High Big Fish

[DW72]

Dang it. Just write a big long thread on my phone and it didn't post and kicked me out.

Very short version. Anyone willing to chat about thoughts/experience with catching big fish above 10 feet in the water column?

Have you? How shallow to try lures, color, afternoon vs. morning? I've tried and had no luck.

Generally, I'm fishing 25-45 FOW. Just a thought as we await ice out.

THX

DW

[itsbob]

We rarely run out lures less than 10 ft down or less.But we don't start fishing till mid April.I think some big fish are caught early in the season up high as the surface water warms later in the day.No experience doing it, but have read others catching some good fish high Good luck trying.Doesnt hurt to run a lure or two high in your spread.

[Ducker]

We always would run harnesses with 1 oz egg sinkers way out on the outsides. That's where we always caught our biggest fish. We don't fish harnesses anymore, but I'm sure it will still work.

[DW72]

Thanks guys. I re-read my post and had to laugh a little bit. I may not even have answered it LOL. I don't expect folks to share their secrets on how to catch their biggest fish.

What you said was exactly what I meant to ask. I usually have the most success on fish that are about 13-20 feet down. I had heard that sometimes especially on sunny days that a big pre-spawn fish may rise higher in the afternoon in an effort to warm their body temps.

i have tried it for several hours a few times when I was catching the deeper fish but to no avail. Just wondered if you accomplished folks out there have had any success doing this?

Particularly for a chance at a trophy, do you think it is worth continuing to try or is it better to just search for larger marks on the graph and stick with the depth ranges where the fish are active? Maybe I should try more subtle and natural looking baits up that high?

Tight lines!