Video Game Fishing

[Jadesjigs]

I've been lucky enough to get out on the lake around the Hideaway area a couple of times over the last week.  I took this time to really work on drop shot fishing and found a consistent pattern.  I also learned a lot about my electronics considering that I was finally catching fish that I could see!!  It was almost like video game fishing.

I would fish the long points early in the am.  I would get out at first light, but the bite was more consistent after the sun had been up for awhile - somewhere between 0700-0830.  I think the sun would help concentrate the shad off the points.  Around 0900 the bite would slow down considerably.  The best depth seemed to be the 20-25 ft. range.

Each point seemed to have a "sweet spot" where the shad and bass would congregate.  I would troll around the point.  When I started seeing bait balls in the 20-25 ft. range, I would drop a marker buoy.  Then I would work on adjusting my sonar and down scan.  I would increase the gain until I could see my fishing line drop and rise.  I increased the contrast on the down scan until I could see good separation between the bait.  Lastly, I would zoom the screens to the bottom half of the lake so I could get a better picture in the 12-25 ft range.  It is amazing how these adjustments improved what I could see in the targeted area.    

I used a drop shot rig with a 3/8 ounce weight and a #4 hook with live worms cut in half.  I would thread the worms onto the hook and let half of it hang off of the hook.  I kept the nose of the boat in the wind towards my marker buoy so I could control my drift around the area.  The fish seemed to prefer the rig to be vertical and slowly dragged across the bottom.  I tried casting and jigging some without very much success.  The bite was very light and reminded me of crappie fishing.  I would watch the bait balls come into view on my screen with the arches under them.  I could almost time the bites and watch the fish as I reeled it up to the boat.  When I started catching fish I would drop a second marker buoy and this would give me a very good reference of my drift and where I was catching.  The shad would move around so you didn't have to stay in the exact same spot.  The depth seemed to be more of a key to look for.

This was such a fun way to fish.  I caught several species of fish.  I just like to catch fish no matter what.  I would catch very large bluegill, bass, catfish, and walleye all in the same area.  It's also a very relaxing way of fishing just drifting around.  Can't wait to get back out.  

        

[Johnsfolly]

2 hours ago, Jadesjigs said:

This was such a fun way to fish.  I caught several species of fish.  I just like to catch fish no matter what.

Great report! I don't have any electronics and rarely fish from a boat so did not follow all the you described about your sonar adjustments😌. However as you know I love multispecies trips. I still have not caught a flathead catfish. I love catching bluegill and a nice walleye just tops it. So these photos make me jealous!

[Jadesjigs]

I just got my own boat about a yr ago with the sonar so I'm still learning. It's nothing fancy, but it gives me the ability to extend the fishing season and go places where I couldn't before. I spent the last year looking at that fish finder seeing stuff that looked really good, but this is one of the 1st times I've really been able to catch what I was seeing. It's amazing just having an idea what's under your boat. I would feel blind without it now when fishing offshore. 

[Bgctrading]

I started figuring it out last year. I just love doing it.