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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | How do you guys decide whether to go back over a spot you just fished (let's say you didn't raise anything), or just move on and keep covering new water? Last year I caught several fish on a large bar that I had already fished at least once, and was on my second or even third pass. A lot of the times I never raised a fish on earlier passes, just nailed one out of the blue. Most of the times I re-fish water I just covered is right at the end of the day at prime time when I don't have time to effectively try a new spot. When you catch a fish in an area you just covered what are your opinions on what happened? Did that fish get hot all of a sudden, or just move into the area, etc?
How often will you refish old water during the day? Also somewhat related. When fishing large pieces of structure, say a weed covered bar that extends 1/2 mile into the lake and is 200 yards wide, how do you go about fishing it? Just run the weed edge, making some casts to the top, and call it good, or will you generally try to really pick it apart finding and high spots, turns, etc? Better off to be slow and thorough or move and really cover water? This is all preference, just curious to how you guys go about working a lake.
curleytail
Edited by curleytail 4/6/2007 12:24 PM
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | Wow, thats a whole lot of question to answer, this could turn into a small book! 
Refishing spots is all relative, some spots deserve extra attention others don't. It all depends on the weather conditions and time of year to me. In the summer when water is warm I tend to run and gun more looking for active fish, not as much repeat business on one spot. Under less than ideal conditions in the summer, read coldfront, I will do more camping and fish the snot out of areas I know have been holding fish previously. My way of thinking on this is to coax an otherwise unwilling fish into eating.
All of this changes with a big fish sighting, but even in prime conditions I am not going to camp on a big fish, I fear that sometimes overpressuring somewhat active fish pushes them off of the structure. I will let the fish sit for a period of time allowing it to set back up and probably return after an hour or two or of course at any environmental changes.
In the fall, I change tactics entirely. I tend to set up camp on a couple main areas in the fall and not leave. It is not uncommon for me to fish 2 spots in a ten hour day in the fall. My reasoning with this is, feeding windows in the fall are very small. I will camp on a small prime area to ensure my bait is available to the fish when that window opens. If the spot is good enough the fish will show up.
As far as fishing the described weed structure, my first pass would be on the weed edge with about half of my cast over the weeds, half the cast outside. This is generally the prime area for the fish to be set up on. If conditions are good and I am in run and gun mode I will leave the area and fish other likely spots. If I have fished most of the top notch spots and I am still struggling finding fish, I then may cover the area again a cast deeper than the first pass checking to see if the fish have suspended off the edge a bit. If that doesn't work, and I am obviously having a miserable day locating fish, I will go right up in the slop and try to dig them out.
Hope some of this rambling helps. | |
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Posts: 8777
| Is there a fish there? How likely is it someone else will be there if you leave and come back later? Have you seen/caught fish there in the past? Has there been a change in light, wind, or weather? Does the spot feel fishy?
(yah I know, explain THAT one, right?) | |
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Posts: 2089
| I know a guy who caught a really big fish last October on a spot that was fished 2X prior on that day. Hadn't seen a fish on it either. My philosophy is simple.Good spots are good spots."It's where they live".
A very important lesson learned this past season- Don't leave fish to find fish,at least where I hang out. I love questions like ..."is this a good spot", or ...."is this a BIG FISH spot"? I kinda snicker a bit because if they weren't, I/we wouldn't be fishin' 'em. I really think there are times/lakes/systems to run and gun and other situations to camp.There's a particular weedline on the Pond that was insane last year.A couple hundred yard stretch tops.1st pass, nothing.2nd pass, we see a 54, 50 a 48 and catch a 41 1/2.Next pass, nothing.Pass after that, raise 3 fish, all different fish.This carried on for 3-4 weeks.Not every day, but pretty close.Weather variables seemed to matter less, although when the wind pounded in, they ate more often.Is it June yet!!?? Steve
Edited by Steve Jonesi 4/6/2007 3:19 PM
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Posts: 686
Location: Tomahawk, Wisconsin | Go......... then come back later, the next day, the next week, as my bro said good spots is good spots.......... | |
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| I refish areas numerous times, especially if they are proven areas.
Even with no follows, if the area is large, I may have not made the right cast at the right time. Smaller spots I will hit and then let them rest and go back and hit them again. A follow or presense of food will take me back to spots, some times just changing the angle of attack or lure of choice.
I know of some smaller lakes where I have caught nice fish in the same spots time after time. I hit those spots every time that I fish those lakes based on past performance.
"You ask a question that only you can know the answer to, Grasshopper."
Some times it just feels right. The wind is right. The wave action or weather are just right. So I'll re-fish an area even without raising fish, and some times the 3rd, 4th or 5th time is the charm.
Do what the voice in your head tells you to do......as long as it's not something weird
Beav | |
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Posts: 170
| The photo I have attached to my name (whatever you call that area??) is a prime example of , "you just never know". I was fishing a great spot, in close proximity to "big" water and this area has produced in the past. I caught a beautiful 46"er and it was my last night at AML on Eagle, and as soon as she was released, we headed back for a fish fry and a few cold ones (and to pack up). After we were done eating, it's like, "you know, we never fished that rock hump complete...we headed back (about 2-3 huors later) to the same spot and started pitching. About the 5th cast, with the same bait, at nearly the identical tip off the rock, and walla, this fattie came up and ate right next to the boat. A VERY nice way to end a quick four day run to Canada!! Never saw her earlier...
If it looks good and it's a known good spot...you just never know! | |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I camp on spots all the time and actually I just wrote my summer Musky Hunter article about camping on spots.
Just because you didn't raise anything the first pass through doesn't mean much in my opinion.
I have spend hours and hours fishing the same small spot. If you know the fish are there, beat them to death and make 'em eat. | |
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| What an awesome story man, talk about ending with a bang! I agree with Jonesi, a good spot's a good spot. And not just in terms of times of day, but times of YEAR. Certain areas on trout water portions of Georgian Bay or the French Rivers are just good anytime, any season. Fish are on them in June and October. On that specific kind of water, I think the prime areas are that much more magnetic and important to fish. The majority of it is real deep/fast tapering, and the fertile, cherry spots are in shorter supply than some might think. It ALL looks like world record water, but the same groups of spots and areas are almost always at the top of the list year after year, and at differing times of the year. One month fish might be around the open water patches, another month they're right on the cabbage, but they never seem to wander too far out of those general areas. I can also attest to there being definite windows of action on this type of water like many have described so far. Tough stretches of days, even weeks can end with seeing and catching a variety of good fish (not just muskies) like someone flipped a switch, it really is amazing. Spot one, 21" smallie grabs a Suick, spot two, 38" pike, spot three, muskie in the net. When it rains it pours and when it's dry, she's dry. $0.0002 Cdn. | |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | I fish a few spots on different lakes that I also "beat to death and make 'em eat" as Mike has said.
There are a couple of spots that are 50x100yds that are known fish spots that I might spend a few hrs. on picking it apart with several different lures. After working this area "Hard" with no success I'll leave, only to come back again during prime time.
" Good spots are good spots " .........Thats a fact ........
Case in point: Last yr. Mn. Muskie Trail on Big V.
I was the very last boat to leave, I headed for a mid lake reef with a couple of Islands near by and when I got there a boat was already there, so I worked the south shore of one of the Islands.
I kept waiting for these guys to leave the reef but they camped on it for over 4hrs. As they were leaving another boat come in right behind them beating me to it. This 2nd. boat nailed a nice 48" fish only 20 minutes later.
Again, Good spots need to get pounded if you want to be successful.
Jerome
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Posts: 2068
Location: Appleton,WI | I have camped out alot and 95% of the time if you know the spot it will pay off.Weather and time of year will dictate weather or not to camp.But give it a try. | |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Thanks for the replies guys. I would say the spots I tended to go back over 2 or more times were proven fish spots. Keep going over those and generally something would happen, especially at prime time. The number of times I went over water, and then caught a fish on it after going back makes me wonder if you can ever fish a spot just once before moving on. Of course we never know, but what if going back would have resulted in one or more fish caught or raised? I guess this is a partial debate about run and gun or being thorough. Nobody can ever KNOW when to stay or leave, it just takes a lot of experience and then playing the odds.
curleytail | |
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Posts: 5874
| Alot of the decision depends on how well you know the water you are fishing. If it's my first trip, and I'm just learning the lake, it is doubtful that I will spend too much time on a spot. I'll pick it apart, but unlikley I'll return to it. I want to see what else the lake has to offer me. If I see a good fish, or two on a spot, that could sway my decision to return.
Now, on a body of water I know well, I may return to a particular spot several times in a day. I may spend what some consider an inordinate amount of time fishing a spot, or area. Look at what Howie does in the fall. We spent 8 hours on "a spot on the spot". I don't think the boat moved outside a 40' diameter the whole day. What happened? A double to start the day, and 3 other fish by noon. The last 4 hours we got nothing, but our anticipation never waned!
Edited by Shep 4/9/2007 1:25 PM
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| If I am moving fish on a spot why leave if they are worthy of a kodak moment?
I have taken some of the Hulbert camping technique he uses on the shad based lakes and applied to the lakes I fish in WI...it works...some who fished w/ me last year may have wondered why I kept refishing a 150 yard stretch of weeds or a few key rock points for example but if the fish are there, why move? get them to eat...
I think staying or going comes down to a gut feeling and comes with experience on the body of water...if you are feeling like you can get the fish you are seeing to go, why leave to find or even look...you may miss the feeding window looking for other fish...
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Posts: 1168
| I don't look at camping and refishing as the same thing. Sure you can camp on a spot and you are essentially refishing it, but refishing a spot doesn't mean you are camping on it.
Pointer and I were fishing a tourny last fall where we probably spent about 6 of the 8 hours refishing the same area over and over but we weren't camped on it. Just kept drifting over it from a different angle each time. Merckid and I did the same thing in June but I wouldn't say we were camped on it. Just kept sliding over it from different angles. No two approaches were the same. For me that approach has yielded some pretty solid results, but I still wouldn't say I was camping, just refishing.
Pointer was also with me during a league night where we were the best darn example of camping on a spot you'd ever see. Just sat in a distinct area for about 3 hours in a small bay casting away at the same patch of weeds. No real room to back off and take a different angle at it because it is such a small area. So we were camped and since we were there that long you could say it was refished.
In all three of those situations we knew there were fish present or using the area. My preference is to take another swing into that zone with an adjustment to boat position in order to give a different set of options in terms of cast angles and refish it but if quarters are as tight as the league example I'll camp. Common denominator is that there needs to be fish activity there or some well put together BST to create some confidence in doing such a thing.
Edited by ulbian 4/10/2007 2:43 PM
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| I think there's a big difference between camping on a spot, fishing a spot thoroughly, and returning to a spot later in the day.
To me, camping means staying in the same place, doing more or less the same thing and hoping that either a fish will move into the area or fish that are present but not showing with turn on. To me this approach can obviously work but is usually only something I consider strongly later in the fall.
On the other hand I often fish alone and it may take 2-4 passes over an area to assure I've fished in thoroughly - especially if I don't have an pattern established. For example, once with a buckail over the top of a structure, once with a crank along the edges, maybe a third time with a slow walk-the dog glider or topwater, and maybe a forth time to hit the adjacent deep water.
Finally if I'm returning to an area it's usually becasue time of day or conditions have changed. In that situation I'll usually throw tails, or some other fast presentation beacsue I'm hoping to find active fish.
The stay or go question usually come down to home much I trust that I know the current pattern. If I'm confident ina pattern I run and gun. If I'm clueless I'll choose 1-2 of my best areas and work 'em over real well.
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Refishing a spot. Should I stay or should I go?