Sunday 3/21 what a cluster

First off the fishing, not a bad day. We ended with 9, over half had some size. Started fishing just east of a n/s line between rattlesnake and green, about in the middle. Picked up one right off the missed one. We gave it a while with no more action. 50 to 90 back 1.3 to 1.5. Then we move due east a bout 1 mile. 34 fow. 16 or so boats waorking an area. We got one at 90 back, trolled for about an hour no more bites. Not sure why but I was fed up watching others catch fish, so I moved one line 150 back, 30 seconds later bam fish on. We then moved everything to 120 to 160 back. We would pick one up everytime we when through the magic spot. That's when things got exciting.

Some people have no clue. Don't be this guy...... mid size boat, running big boards. Most everyone is running east/west, not this guy, he wants to run n/s. So he does, slamming his horn at everyone who gets in his way. What a piece of work. Or,
Don't be this guy.... shows up to the party, him and his wife. She's along for the boat ride. He has a lanyard with control to remote control his boat while he sits up his lines. He proceeds to go to the middle of the pack and try to set up. Needless to say he causes a maga cluster in the middle of the pack. Please set up out side the pack and get comfortable with you operation before you try to play bumper boats.
Then you have the guys who are going where they are going no matter what. They won't go a little right or left to make things easier for everyone.
Then. There were no jigging boats when we started out, but what forced us out was by the end of the morning there were about 15 jigging boats set up over the pod, drifting or on spot lock just spread out enough so that they formed a wall the there was no path through. Most all the trollers left when that happened. Can't wait for the water to clean up a bit so everyone isn't fishing the same water.

We ended up with 9, 7 of which were nice. Cheap sunglasses did best in bandit. 120 to 160 back, 1.3 to 1.5 SOG, water temp was 38.

Attachment 6765
Attachment 6766

Thank you for the report.....

Thanks for the boating lesson also so true what you said

True to the word except jiggers and drifters the have the right of way when boat is not under power .. Just have to troll around them.. As for guy honking and screaming lol 😂 sorry for his luck he needs to go where there are no boats !!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by J Hook

jiggers and drifters have the right of way when boat is not under power .. Just have to troll around them

---

Obviously, that's a given. Dosen't make it any easier. It sure was nice of the trollers to locate some fish for them, they were tearing them up.

Thank you for the report and nice job boxing nine fish on what was a tough day. Cold water fishing is much more difficult than summer fishing. If I follow the report correctly, there was a cluster of boats jigging in 34fow? And they were hammering the fish? I always thought jigging was mostly targeting spawning fish on the reefs and shallower water. IÂ’ve never heard of this deep water jigging and want to learn the basics to use as a fall back strategy if the trolling isnÂ’t working out on a given day. First question is whether this is really a very cold water tactic I.e. water is so cold you fish same way as you were ice fishing? Second question is if itÂ’s best to spot lock. I imagine itÂ’d be tough to stay vertical in deep water without heavy weight. IÂ’d love to fish this way with my ice fishing sonar if itÂ’s effective. IÂ’d love to fish this way when I think fish are in a small pod and itÂ’s too difficult to stay on them by trolling. I enjoy jigging, so if thereÂ’s a way to deep water jig, I want to know when to do it.

Some were spot locking and jigging vertically, not sure what kinds of jigs they were using, but they looked small. There were 5 guys in a boat and they were making drifts. I think they were using blade baits and casting a shot ways and retrieving it slowly bouncing it off the bottom. They were fishing off the Lee of the boat. I don't know for sure, you might want to pose the question on the forum.

I pretty sure the jigging was their Plan B since there were not many suspended fish to catch on the troll, they reverted to tactics that are the prime tactic on inland lakes and rivers which is to work the bottom with jigs. These guys that are skilled at catching walleye inland have an advantage over those of us that rely on suspended fish and trolling when the bites tough (in my opinion). I think the most useful piece of information is you saw some guys managing to entice the negative bottom oriented fish to bite and that IS good to know and take note of on those days where you can’t get a program going but see a lot of fish near the bottom. Something else to try on a tough day.

Some guys do fish deeper water after ice out with ice fishing tactics and lures.They use jigging spoons and other ice fishing lures.But they usually fish closer to the reefs early as fish stage to spawn.The hair jig bite occurs in April on the reefs and beaches after the fish spawn.
You are correct,that drifters and people anchored have the right of way over boats under power.But if what you described as a bunch of jiggers fishing over a small area of active fish,the trollers found originally,that would create an issue.With a limited area of clean water,that would create more crowded fishing in those areas.I know people drive around and look for people netting fish.Could be the jiggers drive around too and park over an active bite and possibly call their friends in.Soon,the troller that found those fish can't run through that same area due to parked boats.Doesn't seam fair.I know the jiggers and casters don't like when trollers go through a tight pack.Would think the jiggers should do the same.