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| This is one of many subjects I am going to talk about on fishing structure. I am going to talk about many spots on a lake and we can all discuss the best ways to fish them.
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This is a mid lake reef in Canada going north and south.
Hourglass shaped with cabbage and reeds in the middle.
There is a flat on the north end with mixed cabbage and rocks on it.
The south end is a drop off to 20ft.
Its Late July, partly cloudy and you have all day fish this spot. West wind blowing 15mph and dying down at dark.
1)When would you stop and fish it.
2)Where would you start and with what presentation. |
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| Approach from the west, with the nose of the boat into the wind, at the deep drop end, as the wind is perpendicular. Cast across the end, and work forward to the North, nose into the wind, casting the top and edge, then the breakline, then the deeper water in an arc ahead of the boat. Get to the North end, let the boat slip to the east, as the anglers in the boat cover the flat on the end of the reef. As the boat slips past the edge to the East, pull the nose around to compliment all the anglers in the boat, and cover that side.
Topwater in the nose, hair in the middle, and wood, probably a big Slammer or Suick, or Undertaker for the guy in the rear. As I approached the deep edge, my Creature rod may come in to play, also.
I would fish this at every activity period that day if I knew it held a fish of the quality I look for, or at least guessed it did. Dawn, morning minor, morning major, afternoon minor, afternoon major, and dusk, if that compliments the rest of my attack that day.
We treated the Hog Pen about the same on our Goon trip last year, and finally, it at least showed us they were there.
Thyen I would go have a beer.[8)] |
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| I would like to see more comments on this one...before I answer it. |
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| I would also cover the whole reef thoughly. In the shallows I would throw Twitchers, Bucktails and Spinnerbaits. If a fish was spotted and wouldn't commit I would come back with a solo topwater at prime times.
One more thing, I would try the surronding water up to 4 cast lengths away. Someone would be throwing an Ernie.
I would fish this prime spot every time I was in the area, up to 4 times a day or at least until a pattern appeared. |
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| Steve's blueprint for fishing the reef is hard to improve, a good sound plan. One problem I see when anglers fish this type of structure, is getting to close and possibly spooking fish. Steve's boat control of fishing the structure into the wind is most important, using the electric bow motor will keep you in posistion to cover the entire reef and by letting off the motor you will drift back away from the reef. Opposite would happen if the wind was at the rear of the boat. Especially if a fish is hooked, fishing into the wind will allow you to fight the fish without drifing onto the structure. There is a good possibility that more than one fish is using the structure.
I would start out from the structure and fish my way in, not spooking fish that may be at the base of the reef. Lure types used would be dictated by the depth of the water surrounding the reef.
I would have this structure on my milk run and hit at different times of the day, especially low light or weather change. Description of this type of structure gives me "goose bumps" just thinking of it.
Good luck, Murph |
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| I would also fish my way into this structure from about 100 yards out and coming in against the wind. The only thing I might do differently from the others ( and this may be because I fish Northern Wisconsin )is that I would be more concerned about the deep water surounding the reef than the actual weedy top area. Im always looking for the really big girls and Id go down after them with a fast sinking crank bait.Canadien fish are different ,I admit, but the real lunkers May be deeper than those 48" minnows on top.At any rate the good advice given above by others to work your way in slow is a must.Steve Herbeck told me it drives him crazy to see everybody pounding the hell out of the visual shallow parts of structures like the one you have described and then running off before fishing the deeper water and I totally agree with Him.Also it might pay to correlate your approach to what Larry ramsell found on His Shield Muskie studies.Even If this reef topped off at 20' and was surrounded by 40' Id still be a happier camper off the sides and out from it.Having said that I have to admit That in forty years of Muskie fishing Ive yet to fish Canadien Waters |
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| Some great stuff, any more want to comment on this. |
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| This would be hit early and often!
There could be dozen's of fish working a spot like this so returning to it will pay off big. I would work it with a Mepp's tandem Giant Killer or a surface bait that could be worked fast like a Tallywaker. During low light conditions, I would take my time on this spot and work it with a Hawg wobbler. |
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| We need more comments guys, I am putting them in the article section. |
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| I would concentrate on the windblown inside turn and saddle area (thin area of the hour glass)(current may be building up here the greatest) with bucktails around the early to midmorning period and the noon period. The last hour of the day as the winds dying down I would expect some residual current and throw a jackpot up on the north flat and saddle area.[:)] |
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| I pretty much agree with steves approach .In the evening part of the assualt on this reef I would opt for deep diving cranks scraping the bottom from the north to the south of the reef last line running a creeper of some sort,or the opposite a creature of some make. ARTIE |
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| I would start by drifting into the center of the hour glass and before getting to shallow work the south drop off parallel with the drop and a couple of casts deep and shallow. Then the back side of the narrow spot, then the north end concentrating on the shallows. Since I usually fish alone I would make another pass with a different bait with the first time using a twitch bait quickly and the second pass with something appropriate for the depth of where fish were seen,and the aggresiveness of the follows . The times would be the same as Steve.
Roger |
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| Fishing a shield lake afords me
many opportunties to fish reefs
and rockpiles.
The most overlooked part of the
structure, is always the deep water areas that are adjacent to it.
I always start about 100ft off and work my way around, until I have covered all the deep water first.
Cranks and bucktails are a great
way to cover water and find fish.
After reaching the structure work
the points and sadles first with
a bucktail or a spinnerbait.
I would then cover the top with some kind of jerkbait.[:sun:] |
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| One vital piece of information is missing in the description of the reef. That is the depth at the shallowest point of the reef. Is this reef completly underwater, or does it stick out of the water at some point? Also water color could be a factor in how close you get to the reef.
Assuming the top of the reef is about 15 or so feet down or deeper and the water is stained to moderetly clear and the reef is large in size, I would consider trolling the brakelines and just out away from the breaks looking for suspended fish. If the reef tops out very shallow and it's dark water I would assume the fish to be up on top and wouldn't consider trolling as I wouldn't want to run the boat over the fish or risk a damaged lower unit.
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| any last comments? |
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