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Posts: 53
| After another weekend of more follows than bites I started thinking about what I am doing wrong. I mainly fish a river in depths of less than 15 ft deep. The visibility varies, but most of the time I would consider it to be pretty clear. This past weekend I could see the bottom in 8-10 fow. In order to keep the boat parallel with the shore I use a drag chain. It is a 10ft rope withe 6ft of heavy chain covered in thick plastic. The plastic is tight and makes a fairly quiet setup. I use this in addition to the trolling motor to allow more fishing and less boat management. I have been using these chains for about 15 years or so. In that time I have never seen any evidence the bass and walleye I was targeting could notice the rope. It does not appear to affect catch rates in those species.
I took up muskie fishing a couple of years ago. All fish can probably see/hear the rope. I wonder if muskie get spooked by it more than the other fish. I've always been of the believer that fish aren't intelligent enough to know what is natural and what isn't. Their brains are based on reacting to situations. Why else would a fish eat something like a fluorescent orange and black squirko or a firetiger bucktail?
I am going to stop using the chain to see if I notice a difference in hookups. Does, anyone use a setup like mine?
Edited by GFishes 10/24/2017 7:30 AM
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Location: Eastern Ontario | If muskies eat 4 foot behind the boat in the prop wash or 2 foot under the boat with a guy standing above them swishing a 9 foot stick in a figure 8 I cant see it being an issue. Maybe if it made a little more noise it would help. Muskies are stupid and they stink too.
Edited by horsehunter 10/24/2017 7:47 AM
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Posts: 1039
Location: North St. Paul, MN | Try a couple different 5 gallon buckets tied off with a shorter length of rope. Drill different size and amounts of holes to accommodate different drift speeds for each bucket. |
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Posts: 72
| ^^pretty much. if the fish are spooked by the rope, more than likely they are going to be nearly impossible to catch any ways. If they are going to eat your lure, they are going to eat your lure. I will say that clear, shallow, small rivers can be tough and will make you question the way you do things. Any way, the rope would be the last of my worries |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | I mostly fish rivers and have considered it when fishing solo, but haven't for these reasons:
1. Noise and debris, sound and sediment travels downstream so they are going to hear you and see you coming.
2. Snags, the rivers i fish are really snaggy so even a chain wrapped in a sock is going to hang up.
3. Fighting fish, they tend to spin the boat around and go all over the place, so I can't imagine one NOT getting wrapped in the rope.
Edited by Flambeauski 10/24/2017 8:36 AM
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Posts: 1828
| Another thing to consider - "more follows than bites" - that's normal musky fishing. You rarely get more strikes than follows.
But if you're seeing like 20 fish to every 1 strike, or have gone several trips with many follows and no bites, maybe something's wrong.
The drag chain sounds like the best way to slow yourself down in strong current, other than a trolling motor pointed upstream. Drift socks, buckets, etc. would only speed you up.
Have you measured the speed reduction? How much does it slow you down in, say, 2 mph current? |
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Posts: 20180
Location: oswego, il | I just use my trolling motor for boat control and keep a 30lb anchor next to me if i want to fish a spot and not drift. I keep a spare battery to swap out, 55lb trolling motor on a small boat will suffice but the battery may not last the day. What is fun is to hook up and fight the fish while putting the 30lb anchor in the water. Never had an issue with the fish getting into the rope, they are downstream from it 100% of the time.
Edited by ToddM 10/24/2017 9:21 AM
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | I have a similar set up except mine isn't covered in plastic. I have observed the same things. Bass and walleye no problem with all the clanking on rocks but when I use it for musky I have no luck. I now only use it for anchoring and just use the trolling motor to slow my drift down. I am fishing shallow, rocky stretches of the river. |
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Posts: 53
| I agree, the fish shouldn't be intelligent enough to notice. How can they even view the rope as a danger?
I would say the rope slows the boat by 1/2-1mph. The river has varied levels of gradient. An outboard jet is required in some stretches, but most of my target is outside river bends with lower gradient, van sized rocks and snags. The rope does a better of job of keeping the boat floating parallel to shore than it does slowing the drift. This allows the people in front and the back to have equal distance from the shore.
All this being said, think of all the incredibly minute variables fisherman try to control. Color, moon phases, gear ratios, flash, fisherman clothing, line color, lures with red hooks vs black etc.
I am going to try and just use the trolling motor for a while and see if I notice a difference. Couldn't hurt
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