Dock-in-it

Has anyone tried the Float-N-Fly with Live Scope? I do not recall any report with the combination.

It is way to cold for me this morning. These days, my limit is 27 degrees with a mild wind and I will look for a location with no wind. Looking forward to my next opportunity to get out, but the weather report is not looking good. Cabin fewer may lower my limit to 26 degrees.

The K's were full of Float-N-Fly size shad and lots of LM were postured just right in the water column. Just have to keep an eye on the bobber. I seen a very large fish flash twice just below the surface about 20ft from the boat. That bobber would be out of sight in no time.

Dutch, I did not see another boat and I was on the main lake. No rigs at Mill Creek ramp. I forgot to mention that spot lock was super helpful in the wind for both vertical and hortizonal presentations.

I fished this morning and was glad the weather man was a little off. The fish were very active prior to the cold front moving in. Normally this time of year the chance for a surface bite is way less than 10%, but this mild winter has allowed for several surface bite days. I witnessed the surface activity first thing and decided to go with a horizontal presentation while it lasted then switch later to a vertical bite. The horizontal bite allows more chances for quality and the vertical bite gets the numbers with occasional quality. The horizontal bite stayed active until 8AM and the best bait was a Damiki rig (1/4oz and 3/8oz with 3" bait) fished about 5 to 10ft below the surface. The underspin produced a few. The deep horizontal bite is slow for me even though plenty of fish are using the 20 to 30ft depth range. The vertical bite was real good and the 4" grub (3/8oz) was the best bait, followed by Damiki and a few on ice jig. The ticket was to drop the grub thru fish and let it go to the bottom, then slowly retrieve the bait upwards. This technique worked over and over. I could not just leave it in their face or jig it. I left them biting at 9:30. I was on the main lake around trees and shad. The shad were stacked 20ft high in 42ft where I first started. Actually the shad were everywhere in the area. WT 50

Bobby, the line on the 3/8 oz Damiki rig was 8# BPS Excel mono green. Normally I would use 6# green mono on a vertical winter time spinning rod for plastics. I had the grub tied on the rod with 6# line. Your choice of line is probably better for detecting strikes,,,etc. I use 12# or 14# fluoro on the ice jig and spoon. I also use 15# mono big game for summer time spooning.

Hey Alex, thanks for the tip. I had topwater with me and should have tried it. I can normally catch about 30% of the winter time surface chasers with an underspin or swimbait, so I was dumbfounded with no takers. Next time they will see topwater on the menu. Looking forward to one of your cold water crankbait/jerkbait reports.

Fished this morning and the deep bite was about as good as it gets. Went to my first spot and scouted for 5 minutes and then went to my next spot. When I arrived about 7:20 the fish activity was unreal. About 15 big fish busted the surface over a 10 minute span and my graph was covered with vertical activity. I did not catch a single surface fish and after several cast I decided to stick with the vertical bite. The fish would fight over the Damiki rig and mostly ignore an ice jig and grub. From 7:30 to 8:00 the catching was almost every drop. The shad were 100% scattered (nothing schooled up) and I kept the boat in 35 to 55 FOW. Then about 8:30 the ice jig started to work well. Then about 9:00 there was an empty graph and the party was over.  Caught all three species and the K's accounted for 90%.  I threw a jerkbait, grub,  and underspin at the surface activity and was very surprised I did not catch a single surface fish. I thought the grub would work so I started with it and they ignored it, then picked up the Damiki and if you missed one another would bite it. WT 50-51 View full article

Bobby, for me the 7 to 8:30 timeframe is key for finding shad and active fish. If you find fish after 8:30 then you have probably found a location that would be much more productive at 7AM. I have found the shad on or close to the main lake (within 500yds of the main lake). I have scouted creeks and have not found anything. I would recommend looking for coves on the channel swing side of the lake. These coves need depth (50ft) and trees.

I have mentioned before how scouting for shad after 8:30 can be misleading. The attached shad picture is at daylight and at 8:30 you can not find these same shad. The fish movement picture shows how fish will get to the side of schooled up shad and feed on small pods.

Fished this morning and the action was very steady until 8AM, then between 8 and 9 the fish were still active in/around trees and at the base of trees. The 4" yamamoto grub on a 3/8 oz jig head (6# line) was the ticket. The grub worked good early casting to surface chasing and keeping it in the 5 to 15 ft range. It also was very effective with vertical presentation. The fish responded well to the vertical grub and it would easily out fish the ice jig. The grub was not very effective with a normal swimbait retrieve (like 20 to 30ft down). Fished around shad/trees in 38 to 60 FOW. WT 51 I seen several fish jump out of the water chasing shad and a few loons helped to keep things active. All three species were very active.

Fished this morning and was able to avoid most of the north wind. Found some fish in 42-50 FOW around trees/shad and they were using most of the water column. Had 3 bites on the jerkbait (110 +1) and landed two, but the ice jig was the main producer. I tried Damiki rig, four inch grub, swimbait, and spoon, but no luck on those baits. There were lots of gizzard shad and blue gill in the area and that caused me to waste some time. The bite fizzled between 8:30 & 9:00, I could still pull some off the bottom but they would not commit. I did not spend more than 20 minutes throwing the jerkbait and I should have thrown it more. WT 52-53

This morning was very mild temps and the shad started out on the surface. The shad were flickering on top at daylight. I found a good group of fish around shad/trees in 34 to 42 FOW and the action was steady for an hour prior to the sun getting bright (approx 8AM). The swimbait worked extremely well because of surface chasing and several fish were using the upper water column. The swimbait produced several nice LM prior to 8AM. The better LM came in 20-25 FOW where they had the shad pushed toward the bank. The ice jig ( 5/8oz ) worked good and produced mainly K's and a few good smallmouth. WT 56

I fished this morning and the fishing was pretty good. I stayed on the main lake around trees and shad. Finding shad in the creeks and on the main lake is pretty easy and the schools can be very large, but finding fish is the issue. This morning I landed on the right combination of shad/trees and lots of active fish. I stayed between 40 and 60 FOW and the fish near the bottom were the easiest to catch. The ice jig (5/8) produced a bunch of K's and the 2.8 swimbait was used to catch a very nice LM. I wish I would have thrown the swimbait more, but when your graph shows fish under the boat you have to drop on them. The swimbait window was probably only good for a 15-30 minute timeframe prior to the sun coming up over the horizon. Also caught two nice walleye on the ice jig. WT 54.5 to 55.5. One graph pic shows WT of 50, but I had just put the trolling motor down.

I fished the main lake this mild 67 degree morning and the fishing was very good. All of my winter trips are based on wind direction/speed so I can tolerate the cold temps, but this morning was long sleeve weather. Best depth for me was 47-55 FOW. The bite was fairly steady early but when the wind picked up they got very aggressive. I would find a group of fish and use spot lock to catch a few then move about 20ft and repeat the process. There was plenty of shad around and the fish had them broken up. The 3/4oz spoon and 5/8oz ice jig were equally effective. The Damaki rig would have worked but the strong winds required a little more lead. The fish were normally below 30ft and the easiest fish to catch were just off the bottom near 50ft. The bite seemed to fizzle around 9AM. Most were K's with several LM and a few whites. I did not catch a smallmouth which means I did not find the best buffet in the area. Trying to find shad in the creeks in my area has been a challenge. Some years the shad and fish sync up where I want them (out of the wind) and other years you have to hunt. WT 56-57

Bobby, the number of blue gill working the shad is unreal. They can be grouped up working the shad in any part of the water column and they appear just like a group of bass. I have been experiencing way to many fish ignoring my bait (or pulling off) and the 1/2oz white spoon will help identify the presents of blue gill. The 1/2 oz spoon is actually longer than the little shad they are chasing and the spoon will hook them in the mouth. The blue gill will also ignore the spoon, but you catch enough to realize what's going on. I have to work the spoon very aggressively to make them eat it.

I fished this morning and found some decent LM around trees/shad in 45 to 70 FOW. The LM bites can fizzle around 8:30 and then it seems to be more productive looking for K's. Caught the LM on 1/2oz and 3/4oz spoons and a ice jig 5/8oz. There are lots of blue gill participating in the deep bite and the 1/2oz spoon is good for catching a few to know what's on your graph. If you scout for shad after 8:30 you will be mislead by the lack of shad in some areas. There is also some surface activity on calm mornings. WT 57-58

With the fluke, it works pretty good vertical because you normally have to keep it right on top of them for several seconds. If I see fish up to 20ft away I will flip to them and if they ignore it I will move the boat over them to keep the bait in their face. It is pretty difficult to fish a horizontal presentation aiming for a particular fish because the fish will not sit still and it takes your bait numerous seconds to fall prior to starting the horizontal retrieve. So if the fish moves left, right, up, or down the horizontal retrieve is wasted. Trying to track your lure on a horizontal retrieve is pretty tough. Active Target does allow you to physically adjust the transducer for down vs forward. I believe you need to keep it in forward position. The forward mode does a pretty good job of looking straight down. The forward mode helps with searching. I wish you could touch a button to alternate between down and forward. The forward mode is fairly easy to make an accurate cast if the transducer is pointing straight ahead. If the transducer is pointing left or right it is extremely difficult for me to make an accurate cast and see my bait. The jig head is a 5/16 with a simple round head and a 4/0 gamakatsu hook. These jigs are poured by a friend using a standard mould. Gamakatsu makes a lighter wire 3/0 that I will use on my next batch of jigs (stock 11413-25).

Fished this morning and had a good limit early. The fish were postured around trees by a 40 to 60 ft drop. The regular Fluke worked good (5/16 head) and one on a swimbait. I decided to commit to active target this morning and it worked good. When fishing deep, forward facing sonar has its challenges. The boat is slightly moving, the fish are moving and your descending bait is moving. And compared to 2D sonar, you are interested in 1 inch of the screen vs the full screen on forward facing. The Ghost trolling motor pedal is super sensitive and will move way too much with just the slightest pressure. So that makes it difficult to track your bait away from the boat. I was able to catch them under the boat today. WT about 58.

I noticed on the water and TV coverage that the spoon guys were not taking full advantage of an active catch in progress. I would have each guy net his own fish and have the other guy drop their spoon around the active fish.

Thanks for the update. Several of the guys are chasing the deep fish and I was surprised how most were on the high percentage areas. The deep fish (and shad) are moving around fairly quick so that is a challenge. I think an a-rig and spoon combination (on the same fish) will probably work for some guys. Sometimes the fish around the boat can be too high for a spoon and postured just right for an a-rig. The slightly cooler water temps up the rivers might play a role for more bites and quality.

Pretty sure there was a fog delay until about 8:30. The first boat came thru the Kimberling area about 8:45. The delay probably impacted the deep fishermen. The morning deep bite can fizzle around 8 or 9 depending on the day. Hopefully there will be active periods throughout the day. 90% of the boats I seen were fishing deep.

I use the standard 8" hunting boot, insulated with 400 to 600 grams. And use merino wool socks. The 400-600 range gives you plenty of flexibility to run the trolling motor. Danner makes a good boot. The 400 to 600 with proper socks will handle air temps from 27 to 40.

I fished this morning and finally found some fish on my 3rd location. The fish were in 40 to 60 FOW and the better fish were on the bottom in the 55-60ft range. I caught them on a spoon (1/2oz and 3/4oz) and a Cicada blade bait. I wish I could catch them on an ice jig or swimbait, but I must be doing something wrong with those baits. I tried throwing the spoon, but it seemed I had to keep it vertical in their face for about 20 seconds. One graph picture shows the structure and cover I am around and the other shows the deep fish. In some area's there seems to be a disconnect between finding bait and finding fish.