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| Last year I spent a considerable amount of time fishing off of docks. I would literally spend hours on end fishing from the same 2 docks at a boat launch. More than once I had a really hot fish come in on a bait after I had been there for hours tossing baits in the same general area.
My question is, are these fish moving quite a bit when they decide to feed? This seems to be a contradiction to the idea that fish sit in one really good area and wait to ambush their food. Was it a change of baits that would trigger these fish into being aggressive after hours of baits flying over their heads? Was it a feeding window that opened up? Is it the fact that these fish seem to like to mess with my head?
My second thought was, would it be better to find one really good “fishy looking area” and stay on it all day or is it better to “run and gun”? I understand that this is a very general question, but I am kind of thinking out loud. I remember reading an article where the author suggested doing this, especially during tournaments. If they raised fish in an area they would literally sit and fish it for the rest of the day.
Say that all the stars line up and it looks like a day where the fish should just jump in the boat. It is a new moon, a front is going to come through, etc. etc. You fish for a few hours and don’t see anything. Would it be good to go to one of your historically good areas, drop anchor, and fish that spot for the rest of the day? Or should you continue to move around and look for fish?
Is it possible to “call” these fish in? If you stay in one area and make a commotion for awhile, throwing a bunch of different baits, will the fish come to you? Do they “hear” it like a coyote would and come in for the easy meal?
Or are all of these thoughts a product of the huge slump I am in and me thinking too much?
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Posts: 159
Location: Stevens Point, WI | 1. You should get a boat. 2. I've wondered the same thing. Often times I've had a similar experience with a fish after hours of casting- just when it gets so monotonous and mindless that i forget a figure 8 or am not paying attention to the wake that just came up behind my lure. It seems that something triggers the fish, because some of the fish i've seen do this are not cruising because they simply don't have room to cruise where i was fshing. When i'm in a spot like that often times i'll throw big baits for 45 minutes, then fish for walleyes or bass for half an hour, then muskies for half an hour, then walleyes, then muskies, and on and on. It seems the positions of the moon, sun, the daylight, fronts, or something else will trigger fish into biting at some point each day and you can go quickly from not seeing a fish for 5 hours to 2 or 3 or 8 fish in the boat like i did last week in a matter of minutes. | |
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Posts: 431
| I would say keep moving to different spots, but come come back to some spots periodically. I'll fish through a spot a couple of times with different presentations, but I won't camp on it. when I'm on LOTW there are some spots that I will fish over and over and over again throughout the week. I'm just not one to sit on a spot for hours. I lose confidence and feel like I'm wasting time. you might have encountered a window that changed the game. It happens, and when it does good things follow. Also, a lot of fish do move around, especially when following schools of shad or other schooling fish. | |
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Posts: 1287
Location: WI | I've shore fished a lot and sometimes I think it has to do with how big the water is, time of day (water temps), or season.
If you're in an area with say, a dam then you could probably fish there for hours on end and anything could happen. If it's just a little back bay, then it'll probably be hit or miss, or seasonal (spring).
I went through one of my spots with someone else this year and I used the old stand-by that always works for pike..and got zero. This other guy came in with something different and had tons of action. Switching up your presentation is a good idea for shore fishing.
For muskies idk, I've only ever caught one from shore but I have had strikes and follows a few times.
I will stay in an area while boat fishing, but not right on a single spot. If you can get a short milk run of spots for shore fishing that might help out. Maybe go back to the spots a few times and use diff baits each time.
Or you could try and find someone to fish with on this site that has a boat.
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Posts: 1168
| I know a pair of guys who will tuck themselves into a small bay and make slow laps around it and that's all they do. Takes them 8 hours to make 5 and a half laps on it with the trolling motor set on the lowest setting. They catch some very nice fish. Theory is that a window will open up sooner or later, so they'd rather be where they know fish are than running around thousands upon thousands of acres.
A very successful shore fisherman I know will spend up to 4 hours in one spot casting at the same landmark on the opposite shore with the same bait. Consistently he comes up with multiple fish days. Again, sooner or later a window opens up and he is on them when it happens.
If it's fishing league, tournament, or an outing, myself and my partners consistently move more fish if we simply stick to less acres of water but fish it better, more extensively. There's a time to explore water and a time to simply hunker down and wait. Nothing wrong with standing in the same spot or two for a couple hours on end making numerous casts at the same rock, log, brushpile, etc. Sooner or later that window will come open. | |
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Posts: 271
Location: davis,IL | Run and gun is the correct approach, remember your looking for active fish. If they are not active on the spot where you are camped out, why waste your time and educate them on your selection of lures. As to are they mobile, yes, some more than others. Open water fish will move with the baitfish around a given body of water. The ones that haunt a cetain spot are probably in the general area laying low, in a negative mood waiting for a change in conditions (wind shift, low light,etc.) that will give them an advantage. The idea of run and gun is that generally speaking the fish are not all doing the same thing at the same time, so your looking for that fish that is in a more positive mood. Plus conditions are usually somewhat different from spot to spot.
Edited by muskydope 7/6/2008 7:06 PM
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | Knowing the lake you are speaking of and its limited shore access you don't have alot of choices. The docks and area you cast from are good, theres ben multiple fish caught and seen in that area already this season. ( I lost 1 out from the dock on the break) You also saw what can happen by working an area over several times. I had 1 last Monday night follow 2 times on the 8, dissapeared then 10 minutes later same fish same spot same lure totaly came out of the water boatside and missed my bait on the 8 ( and scared the crap out of me) We will go back on fish as well as camp on spots so to speak if we have a feeling. Most days its move around, check known spots and hit a few new ones. You were fortunate to be 1 of the first with me on a new to us spot and even though nothing was landed we know now a new spot to hit. I get to watch these fish all winter and I belive they stay in a somewhat general area but cruiz their territory. I have also seen mulitiple fish come on the same cast to opposite sides of the boat. I know of 1 fish we see on a somewhat regular basis in the winter that we have never seen during softwater, where she hides is still a mystery to us but we keep working that bay in hopes someday of getting her to show herself or possibly eat. | |
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Muskies a mobile predator?