Current and wind

[Barndog]

I think we may be a little too stubborn and resistant to change on this one and need advice. In general we try to troll along the depth contour on lake O and try to stay in a particular depth of water until we move either in or out depthwise and find a depth where cooperative fish are at. Sometimes there is a stiff crosswind (and waves) or cross current or both. We tend to fight it out and don't always make out so good. When we have these conditions, should we change direction of troll regardless? If this is so, I assume that the GPS will come into play then to stay on the fish and know where you are and where you been. I appreciate any input and advice on this.

Thanks!

Barndog

[Killin' It]

Barn,

I can only speak from my experance...

I ONLY put my nose into the current when I troll. (Sometimes weather does not allow this)

In saying this, I do not have a fish hawk nor a sub troll so I find it easier to repeat what I am doing this way. If I stop getting hits, I will pick up and run back to where i started or at least troll twards shore so I can get on the same heading going back into the current again.

Just how I do it, does not mean its right.

[SlamDunk]

You are starting to think along the right lines.

Sometimes conditions are set up where they are hugging the bottom, or there is a pack of water blown in toward shore or current upwelling on some reef to keep them in a certain depth of water. That being said, in general salmon are open water feeders and mostly they do not know or care how deep the water is beneath them.

So many anglers get caught up in trying to keep on a line in 100 feet of water, 200 ft, 300 ft, whatever that "magical depth" may be. Again, do the fish really care how deep the water is? There are too many other factors that determine where they are going to be located and what presentations they are going to bite on.

[KJ pluggin]

I try to adjust my troll according to the current as much as possible but at times depending on the port and boat traffic that may not be an option.

[Barndog]

We are quick to try different techniques, methods and such, but have been damn pig-headed about the trolling depth thing. It seems that most other boats around us are too...lol. We get some crazy currents out there out of Fairhaven at times. It was just starting to make sense to me to keep everything in line in tough conditions. I want to say thank you to the replies so far.

Randy

[Twill23]

Hey Randy,

There has to be a balance between the two, and it really depends on how crazy your structure is.

The most important thing you need to find out first, is where the range of active fish are holding. Are they in 110-130? 70-110 north of some landmark? Are they holding only in a specific water temperature? Figured out where they are first, will help you immensely in targeting those fish. IE getting your troll direction figured out.

You have to remember, water depth normally is not the reason fish are holding in one specific area. It normally has nothing to do with it. Water temperature, Bait, and current are MUCH more important.

[Far Beyond Driven]

Fishing a spot versus fishing a direction versus fishing a depth. If I could call that one right each time I would catch a pile more fish.

I've even had days where I had fish locked to a spot in a depth where current was not an issue, and only caught them trolling north but not south...

[LongLine]

I don't think there's any more frustrating feeling than after you've spent 6 hours trolling the 20 ft line and coming home; look on the internet and finding reports of catching them in 30 FOW. In those rare instances when I troll parallel to the shoreline, I'll bracket a certain depth. say 15-30 ft. If nothing then move out 35-50FOW. I never troll in a straight line unless someone else comes too close.

[Rascal Trophy Fishing]

The use of the valuable tools of the GPS, chartplotter, and Fish Hawk have taken a lot of guess work out of the old formulas we used compared to todays tools. I recommend you buy them, as you will increase your odds greatly for hooking up. Otherwise, the old method of fishing a particular structure, was to experiment at differing depths at bottom and riggers/divers. One common tool was to look at your lines: are they way out from the transom, or are they crooked/sideways to the boat, or are they in tight and straight? Currents, temperatures, and bait can change quickly at times, varying within 1/8th mile or less. Other times it's consistent for a couple of miles or more. Don't be afraid to change course from uptrolls to downtrolls, or crossways to the waves. Watch the lines and see what works best on any given day, it never stays the same all the time.

[SeaCatMich]

In addition to using the electronics to narrow down all of the variables, trolling an S pattern along a general line will help too. It really does three things: 1) allows you to see if currents are going a different direction than what you are trolling (watch your rigger wires and diver rods); 2) narrow down speed as lures on inside rods on the turn will slow down and outside rods will be going faster than when trolling straight; and 3) if you get hits on rigger rods in a S turn, it could be the direction you are going at the time rather than the speed change since the closer a rod is to the center of the boat transom (the turn's pivot poiont), the less its speed is affected by the turn.

[1mainiac]

I don't fish a spot or a troll so much as I actively hunt for active fish. For me the key is learning where the baitfish are and what their pattern is. I have a probe and seldom use it anymore because I usually have a idea what I want to do. Other than tournaments I am mostly a evening fisherman which gives me all day to find out where they were in the morning and see what the weather will be like. Paying attention to weather patterns for days in advance can also help you eliminate water to not fish in. Ignore the pack of boats often those guys just follow each other around all year. No matter what the fishing conditions are in Muskegon there is always a pack of boats in 80 to 100ft and yes they catch some fish. But they are not pounding out limits of nice fish they are just picking away at them. Do I have preferred starting locations yep 3 in fact and depending on conditions I will likely run to one of them and begin. I also fish around the nets as much or more than most, the action of fish caught in the nets brings in other fish. I seldom follow any pattern very long unless it is working well.

[Barndog]

Thanks for the guidance and advise so far. Very helpful. We target salmon and steelies. It looks like this year we will switch it up and not be stuck on trolling along FOW contour. We do have a fishhawk and gps and have figured out how to make them work for us to some extent, but we learn every trip out.

[Jolly II]

Hey Randy,

There has to be a balance between the two, and it really depends on how crazy your structure is.

The most important thing you need to find out first, is where the range of active fish are holding. Are they in 110-130? 70-110 north of some landmark? Are they holding only in a specific water temperature? Figured out where they are first, will help you immensely in targeting those fish. IE getting your troll direction figured out.

You have to remember, water depth normally is not the reason fish are holding in one specific area. It normally has nothing to do with it. Water temperature, Bait, and current are MUCH more important.

This is a very similar style that I fish. If the active fish for a day are in the 110-125 range, say, I try find the best troll direction in that zone. Speed and direction are probably 2 of the most important variables int he equation that =FISH.

I try stay away from fishing cross current. I find my boat, and my presentation is not productive when my cables and dipsies are not straight. I'm not necessarily going right into the current, but I find the general direction at which things are tracking straight and that is almost always the most productive direction. Usually my first mate has a good handle on this, and I mess it all up when I take the helm to give him a break. lol

Don't get hung up on maintaining a depth, maintain a productive troll direction. Also, don't be afraid to turn and go back through fish in the opposite direction. On Lake Ontario when the fish are hungry, stay on them and maximize your time while they're on the feed. Our lake has a lot of bait in it, and fish will stuff themselves quickly.

I know what you mean by some of the strong currents on LO. I grew up fishing Wayne County. The days on our lake with those strong currents, 1.5-2.0 knts sometimes stronger, those are the days the fishing is only in one direction. I often head off shore on those days and get out of the strong current.

Good luck! Fairhaven is a great port, fish there this summer for a few days. I've got go back!

[bowbender]

I think if I put all these posts together, with my limited Great Lakes fishing experience, and inland lake and river, fishing experience it looks like... 1st) temperature (thermocline or preferred temp for the fish/bait fish your targeting) would be most important because it attracts the bait fish and what they eat along with the big boys looking for a meal. 2nd) would be current, just like in a river they mostly face and move into the current, If you watch fish in a river the only time they go with the current is to quickly re-position them selves back into the current someplace else. It probably helps them detect there prey better. 3rd) In my book would be color, there seem to be so many variables to this that there is no way to go into it here except that for me the biggest thing is Glow during the dark hours, and flash during the light. 4th) Would be speed, mostly for action, because a salmon could run down just about anything if they really wanted it. (actually 2 & 4 are so closely related due to currents affect on bait action they could almost be put together). 5th) Would to be depth of water.