky jerks year after year in March...And let me tell you they CRUSH it! I can't imagine Female Walleye's are _that_ much different then female Saugeye's


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## DeathFromAbove (Oct 21, 2008)

I don't remember catching a hen since i switched to floaters. See a guy with some, check his rig. I bet most are slinging lead. I don't snag many fish anymore either. And I'll bet the DNR doesn't pay as much attention to us floater guys as they do jig head fisherman.


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## DeathFromAbove (Oct 21, 2008)

acklac7 said:


> But us Saugeye guys catch them PIG egg-laden females on Husky jerks year after year in March...And let me tell you they CRUSH it! I can't imagine Female Walleye's are _that_ much different then female Saugeye's


Used to pound them in March through the ice off Crane Creek,too. I think once they hit the river they're there to do their business and scoot. They don't feed much, and once they dump, they scoot. The jacks hang around. You'll catch spawned out fish in the lake but generally not in the river.


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## thistubesforu (Mar 30, 2009)

just wanted to add this fact. there is just not as many females as there is males entering the rivers. could be why the catch rates are less, now im not saying that no snagged fish are kept because ive seen it. males females it doesnt matter snaggers are snaggers, at the same time dont rag on someone who might of had the best walleye fishing day of there life.


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## HOCKEY (Jan 27, 2008)

I also have fished the maumee for over 40 years, but have to disagree, I have caught and relesed maney legal females over the years, with the biggest over 13 lbs, when the fish are porposing if you go light sinker with small double tail, dark 
black, dark black with green or dark purple tails you will catch the females legal, a 5/16 jig works great also, slow quite water is best or near and expose rock bar have work the best, but we always let go all females, a picture at best and back in she goes.


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

acklac is right though which is interesting ive even caught big saugeyes that were soft on husky jerks and they do smash it but im wondering if in the run there is anything to downsizing the jigs? i dont know just a thought ive seen guys fishing carolina rigged tiny hair jigs with massive hens on the dusky


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## The Producer (Nov 5, 2009)

HOCKEY said:


> I also have fished the maumee for over 40 years, but have to disagree, I have caught and relesed maney legal females over the years, with the biggest over 13 lbs, when the fish are porposing if you go light sinker with small double tail, dark
> black, dark black with green or dark purple tails you will catch the females legal, a 5/16 jig works great also, slow quite water is best or near and expose rock bar have work the best, but we always let go all females, a picture at best and back in she goes.


Hit that nail right on the head. porposing days are phenomenal. sometimes 4 of the 6 that particular season were on those days.my girlfriend wont let me keep any females because the eating regs. I dont keep them anymore because fish that big have been in an ecosystem for along time. if there are any toxins, heavy metals, pcb's,ect.ect they are in those fish. smaller jacks have less time in the system making them my targets.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

The fish aren't thick in the river by any stretch of the imagination.So far I've only landed about 30-35 biters and 6 that were foul hooked.I normally fish rock bars and the fish have been rolling on the bars since last Fri.I still have yet to land a hen,foul hooked or fair.

With the temps dropping I expect the bite might slow down a bit.That doesn't affect steelhead,so after today I'm gonna break out the center pin and hit The V for a couple days of steel.I KNOW those big girls bite.


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

AvianHunter said:


> If you fish the river enough and you use floaters odds are eventually you are gonna hit a female in the mouth. Nobody in this world will ever convince me that she "hit" the floater though. Your floater hit her. Period.


Well thank you Dr. Aquatic. Until you video your azz underwater in a scuba outfit showing me my jig hits every legal female in the face and that she didn't reactively swipe at that jig, then you'll never convince me that I didn't get her to bite. Now, was she was biting to eat or just biting reactively? I don't really care. But know it alls like you that that probably rarely fish the river cuz you lack the sack, skill, or toughness but come on here spewing uninformed opinions are what gives most outsiders the opinion that it's a snagfest down there. I damn near fish there every day during the run and can honestly say it's pretty rare to see someone blatantly snagging down there anymore. It's just too easy to get them legal with the floaters


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## AvianHunter (Jan 23, 2009)

Ok. I haven't lived less than 20 minutes away from all access sites on the river my entire 34 years of live of which I've been fishing 21 in the river. You have your opinion and I have mine but don't try to say it is because I haven't put my time in down there. Until somebody has an underwater camera showing a female bite I'm sticking to my guns. If they don't bite on the lake why would they bite on the river while spawning? Ice fishing is the best time of the year for a trophy fish because they are putting on a pre-spawn binge in preparation for shutting down somewhat if not completely. Male deer don't worry about feeding during breeding season...it's not out of the ordinary for animals to focus on the next generation and neglect themselves in the process. The day I see video of a female inhaling a jig in the river or see or hear of a female getting caught legally on the bay or reefs I would gladly man up and say I was wrong.


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## sunrise-limit (Dec 1, 2010)

i have been catchin a good number of jacks. but some females do come up. i never keep them no matter how big. more people should practice throwin females back. they are the ones that will keep the fish coming back for future generations.


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

rutnut245 said:


> :
> 
> how much sastisfaction could you get from that?That would be like mounting a big buck you found dead or hit with a car.
> 
> .


If i hit a 200+ buck with my car, a euro mount would definately go up on the wall. If he totals my car, I'm gonna stare at his rack on my wall for the rest of my life


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## juicebox (Apr 22, 2008)

avianhunter, females do bite in the lake during the spawn. most people fish the reefs, which are loaded with males. some of us troll during this same period adjacent to the reefs in deeper water, this is where the females are. you catch them prespawn and postspawn. i've heard the females come unto the reefs at night to drop their eggs.


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## AvianHunter (Jan 23, 2009)

juicebox said:


> avianhunter, females do bite in the lake during the spawn. most people fish the reefs, which are loaded with males. some of us troll during this same period adjacent to the reefs in deeper water, this is where the females are. you catch them prespawn and postspawn. i've heard the females come unto the reefs at night to drop their eggs.


I understand there are females that are caught trolling and have caught a few myself but they have never been in water that coincides directly with the adjacent reefs. The water temps are usually a few degrees behind what the reefs are due to depth and usually a bit further out. They are normally also suspended higher up the water column too. My amateur opinion (yes it is an opinion guys) is that those females are still not in spawn mode. I really believe when they go into spawn mode they get into a trance much like a turtle does and nothing outside of their task at hand matters to them up to and including feeding. 
....guess it's time to buy scuba gear and an underwater camera


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

You got me there I SHOCK EM.
I really don't give a hoot about people keepin the hens.No matter when you take them,you're still removeing the big breeders from the population.If you're catchin them legal,do with them what you want.String em up or throw em back.

The point I was tryin to make is,I have a hard time believin a stringer full of hens were taken legally.I'm not saying it can't be done,but I've never done it,not legally anyhow,and I'm down there almost everyday.Sure,I've foul hooked a boatload of them over the years.Out of 20+ fish I landed today,none were hens.But at the same time I lost some very big fish that came unbuttoned in the current,who knows?


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## midoh39 (May 8, 2005)

I dont really know if there is any difference but 3 years ago I was on the Detriot River and we legally caught 3 females, we were vertical jigging and they actually did thump it. The guide we went with said hes lucky to even see one a trip. We released them, and we have a picture of the biggest one. Must've just been one of those days. As far as the Maumee I have only seen 1 legal female caught in the six years Ive been there, and seen a few snagged.


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## BFG (Mar 29, 2006)

I honestly think catching a female in the river is 100% pure luck. One evening last year, in late April...I was with two friends on the island and for some stupid reason, we got into a mess of females. I believe between the three of us we landed 8 in two hours. Some had already dumped their eggs, some were dumping as we were handling them, some were hard as a rock. All went back...no worries. 

I've fished that river for over 20 years and I can count on one hand the number of legal females that I've caught. I did catch and kill a 3# female a couple years back and still kick myself in the butt for not checking before I bled her out. 

Mother Nature has a weird way of supporting wildlife populations....there seem to always be more males than females. This is by design of course..so the female has a great chance of propogating the species by having so many suitors from which to choose/share time. I've watched walleyes spawn on the Fox River camera and it is not uncommon to see 10-20 males around one female dropping eggs. 

Females are a rarity, and should be handled with care at all times in my opinion. There really aren't that many of them around in comparison to the jack population. Having said that, I would NEVER deny someone the pride and excitement that comes from catching and keeping a true trophy. I recall a few years back in the tourney a boat in front of us had 2 adults and a kid, and sometime in mid-morning the kid hooked up a fish. As he fought it, the fish surfaced in front of our boat, and it was a dandy...legally hooked. 

They landed that fish and that kid went absolutely BONKERS. I bet they took 40 pictures of him and that fish, and you bet your butt they stringered her. He told everybody that could hear him..."I'm getting that mounted!!" 

Rewind about 8 years and I stood beside a young man at Fort Meigs one night who was casting leadheads BEHIND the line into the slack water. He snagged his 4 (all females) then proceeded to go onshore and get interviewed by a local television station. I wanted to get after him a bit, but I didn't want to look like the bad guy with the crowd around him. 

Ahh well..to each his own. It's a great resource and the river fishing really only lasts about 6 weeks every year. Enjoy them while they are here, and enjoy yourself down at the river.


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## die4irish (Jun 8, 2004)

AvianHunter said:


> If you fish the river enough and you use floaters odds are eventually you are gonna hit a female in the mouth. Nobody in this world will ever convince me that she "hit" the floater though. Your floater hit her. Period.


Female salmon once they enter the river to spawn don't eat either since the are going to die, But I have caught many females LEGALLY up at tippy damm. They will hit a lure if you float it right in front of them out of instinct.

A couple of years ago I caught and released 4 big hens that were resting in the slack water behind a big rock. I don't think they were biting out of hunger but just either instinct or irritation


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

Like others have said I have witnessed a "female bite", I mean where you are catching 2+ females to every jack. Its rare and I have only seen it happen twice in many years. It really goes agianst everything you see most of the run. Other than those strange times when the females ALL want to bite I have caught maybe a handful of legal females over the years. I do however see a number of legal females that are true trophies legally caught every year. 

To hit the right spot, on the right day, at the right time, I could see someone pulling a legal limit of females, I have seen it happen. About as rare as unicorns but possible. To see some of the same folks pictured on a tackle website year after year and maybe a couple of times in one season with a "legal" limit of females, I am with rutnut, BS!!


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

You can tell its almost spring. The debate has turned from ice rescues and safety to stocking lake Erie and the TAC, to the same old river debates. 

Maybe I have been on here too long, you can almost set your watch to when each debate is going to start. lol


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

swantucky said:


> You can tell its almost spring. The debate has turned from ice rescues and safety to stocking lake Erie and the TAC, to the same old river debates.
> 
> Maybe I have been on here too long, you can almost set your watch to when each debate is going to start. lol


Couldn't help it Swanny,someone had to do it and I was bored.How did you do Ice fishin by the way?Once we got out on this end we lit'em up.I only had 2 good days at the islands.A friend and I are in the middle of an airboat project right now.More fishing than work being done tho.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I fish almost everyday in one river or another,usually Maumee,except during the cold snap when the water was low,I fished for steelhead and crappie instead.Anyhow,I've landed literally well over a hundred and still haven't landed a female,fair or foul hooked.I'm sure some of the ones that straightened out the hook in the heavy current were hens but I never seen them.The last couple of days have been a blast.


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## anglermama (Mar 12, 2010)

I got one female legally two nights ago! Thought I had on a small jack and as I was getting ready to throw it back realized he had eggs...not the white stuff! LOL


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## robert44ht5 (Mar 2, 2009)

I landed a huge female last night up at Jerome. The fella next to me took one that was close to 11lb...I bet 30"


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## Gern186 (Feb 2, 2010)

I got a monster female today also, only the 4th one I have ever caught in the mouth in the last 20 years.....


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## BornWithGills (Feb 26, 2006)

Saying everything has to eat is not a legit argument...I spend about 5 months out of the yr in alaska and salmon don't eat in the river. It's all about the sex.


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## NLC25 (Jan 21, 2008)

BornWithGills said:


> Saying everything has to eat is not a legit argument...I spend about 5 months out of the yr in alaska and salmon don't eat in the river. It's all about the sex.


The salmon also die after they spawn...the walleye don't. Also, I know the reds don't eat...but the kings and silvers sure do. I've caught both in Alaska on lures during the run.


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## rutnut245 (Jan 18, 2009)

I finally landed a big female today,but it was foul hooked below the eye.Measured it at 29"before I released it.I did catch some big jacks today,another awesome morning on the river.

BORNWITHGILLS,your wrong about salmon.I go to Mi.salmon fishing for 2 weeks every year and I can tell you with absolute certainty they bite.I prefer to use skein under a bobber but they also hit hardware.


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

Looking back over this thread for whatever reason got me thinking. The Producer made a great point in that the females like a slower and different presentation that the more active jacks. 

Most guys that fish alot(4-7 days a week) use the techniques that catch the most fish the in least amount of time right?? I know I do, hell if you fish every day you need to keep it interesting, how quick, how few casts, whatever. It really does not matter where you fish you "work the water" until you find the right pocket and then its easy. Fishing this way fills your limit and outside of those "wierd days" when the females are on, you might catch a 1 female 50 males.

BUT, here is something for you hardcore guys to ponder. How many times have you seen a young kid(my son did it at 7 his first time down) or somebody completely clueless catch a single fish which happens to be a legal female?? While everyone around them is killing the jacks. IMO its because they are doing something different than most everyone else. Too much weight, letting their rig drift FOREVER, casting 5' in front of them, or whatever other silly thing you see down there. Maybe I'm nuts but thinking back I sure remember alot of times thinking "oh God this fella is lost, I hope he catches a fish but does not drown himself in the process or get his azz kicked for not paying attention and tangling with those 4 ******** every third cast". Next thing you know he is not sure if he has a snag or a fish, by some miricle the fish is landed and sure enough its a big female.


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## ImpalaSSpeed96 (Apr 4, 2011)

I would have agreed w/ your post before today swantucky. I caught two legals yesterday, and I have no clue what i'm doing... First year doing it. But ol rutnut ate his words today... Caught three legal hens while fishing w/ him today bwahahahaha! I guess I was the lucky charm!


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## ostbucks98 (Apr 14, 2004)

My theory is all of us who know how to catch fish know we have to keep in contact with the bottom. we see jacks rooting females to the surface all the time and females rolling all over. So i think if you could see a freeze frame and cross section view of the river with no water. I think you would see most the jacks hugging the bottom with the females just above. So guys who just cast and reel back in may have their lure around the females zone.


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