Eyeing the Corkie (Lil' Corky)

You have to think like a fish to catch one.

Timothy Kusherets

I think about it all the time. The hurry fishermen get into the closer to the river they get. For the most part you can see that many fishermen take the time to supply themselves with all the tackle they'll need for the trip; but you can't really see just how well they're prepared until fish are being hooked and landed. Eyeing the corkie, also known as Lil' Corky, is a step no drift-fisherman should overlook. It's an essential step in disguising the corkie to make it look as natural as possible. Steelhead and salmon will take the time to scrutinize each offering the clearer the water is which is why you hear about professionals using very small lures and baits when rivers and lakes are low and clear. They know that these fish will get extremely close when taking a look, and we're talking millimeters not inches. Eyeing a corkie is a great way to disguise the center of it. It involves placing a toothpick in the center of it and clipping the tip off as close to the corkie as you can get it without damaging the fishing line going through it. After the tip has been clipped it should be forced down into the corkie with the needle nose pliers used to clip it. Match the color of the corkie against a felt-tip marker and dot the toothpick until it looks like a solid dot. The finished product will simulate eggs that are eyed "fertilized" which garner a strike from either salmon or steelhead. Look, fish aren't that smart to begin with but they do no when something is wrong. Once they are put on alert it's hard to get them to bite for a few hours. Without a colored toothpick to hide the center of a corkie it looks hollow and a-typical from many positions. Frank Amato, publisher of Frank Amato Publications, and I were discussing the reasons for eyeing a corkie. He thought the whole idea was peculiar and asked if coloring a toothpick was going a little too far. I asked Frank if he believed that spooked fish would take closer look at offerings coming downstream when the river is running gin clear. He agreed that they would and I went on to tell him that as a corkie makes its way downstream the buoyancy of the corkie will cause the hook to float above the corkie. In almost all cases strikes will come from fish either in front of it or below it. Spooked fish will get within a couple of inches from it and take a look deciding whether or not to strike. If the fish perceives it to be an egg, especially one that isn't of its own species, it will take it into its mouth. However, if it looks anomalous fish will simply swim out of its way and let it pass on by. Fishermen have seen it happen exactly that way countless times and as long as the center of the corkie isn't eyed then it will continue to happen to most anglers. Frank seemed to take it in and agreed that eyeing the corkie was a very good idea. In my book I discuss the myriad of pressures that put fish "on the bite" and this is one of them. It works all the time. You have to think like a fish to catch a fish.
© Timothy Kusherets, 2004/08