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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Lets say out of 10 fish that follow your bait to the boat, how many have you had to hit a figure-8? Has anyone had experience with a hot fish missing your lure and then tagging a nearby sucker? |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | There isn't really any percentage as far as I can tell. Some days it's many, some days none. I have seen the follow the lure hit the sucker happen, a couple of times. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | 8 production can really varies by lake choice too. There are certain waters that we rarely get fish to go on figure 8's, then some where they seem to really eat the 8 with consistancy. It pays to do at least a good l turn all the time as even on the waters where I never get them to grab the 8, a fish will come from seemingly nowhere to prove me wrong. The theory that fish in dark water being more prone to eating 8's is bunk in my book. The clear and somewhat clear systems seem to show more followers willing to eat 8's in my experience. I think that the fish can see us from further off and are not as spooked as in a dark system where they first see our ugly mugs for the first time when close to the boat(and they tear off like they've seen ghosts). Fish hitting suckers after following is something that happens enough to warrant having a sucker quite close to the boat. Quite often though, the fish will eat the sucker after a few minutes and not immediately. I am not sure if they are different fish, but very often we get follows, then within 2-3 minutes a hit on the sucker. Once in awhile it does grab it right away though.
Edited by Reef Hawg 10/4/2005 8:13 AM
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Posts: 2361
| The percentage of hits on the figure eight is pretty high for me, but the percentage of fish that follow and actually go into the eight with the bait, that percentage is very low. |
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| I fish mostly clearly lakes and my conversion % on the 8 is low (10%?), but I've still caught enough that way to keep me doing it on every cast. I've always felt that if I'm getting a lot of follows I'm doing something wrong. I try to make a lot of agressive moves before the bait gets to the boat. I want strikes, not follows. |
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Posts: 224
Location: Madison | Reef Hawg - 10/4/2005 8:11 AM
8 production can really varies by lake choice too. There are certain waters that we rarely get fish to go on figure 8's, then some where they seem to really eat the 8 with consistancy.
This has been my experience. Over 60% of my fish from a very clear Canadian shield lake have been taken on 8s. Dunno what it is about that lake, but the fish are very willing to go on the 8. Last month I had a 40" hit on what was probably the 35th or 40th time making the big oval. She watched that whole time, and eventually decided to go.
-d |
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Posts: 620
Location: Seymour, WI | My figure eight percentage has gotten better since fishing with 7 1/2 - 8 ft rods. The smoother, bigger, deeper you can make your eights the more fish that will go into the eight. Eight foot rods really help with making a big smooth oval. I try to move the lure away from me as it gets near the boat so I can make a very smooth transition to the eight. It seems to me that if the lure is coming in perpendicular to the boat and then makes a sharp turn, alot of fish will stop instead of following. But if you start your eight or oval before the lure gets to the boat, more fish are apt to keep following.
Grass, |
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