Monday, January 31, 2011

Fishing the Porcupine Fish Attractor

Well for the past couple of days I have been assembling Porcupine fish attractors. For those of you have never heard of this contraption, it is a fish attracting magnet. For those of you who know of its capabilities then you can relate to its ability to attract and hold fish in the particular area you have placed the attractor. I have been using them for the past three years and have had great success catching everything from the big crappie you have seen on some of my post to bluegills and of course bass. You can fish off of it year round and with practically any fishing rig. My brother and I fish them in the hot summer months for monster crappie, bluegill and bass. The main fishing rig in the summer time is the crappie 11ft. long rod, with a tube or buck tail jig. Why the crappie pole, the fish are holding tight in the attractor so you need to keep the lure in the strike zone for longer periods of time and this is the perfect rig for that application. Another good time to fish the attractor is in the dead of the winter, and again the long crappie rod is the perfect setup. The fish are not going to move much to attack the lure so patience is the key for the hit. Fall is great because you can fish faster using the micro light rigs using curly tail jigs tipped with crappie nibblets. The nibblet is a must for all crappie fishing when near the attractors. It just adds that extra bump you may get on that slow day. Spring is the least desirable time to fish the attractors because most of your fish are in the spawning mode and have moved out of deep water to shallower water to spawn. I am not saying you can’t catch fish at this time of the year on the attractors but it is much slower.

This is the 6 1/2 ft. version, I like this size better than any size I have worked with. There are 26 holes you will need to fill with your PVC pipe, but as you can see it makes for a cozy place for fish to take up residence. Check out the footage in this video to see the results.
The last accessory you need but not an absolute must is the color selector. This unit is perfect on those days when the fish is in a finicky mood. Once you have fish a lake for a while you can gauge what color the fish want most of time. I do know that on those off days the color selector has turned a slow day into a productive one for me.
 The attractors can be pricy, so if you know anything about me when it comes to purchasing fishing equipment, you know I am in for the bargain. Amazon sells the complete unit with the green ball or sphere and the ¾” PVC pipes at 55.00 a unit with shipping. I have found it is best to buy the sphere ball from Mack's Prairie Wings, with free shipping. Buy your PVC pipe at a place like Marvin’s and the whole unit will run you about 18.00. For 18.00 you are getting an attractor 6 ½ ft. in dia or any size you want to make it. I have found the 6 ½ ft. to be the very best size to deal with for me and at the same time will cover a good area in the water column. This price is much better for my budget. As for placement that is left up to the individual, but you want to be sure and place them far enough away from the bank that your average bank fisherman on the bank and in a boat will not find them easily. All the units I have placed are in deeper water far away from the bank. I do know with some of the advance depth finders out on the market they stand a chance of them being found, but most of the time this is your bass fisherman who may be fishing with a worm or jig and has no interest in crappie or bluegill. Never put the units together on the water, always put them together on the bank and carry it out to your spot which, should already be marked with a marker. Always select a time of the day at daybreak or just before dark to drop the units that way hopefully no one will see what you are doing. The very best time to drop them is in the dead of the winter when no on is on the lake.
In closing the very best advantage in fishing the attractor, is the lifetime fishing one will get from it. You your kids, their kids and so on can fish them for as long as there is water in the lake. I will be putting three out on Wednesday of this week; with the air temps in the lower 40’s hopefully no one will see what we are doing that day. I will be doing some more posts on their progress. By the way I am getting no cut in sales of this product for this post, it is something I just want to share with you guys.

10 comments:

  1. Top secret fishing operation. Sounds like fun. What is the state policy on putting these things in public lakes?

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  2. Bill, comon is this a joke? If so, well I must admit, you got me.

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  3. Josh
    100% Truth---Some of the largest crappie I have ever caught was caught off the attractor. Not crappie, but I have caught some 3 lb. largemouth, and 14 oz. bluegill. Moss grows on the pipes and that is what attracts the tiny bluegills, which the crappie and bass feed off of. I only wish I had been the one who thought of this thing back 5 years ago, and I may not have to be on a fixed income today. Bill Dance bought the patent from the guy who invented the attractor, and the rest is history so to speak for Dance.

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  4. Jay
    None that I know of. They have been put in Smith Lake. The lake in Mississippi, Legion, has 10 with the 3 I will be putting in on Wednesday. That is where I tried the first ones out 3 years ago. My brother and I have been catching monster crappie off of them since then--not to mention the bass and bluegill. I have not put any in Smith but after seeing the reults in Legion I will start to put some in place to fish next summer. They do work.

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  5. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this! Holy attractor!

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  6. Damsel
    I am going to try the fly rod out on some of attractors this summer. Slowing drifting a bugger over the top or just let it sink. Should be really productive. Thanks for the comment

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  7. Actually Bill, Larry Harper invented the attractor and paid Dance about $50k per year for the first 5 years to use his name. Larry is a good friend of mine and last year finally decided he didn't need to use Dance's name anymore now that he has the porcupines in Bass Pro, Cabela's, and just about every other major outdoor store.

    They are no joke, we install thousands of them into lakes for private individuals as well as government habitat projects.

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  8. Bill I passed an award your way...it's in may latest blog post...adventures-with-dad.com

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  9. Dennis
    Just read your post---congrats on your award ---thanks for remembering my blog as one of the 15. I will be doing a post on my seven listings in the next week. Keep a check on my blog.

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  10. Nate
    I am glad you made this comment. They do work and as I stated I have caught lots of fish off of them. Where exactly have you put some of the attractors? What is the smaller lake you have placed some? I never use the PVC that is sold with the ball, I have found as stated in my post that they work better for me if I can assemble my own size to accommodate the space I am trying to cover. I really like to fish them in the summer time. That is when they seem to produce the most fish for me. I know Dance didn’t come up with the attractor but I couldn’t think of the name of the guy who invented it, so thanks for sharing his name with us. I really enjoy your blog. I will be mentioning your blog in one of my upcoming post. Thanks again for sharing.

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