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Posts: 177
Location: Cohasset, MN | I have, in the past, gone 'round a fairly small mid-lake hump at least 6 times throwing the same bait. For no reason (that I can discern) I may see 3 fish on the 4th revolution (for instance) and then nothing. Certainly (for me) feeding windows exist and I'd like to hear more thoughts on the subject.
If they aren't going to bite until the window is open why bother moving if you know there are fish on/near the spot you're at ? Does the window open/close at the same time for all fish on the lake or just in a general area (big lake) ? Will some fish eat outside the window if tempted "properly" ? |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | There will always be some fish that will eat outside windows. I try to be on the best spots when the windows do open.
As for only fishing when the windows open, they can only be 15 mins long sometime. That would be a lot of waiting for 15mins of fishing. I would just fish new areas and try to move some fish before the window does open. That way when primetime comes you have options.
There are many windows in the day 2 majors, 2 minors, moon up, moon down, moonrise, moonset, sunrise, and sunset. You never know which ones are going to be best.
Edited by bassinbob84 9/13/2009 7:05 PM
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| There are definitely times when the fish just decide to eat. We've all seen it happen. Everybody in camp sees all their action between 9:00 and 11:00, and then nothing to show for the rest of the day but a stray fish here and there. It's played out for me more times than I can remember, when all the action we saw was at the same time everyone else was moving and catching fish, sometimes on different lakes in the same region.
As far as I am concerned, if you can actually predict when that "window" might be, like you have a front moving in, warmest part of the day in cold water conditions, a major/minor period, major changes in barometric pressure, moonrise, sunset, change in wind direction, etc. your odds go up dramatically if you fish during those times. IF I have some sort of weather related event, or a solunar event? I much prefer to fish spots where big fish have been seen recently, or just plain "big fish" spots.
Even when you don't have a solunar event, or some weather related occurence you can target, you know there will be windows. Whatever causes them, it affects the whole food chain from what I've seen. You can almost tell when the fish are going to be active just by watching what the birds, deer, etc are doing.
Generally speaking, I used to think you needed to cover as much water as possible no matter what, because there has to be a hungry one somewhere. Now I think that depends on the time of the year. I think its better to camp on a spot in late fall, for example... The feeding windows are few, far between, and relatively short when they happen, but I don't want to be somewhere else when they DO happen.
During the warmest part of the summer, you've got a much better chance of actually hitting those windows, having multiple windows, having several hours of time where the fish are active during the day. That time of the year I prefer to cover water.
What I've never been able to do, because of many factors, is to actually decide NOT TO fish when conditions are less than favorable. I figure I'll never catch a fish sitting at home waiting for some divine intervention to come, may as well hit the water when I can for as long as I can.
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| Just this past summer my father and i were on a trip on the big V. We fished all morning and had one limp follow and we were wondering why we weren't even hitting any pike. We found one spot at about noon that we figured we'd fish before lunch. We fished there probably 35 minutes with nothing what so ever, not even a weed or rock. Then I caught 4 pike in 5 casts and during that he pulled in a 43." Before that i hadn't thought anything of feeding windows.
C.McHugh
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| Read Buck Perry's "art of spoonplugging". It will anwser questions you've had in your head for years. From fish behavior, mapping interpretations, so-called "feeding windows", fish migrations etc. This man was way ahead of his time and by far the greastest fisherman to ever walk the planet. Even if you never touch a spoonplug for the rest of your life you will learn how to adapt certain techniques for your situation. Far better then any guide I've hired or magizine I've read. I carry it around like the bible. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Feeding windows are very real and can be patterned practically to the minute if you have the luxury to be able to spend unlimited time on the water to find out when they occur. Remember, you still need to be on fish when the window opens! Obviously it's easier to do with fish like walleyes and bass where there are schools of many many fish to pattern.
The interesting thing I've seen with muskies is that they too can have a fairly predictable window IF the weather is conducive and the boating pressure allows it to happen. What I don't understand is why lately, more often than not, I seem to find this window not coinciding with some astronimcal phenomenon. Used to be I'd bet the farm on moon rise and it still is good, but not always the best.
The answer is just get out there whenever you can, stay on good spots as much as possible, and keep your eyes open to events and changes, then look at your watch if you see action. The next day you can try to duplicate the results or prove them irrelavant. |
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Posts: 8863
| I've also noticed that day to day trends seem to be similar when it comes to feeding windows. If you get pretty stable weather anyway, whatever times you saw action the day before is usually about the time fish start moving over the next several days, too. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | they are real, but I don't think anyone can predict them each time they occur with any amount of certainty...at least nobody I know or have heard of ....while I think there are general windows we can guess will happen..even when say for 2 nites straight between 10pm and midnite you had good fish activity and then the 3rd nite even though the weather is the same they don't go in that window but do in say a midnite to 2am....for me, I basically look for clues from my sonar, animals, etc, small fish dimpling, the wind, barometer etc when I think they might be happening..of course the best clue is a hit or a hot follow by a musky they are going...if they are, get back to all the big fish you have seen the last few times on the lake...
don't waste time during a percieved window....they can last a very short time like 15 min or I have seen them last hours on end .... |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | Feeding windows as you call them, or activity periods definitely do exist. If you get out early on an average fishing day and stay late, you will with time recognize it 90% of the days you are on the water.
jtroop
If they aren't going to bite until the window is open why bother moving if you know there are fish on/near the spot you're at ?
If we spend consecutive days on the water we might be able to take an educated guess when this may happen, however being on the water and not catching or seeing a movement of active fish take place teaches us the lake.
Will some fish eat outside the window if tempted "properly" ?
If a lake has a good population of fish we could catch a few stragglers for our efforts.
jtroop
Does the window open/close at the same time for all fish on the lake or just in a general area (big lake) ?
The answer is a definite YES! All the fish in the lake move or get active at the same time, that is how we know it's "NOT" a hunger thing, rather a weather and or light condition that triggers this activity. |
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Posts: 392
Location: lake x...where the hell is it? | when i was in minn. a few weeks ago a 50" was caught every night on the major for 3 nights in a row. i would say thats a feeding window. |
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Posts: 321
Location: Glen Ellyn Il | Kevin
Well said. I am also a spoonplugger, my muskie fishing has increased behind my expectation. I can go to any lakes, and never be lost. All due to the greatest fisherman and educator Mr. Buck Perry
Spoonpluggergino |
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