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Posts: 96
| Post turnover I have a lot of success finding fish but converting them into catches has historically been tough. Bear in mind the water is so clear I probably notice more follows than during the Summer months. Here's the scenerio...
Just this past Monday I was out on a small metro lake where I was able to pin down a "wolf pack" of muskies. In a 4-5 hour window my brother-in-law and I had some 25-30 follows, mostly on Bulldawgs, but also on jerkbaits & Cow girls. The fish would come in deeper (6-10') and somewhat lazy, only to sit just below our figure 8's turning and slightly reacting, but not actually commiting. They would usually sit there for 30 seconds to a minute before slowly sinking to the depths and loosing interest. This day I finally did get a 46" to eat on the 8 but only after the sun fell below the tree line.
My question is, am I doing everything I should be? They seem to be interested enough to follow in consecutive casts much of the time. Over the next couple of weeks I'm sure I will convert a couple "hot" fish, but with the amount of follows I'm having I would think there's got to be a way to up my numbers. Seems like I'm so close to breaking things open. Thanks in advance! |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Try being very aggressive with the fish, don't fall into the lazy mood of the fish. Rip and speed up the 8's. I had this happen a few years ago, they would follow twitched Grandmas, I got some to eat after almost a minute of just ripping the bait like crazy and going up and down and all over with the figure 8. |
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Posts: 52
| I had a similar situation where I had roughly 20-25 follows in a bit more than an hour last late fall. At one point I had two fish on my lure and one on my brothers, Couldn't get any to even flare up on a bait but several followed for up to 10 seconds on the eight. I think thats a unique situation and I'd sure like to know what its all about. |
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Posts: 96
| Thanks. I'll give that a try. I tend to try and slow down to coax the fish into the 8 instead speeding up/using irratic techniques. |
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| I moved quite a few fish a couple fall's ago that drove me about nuts as they would not hit or eat ....what I found was small, erratic baits got them to hit...I started using baby depthraiders with upsized hooks so they suspended and twitched the crap out of them and then paused them for a couple seconds...got some of the fish to hit....i would try erratic baits with some pauses...another one might be to try the big red october tubes...make them dart and pop all over then sink down..they might open their yaps and eat...one other thing to try might be Jmac jigs down in there face popping them hard off the bottom...try that with mag dawgs too...let the dawg hit bottom and give it a good pull/rip up, then let sink, repeat....if you know where they are now just figure out what they want...can be frustrating as it was for me a few falls ago...for about a week i had a ton of nice fish located but got very few to hit
good luck |
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Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | W/ Dawgs, do your fig. 8 like you're teasing a cat... little jerks and pauses. I think Painter says something like, "make a poor attempt to get your bait away from the fish". Oh... and don't forget that your depth change is probably the single most effective trigger on the 8. We've had fish sit down there forever and, for whatever reason, just snap on about the 6th time around... high and outside.
However... fall muskies are cruel, cold b!@tches... don't take it personally.
"Keep goin'... she's still there." |
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Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | Tonka Boy,
Had the same scenario last Sunday on Tonka, we had 5 fish going in a matter of 45 minutes on the same spot.
I converted my first figure 8 fish. The fish came in late as I was finishing my 8. I saw him out of the corner of my eye going to the stern of the boat. Started the figure 8 again. The fish acted lazy but came back nipped and missed just after the second turn and I got her on about the 4th or 5th time around. I think what the trick was I was throwing a Triple D crankbait and got very aggressive with my figure eight. I also went deep. I had 3/4 of my 7' rod in the water with a couple feet of line out, so I was down a little bit.
I had another fish going 15 minutes later and she also came in late on the retrieve. I did the 8 about 16-20 times and got her to chase three different times, but it didn't commit.
I agree with the water clarity following the turnover. I would have probably never seen these fish mid summer and would have never made the commitment to the 8 like I did.
That figure 8 fish was the coolest thing I have ever seen especially with the clear water. Looking straight down seeing those pectoral fins straight out and then seeing the white of the mouth when she nipped it and then finally committed.
Fun stuff! |
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| I usually have a throw back bait ready to put in the water....usually it has a jig or a twitch bait on it. If I have someone in the boat with me I will have them get ready to put the bait in the water. If the fish that came in is not interested in the figure 8...I have the other guy put the throw back bait in the water about 3-5 yards from the boat them reel in to start the figure 8. I have had fish eat throwback bait multiple times....I agree with you guys that erratic movements in the 8 can also get the fish to bite. On the other hand, I have had fish up on glidebaits and after a few rounds of the 8 with not action...I let the bait almost completly stop and sometimes the fish will slowly make their way towards it. When they get there, 1 quick twitch might get them to react.
Who knows...every fish is different and what worked yesterday might not work today. Stupid fish....good luck out there.
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| Interesting reply as I have had a much better boatside conversion rate in the fall vs. summer. |
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Posts: 313
Location: On your favorite spot | this is a good subject - my conversion rate is horrible this fall, I think due to using different baits, speaking mostly to the dawg and jerkbaits. jerkbaits are their own thing and sometimes there's just nothing you can do. still trying to figure out the sexiest way to work the dawg at the boat - i've got half the equation down but need a closer. good suggestions here, wish the season would last a little longer!!!!!! |
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