Go for the Goby!
The new hottest bait to hit the shelves is…..the Round Goby. Yep, anglers are finding out that many of the game fish they seek are feeding actively on the relatively new goby population. We know smallmouth bass, walleye, pike and perch feed actively on gobies. Although there is very little research to show exactly what percentage of their diet is made up of the goby, we know when the chance is there, they seldom turn them down. Another significant thing that puts the goby in harms way, is the fact that they seem to like to hang around sport fish spawning areas to gobble up newly deposited eggs. When given the opportunity, most fish will reaction strike anything buzzing a spawning bed.
Just before heading to the Detroit River for the annual spring walleye run this year, I was fortunate enough to receive a press kit from Culprit Bait Company with their new Great Lakes Goby jig. I had never really gave much thought to why the now famous Wyandotte worm, or “the brown worm”, works so well in Detroit, but when I received these jigs, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It is because it mimics the Round Goby. So I thought I might have had an edge and called Damon Albers from Culprit and ordered a few more of them. Not only was I in fourth place after day one, but they worked every place I went to, especially on Lake Pepin in Red Wing Minnesota on the Mississippi River. Several of the fish that were harvested in practice, had their bellies full of gobies. Fish do not hesitate and I have had several of those rod jarring strikes that we all dream of on a goby presentation!
The Round Goby is an exotic invasive species brought to us in the ballast of freighters from the Black Sea and were dumped into the Great Lakes and connecting waters in the mid-1980’s. They average 3 to 6 inches and have powerful tails for their size, which enables them to live and feed in heavy current. They aren’t particular about depth and have been found as deep as 80 feet. Gobies have really acclimated to the Great Lakes waters, and it is now thought they may spawn up to 6 times per year. Gobies are benthic, or bottom dwellers. They do not have an air bladder. An important point to remember, it is illegal to possess or use a live goby as bait. After all, they are an invasive species, so there is no real way for wildlife officers to know if an angler happened to catch one on the last trolling pass, or brought them out from another lake. If you want to try them, use the imitators.
Several other companies’ are jumping on the goby bandwagon. As I mentioned earlier, Culprit has the Great Lakes Goby jig which comes in several colors. Culprit learned very early that spawning gobies turn many different colors, and since they spawn so many times, anglers need a variety. Poor Boy, Phat Goby from Spankem lures, and Yo-zuri also have goby jigs and cranks. I have not yet had the opportunity to run the other baits as they are all relatively new on the market, but you can bet I will be checking them out to see who the king of the goby is. After all, we all strive to match the hatch.
One thing has been pointed out clearly from anglers paying close attention to the average size of fish caught that have been eating gobies, they are bigger and fatter.
As we witnessed with the Zebra Mussel invasion, there are positives and negatives with all foreign species. We know Gobies gobble eggs voraciously. Certainly 6 spawns a year will keep them abundant in the waters they inhabit. All the more reason to Go for the Goby in your tackle box.
