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Posts: 192
Location: Quebec, Canada | It seems that most people have winterized their boat by this time of the year, but me and my partner are still a couple weeks of doing that. That being said, the water is getting quite cold, last week-end it was 38F degrees and should be even colder this Saturday. What kind of strategy would you guys apply during these kinds of water temp and lower.
We are hearing a lot of people are trolling deep, but as we always keep in mind that the fish won't bite if your lure is lower, we are not sure as of how deep we should put the bait. Any thoughts? |
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Posts: 1082
Location: Aurora | My 2 cents -
Fish main lake structure & look for baitfish nearby on your electronics.
Note the depths they're at on each spot you fish.
If you're patient, tip small jigs with waxworms or similar & fish for the baitfish so you can ID & match profile/colour.
Don't overthink it and don't limit your fishing depth, speed, or approach.
Predators can be anywhere nearby and coming into contact with the rocks, weeds, baitfish & bottom only up your odds of trigging them.
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Posts: 192
Location: Quebec, Canada | Thanks Sidejack!
Close to 300 of views, only 1 reply... I figured this topic wouldn't get much popular
Edited by Drakl 11/22/2013 10:55 AM
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Posts: 584
| Drakl - 11/21/2013 6:54 AM
We are hearing a lot of people are trolling deep, but as we always keep in mind that the fish won't bite if your lure is lower, we are not sure as of how deep we should put the bait. Any thoughts?
In the warmer months, I'll almost always troll baits in the top 1/2 to 1/4 or higher in the water column. But late in the year like this, I've had it pay off to run a few deeper, although I've caught fish trolling late in the season at a variety of depths.
If you have the option of running multiple lines, try a few different depths covering the water column. This time of year with 3 lines and out over open water, I'll typically start off by running one bait down at roughly 2/3rds of the overall lake depth, one down about halfway, and one bait at about 1/3rd of the lake depth. (E.g., if I'm trolling in roughly 24-26' of water I'll have one bait down about 6-7', one bait running down 11-12' and one bait down deeper in 15-17'). Of course, I'll make adjustments based on what baits get eaten and where in the water column I'm seeing the best baitfish concentrations. I still like to have baits tending to run higher rather than lower in the water column, no matter what time of year.
Edited by Matt DeVos 11/22/2013 11:14 AM
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Posts: 1202
Location: Money, PA | I got a 51" on Sat trolling a small 4.5" Lil' Hammer lure on a down rod 12' back. (pretty much debunks the big lure trolling DEEP theory). Trolling speed was 3.9 mph.....The only different thing I will do when the temps drop is lower my speed. Shallow or deep has not near the bearing that where the bait is located IMO. Find bait, you find fish feeding....fact.
Edited by ShutUpNFish 11/22/2013 11:21 AM
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | This time of the year here in Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie most of the time the surface water is colder then near bottom in 25 to 35 ft of water, so the muskies are hugging the bottom.The surface water is cooled from outside air temprature and snow.Only time the fish are up high is if you get good sun and warming of the surface.So as our water temps are now at 45 degees I'm slow trolling at 2.0 mph using leadcore line to get Legend Plows just off bottom going through with a lazey dazy side to side lure action.This last days of this week should produce some Fatties to the boat for a short visit.
Edited by LarryJones 11/23/2013 8:00 AM
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Posts: 1530
| larrys dead on for deep river fishing.
here theres still fish up shallow on shad. that's 7-11 ft of water. slow speeds big wobble straights.
remember the time of year we fish feeding windows.
the part that sucks is the fish eat when they want. dress warm and ya gotta be there for that 1/2 hour of fame hopefully |
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Posts: 12
Location: Georgian Bay | I am going out tomorrow maybe for the last time this season. Last weekend i found lots of bait, too much if there is such a thing. What do you do when there is that much bait, try and stand out or move to a knew spot. My concern is that the muskies are well fed in that location. That being said i am going to fish the same area unless someone has some good advice for me. |
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Location: Ontario | Drakl - 11/21/2013 7:54 AM
It seems that most people have winterized their boat by this time of the year, but me and my partner are still a couple weeks of doing that. That being said, the water is getting quite cold, last week-end it was 38F degrees and should be even colder this Saturday. What kind of strategy would you guys apply during these kinds of water temp and lower.
We are hearing a lot of people are trolling deep, but as we always keep in mind that the fish won't bite if your lure is lower, we are not sure as of how deep we should put the bait. Any thoughts?
Well, our strategy on the OR today was clean the snow off the seat before you sit back down  Brutal, water was 35F. |
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