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| I have started to do a fair number of hours of trolling now that weather is getting cold, like lthis past Saturday with 30 mph gusts and snow. I was out yesterday and did a mixture of casting and trolling with no positive results but I did come up with a question. I was trolling along a shoreline where there is a sharp breakline and saw a couple big arcs on the sonar and a "shadow" on the side imaging. I was going to make another run through but as I was turning a couple hundred yards down the shore, a pair of walleye fisherman moved in. Later, after they left I did another pass and again saw a pair of big arcs but maybe 50 yards from where I first saw them.
Question is this: If you see what are pretty sure are fish but they don't hit on the first pass, does it pay to come back and if so, how long to wait? I did let out more line to run the lure a little deeper but that was the only change I made.
Have caught a couple muskies trolling so far and a couple decent pike but more importantly, I have learned a lot about the structure and bottom on the chain where I live. I found a couple cribs yesterday that are not where the maps show them but should be a good spot for crappies next spring. Any help, suggestions are appreciated. |
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Posts: 52
| Musky are musky and they will eat when they want. If you re around bait and fish I'd stay in those areas. Minors majors and when your lure is in the water. I just always try to fish in areas where they are fish and bait. They eventually have to eat. |
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Posts: 225
Location: Ontario, Canada | I'd try a 2nd pass at a different speed (likely higher). |
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Posts: 20219
Location: oswego, il | I would have made a few more passes for sure and change it up each time if you continued to troll. The colder the water though, i think you are better off going back on them with a slower casting presentation and suckers. |
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| ToddM - 10/23/2018 6:09 PM
I would have made a few more passes for sure and change it up each time if you continued to troll. The colder the water though, i think you are better off going back on them with a slower casting presentation and suckers.
Earlier in the day, I had been out casting and had a sucker under a big slip bobber. No action and while the sucker was very lively at first, after less than an hour it was barely alive. Not sure what was up, but for $8 that was a disappointment ;>). But, I like the idea of finding them while trolling and going back later casting. Kind of the opposite of what I did. ( I did consider going back through where I saw the arcs and casting rubber but wind had kicked up to gusts of around 30 and would have been a tough go)
Edited by North of 8 10/23/2018 6:34 PM
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | Definitely make more than one pass if you are marking big hooks that you think are muskies. If I mark fish that I believe are muskies and don't get them trolling through multiple times, I'll usually go back to the waypoints and cast at these fish. Usually rubber will get them to eat if I can't get them to eat the baits I'm trolling.
I actually use trolling passes to find fish to cast to at times as well. Mark them with a waypoint and go back and cast to them. |
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Posts: 416
Location: MN | Possible reasons they didn't bite:
- not muskies
- window not open
- bait not close enough
- bait within strike zone but wrong presentation
If you are fairly confident they are muskies or at least big pike, I think the last two reasons point toward taking at least one or two more passes through the area immediately, varying speed, depth, and location. If still no action, could be trolling isn't the right presentation, a feeding window isn't open, or maybe those particular fish aren't active enough today even during a window.
With no other information to go on, I would continue searching areas as similar as possible to this one, but revisit this location every 1-2 hours. That way there is a good chance you put baits in front of these fish when a window opens, but you also don't risk wasting your entire day trying to convince a couple of inactive muskies (or 20 lb carp!). If you find another area or two where you are marking fish, I would consider bouncing between them for the rest of the day, tweaking presentation and waiting for a window, but one spot with two unconfirmed marks on sonar is not enough to camp on IMO. |
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| Thanks for the suggestions. Was out today and ran into a similar situation after being on the water for a couple hours. The area is a point off a large flat. It has a lot of structure with humps, logs, rocks, a couple cribs. Most of the year it attracts walleye and crappie fishermen, with the musky more likely to be on the flat or on nearby weed edges. But today it looked like everything was there, from bait fish to crappies to big fish. Made a couple trolling passes and then went back and worked it hard for an hour with rubber. No luck but at least I felt like I had a plan. Earlier, right after I entered the lake, the only two other boats I saw today both spent a fair amount of time there. Both were casting and dragging a sucker. I think they must have seen something similar to what I saw because it was the only area either spent any real time on. They didn't have any luck, nor did I. Guess the fish weren't in the mood. But a gorgeous day on the water, not a cloud in sky, upper 40s, just enough breeze to ripple the water.
Other then realizing I had left my jaw spreader in the box I didn't bring when I was unhooking a pike that almost inhaled a Believer, it was a terrific day to be out. |
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