Pinpointing Fish

[Feathers and Fins]

I thought maybe if I broke it down exactly what I am doing it might help others to catch a few of the fish I have been on. This would actually apply anytime I am fishing as the first 2 steps is what I do every time out.

1st

Whenever I come to an area I do a grid pattern search of it. I put out the tolling lines just in case I get lucky but I am not truly fishing at this point, I am looking over the area for where the fish are and any and all structure on the area, Cuts, Tree's, Stumps, Rocks anything.

2nd

I mark everything, If it is a fish I just leave it as a waypoint but if it is hard structure I label it.

3rd

I will take the boat out and park it where I have marked school fish and turn on the sidescan and watch the schools to get an idea of which direction they are traveling or if they are just moving in a small area. This allows me to refine my waypoints to a couple that are between the points the fish are moving.

4th

This is what it looks like refined, I have two waypoints in 30fow about 400ft apart, this is where the fish are moving around most. I could have diamond bracketed it but no need as they were very constant at that depth.

I then start fishing. This entire process can take as little as 1/2 hour on small spots to as much as an hour to hour and half for a bigger area. But when I find fish I do not leave. Far to many people get frustrated or board and give up, years have taught me sooner or later they will turn on and you want to be there for it. Yesterday was a prime example it was slow from about 1 to 3 but from 3 to 5 it was and that 2 hours accounted for 80% of my catch. Had I played the run and gun game I wouldn't have caught them.

[duckydoty]

Good stuff Scott. I have found myself doing the same thing on the Rock in search of Crappie.

[zarraspook]

Thanks F&F....

I know now why trying to get by with just 2 points isn't working !!!

I would mark the start of fish and the end of fish; then throw everything in my tackle box between the marks..

After 10 minutes with out a bite; I moving and looking again....

[Hojo]

What kind of map or program is that, FF?

[Feathers and Fins]

What kind of map or program is that, FF?

http://www.navionics.com/en/webapp

[fisherofmen11]

Thanks! That helps a bunch. I also tend to move on quickly after not getting any bites. Thanks also for all your generosity. It has definitely helped me to become a better fisherman.

[Feathers and Fins]

Trust me I know how hard it is to stay when nothing is biting, I was brought up to stick it out but then I got in to tournament fishing and watching tv shows where people run and gun and it took the good habit of being "patient" which is what all god fishermen should be, to being very impatient trying to catch fish. Funny thing is when I compared logs I actually caught more fish waiting out the doldrums as the few I caught running around only equaled the few I caught staying and the bite when it kicked off was the same time all over the lake but I may have been out of position to maximize the time they bit. I wanted to kick myself in the butt after reviewing the logs not to mention the amount of gas I saved staying.

[Middleton369]

I appreciate your generosity FF and plan to test out your methods once Mr. freeze bugs out of the area in a few days!

[J-Doc]

You must have charted that spot before I got there several weeks ago. I saw you randomly "Willy-nilly" all over the place Saturday. Lol

(Just pickin)

This technique is used for chart plotting by Lowrance for creating contours for unknown lakes. Certain new Lowrance units have this feature.

If anyone was smart, they would do this prefishing for bass tournaments too. But.....people are too proud to be informed. They would rather use history, instincts, and BASS articles they read while on the throne (I know, I used to do that). THERE!! Now that visual is in your head!! HA!!!

[Feathers and Fins]

Actually charted it 2 years ago very detailed that's how I knew exactly where 15fow flat was lol.

Im probably going to go out next time and "Genesis" a couple areas for use later this spring. I wish we could get 4 or 5 people to do the same thing and knock out some of the real good areas.