To prevent the lure from
tangling when casting, stop the lure just before it hits the water by one of
these three methods:
1. When using a bait casting reel, stop the lure by thumbing the line.
2. When using an open face reel, close the bail by starting to reel.
3. When using a closed face reel, push the button in.
Due to inertia when casting, the head of the lure is facing away from you. By stopping the lure, it turns the lure around in the air. If the lure hits the water and is facing away from you, when you begin your retrieve the lure will turn into the line tangling itself, therefore you have made a wasted cast. This procedure can be done with any lure, not just a Radtke's Pike Minnow.
When trolling with a Radtke's
Pike Minnow, the method used to get the lure at the desired depth is as
follows:
Double the depth you want your lure to run and change it to yards
of line out. For example: If you are trolling and you want your
Radtke's Pike Minnow to run 15 feet deep, you need to have 30 yards of line out
for the lure to stay at 15 feet. This is because your line does not go in
a straight line from the tip of your rod to the bait. It goes down at an
angle for so far, then it flattens out and leads to your lure. In order
for your Radtke's Pike Minnow to maintain a depth, the lure needs to be out far
enough behind the boat to get to the section of line that flattens.
Keeping this in mind, now put your boat in motion and run the lure along the
side of the boat to make sure the action is just how you want it. Let the
line out slowly making sure the lure stays on the surface. Once you have
your 30 yards of line out, start letting the line out faster than the boat is
going, allowing the lure to sink. The Radtke's Pike Minnow sinks at a rate
of a foot per second. As you're letting line out count out 15 seconds.
This has allowed the lure to sink 15' down from the surface. Now, tighten
the line and your Radtke's Pike Minnow will run at 15'. Now get ready for
a great day of trolling with your Radtke's Pike Minnow.
If you're using a downrigger for trolling, the Radtke's Pike Minnow will trail directly behind the ball, making using the Radtke's Pike Minnow a snap!
