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Posts: 462
Location: Madison Wi. Chain | The other post on new water got me thinking. I want to try to fish open water more this season. What do you look for when trying to target fish that are out in open water. Do you look for good structure and then move deeper out from the structure, baitfish, etc.? Any ideas on baits or techniques? How about in the springtime any unique features of fishing open water in the spring? Thanks BG |
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| both pieces you mentioned are a good starting point till you get comfortable fishing around nothing and start seeing some fish. you just have to go do it...i know that isn't the answer you were looking for but there is not that much to it especially early in the year. i would still fish the shallower stuff first on opener and the week or so after that (best odds in my opinion - still some nice females in the shallows) but then I would start sliding off of it and moving deeper. do not be shy to run your baits very high in the water column early in the year. 9 times out of 10 the fish will be in the top 10' and they are the "most" catchable when this is happening. as the summer progresses and the surface temps keep getting warmer and the lakes stratifies (assuming it is a lake that turns) you will see the fish starting to move deeper - finding the ideal water temp for themselves, and bait fish prefer cooler water, which is deeper.
this is what i have seen over the years on most lakes i fish. |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Sometimes it's a dead give away if you see baitfish in the open water ever breaking the surface, might not happen so much in the spring but as the water warms some evenings are really good over open water in mid-summer. High riding baits like bucktails and topwater have been successful in these situations. |
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Posts: 1245
Location: Madtown, WI | This is all well and good Big gun...but good luck on the mad-chain if you plan on casting the abysis.......trolling is the way to go here unforutunately ....there is SOOO much food out there....you can catch fish casting the abysis...but I suggest it is more effective on the cisco based lakes.
Now...DEEPER fishing on the madison chain...THAT is the route to investigate.... 
Cory
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | In the spring, especially to get confidence in open water fish, find your spawning areas, then fish just outside of them. You'll see baitfish that spawns in the spring staging just outside of those bays, plus muskies that are either pre or post spawn out there. If there is current in the area, even better. Another way to get confidence is to run the breakline of a spawning bay, but cast off of the Canadian side. It won't take long for you to get some confidence in it.
Like mentioned above, you don't have to worry about fishing your baits too far down either. Bucktails, minnowbaits etc will work early on. The biggest thing as mentioned in the first post is just do it. Lots of people say they are going to do it, but it's tough to break away from slinging at shallow weeds. |
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| tuffy1 I think you and I were separated at birth ha ha. About the only thing I'd add is that 'open water'----especially early in the year----does not always mean 'fishing over deep water.' It sure can sometimes, but open water to me can mean trolling baits in less than fifteen feet of water at the top ends of bays, off shallow beaches or weeds, big shoals etc. We still normally have baits parked only six to ten feet down in open water, whether it's twelve feet or sixty feet. The last two Openers we're gotten on the board trolling ten inch jntd Believers only about 25' behind the boat crossing big points, but staying in 40 FOW. If the new rocks and weeds closer inside don't work out, get out off them and do some drivin'. This is particularly good in the last hour or so of daylight after a warm and/or wet day. We rarely mark fish, just wait for the clicker to go off. In tighter to cover or shore, a big spinnerbait, Super Shad Rap or Outkast is just as good. Same lead lengths and depths. They are 100% catchable casting, but I'd rather beat an area in one hour rather than two hours. To me, trolling is just way more efficient in terms of time in: spots covered. Drifter-Maina's Finlander (purple-pearl-gold dorsal stripe) is one of our best patterns for colour, whether there are herring around or not. It's a good surface bait colour too. Good ole Firetiger, hot pink and perch work well sometimes too. I have total confidence fishing for anything way away from 'anything.' |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | A few things to add/reinforce from the other good posts.
Cisco/trout based lakes early in the year are your best bet generally for true open water fishing at the start of the season. The lakes with perch/sucker forage don’t start gearing up until about mid June in the Vilas area when the panfish have finished doing their spawning and have moved deeper. Right around the same time the suckers head out from the shallows to seek out cooler water also. Sure you can pick up suspended fish on perch/sucker based lakes early, but I think your best bet at this time is the cisco based lakes. You don’t have to fish shallow though on the perch/sucker based lakes. I have a lot of success fishing the deeper break at the start of the season.
I agree, keep your baits high! “Guest” outlined the fish movements pretty well.
Use larger baits. A lot of people have small baits stuck in their mind at the start of the season. Open water is not the place for the 6” and smaller baits. I start out the year throwing the typical summer stuff…Ernies, DDD’s, 8” & 10” Jakes, Big Joes, Ciscokids, etc… In fact the last couple of years the 10” baits have been better than the smaller baits the first week of June. You need a bait out in the abyss that will get the fish’s attention!
Structure – Early in the year just off of deep points and humps have been good. However, since the open water forage roams so must you. Soft bottom areas are good when hatches are occurring. The ciscos will school up in areas of soft bottom to eat the micro-organism that live there. Another good area is just off a deeper feeding flats in the 15-20’ area. Hit off the flat first, then slide up onto it. Also look for incoming creeks. Fish the deep water where the creek comes in. You don’t need to be right at the shore where it is coming in. The warmer water will pool up at the surface and out a ways from the creek.
Don’t forget the night bite early in the year for suspendos!
Like Tuffy1 said, just do it! Who wants to mess around with picking weeds off their line anyway! What he talks about for running outside of spawning grounds is good.
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | The "guest" post did a pretty good job...sounds like something I talk about in my seminars alot!!! Good info! |
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| sorry mike, didn't get it from one of your seminars...been doing it for many years.
jj  |
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Posts: 3867
| The structure out in open water is often the thermoclice. Last summer my kid and I boated around 30 walleyes that were 20-31" trolling homemade crawler/big minnow rigs 5' above the cline, staying 20-40 yards off the drops. Lots of forage out there, mostly larger gills. This was in a lake that's not suppose to have enough walleye worth fishing for. No muskies in this lake, we were determined to figure out a mid-summer walleye pattern.
Edited by Ranger 3/15/2008 3:57 AM
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spring and open water