What would you do to catch largemouth? Smallmouth? Walleye/Pickerel?
At various times of the day?
The A B & C are there to give you points to refer to if you need them.
Thursday Night Scenario for April 25 - The drop-off
Thursday Night Scenario for April 25 - The drop-off
Here is a common enough scenario. A shoreline that could be on just about any lake. About 20 yards from shore it is about 6 feet deep - then it drops off suddenly into 12 feet or so. Every now and then there are boulders that you can see on the bottom at various depths.
What would you do to catch largemouth? Smallmouth? Walleye/Pickerel?
At various times of the day?
The A B & C are there to give you points to refer to if you need them.
What would you do to catch largemouth? Smallmouth? Walleye/Pickerel?
At various times of the day?
The A B & C are there to give you points to refer to if you need them.
Fishhawk
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
I'll go first...
This is the kind of scenario that we see all the time, probably a few weeds around. The key would be the drop off but it really depends on the time of day.
Early in the morning I wouldn't hesitate to make a cast with a top water all the way to the shoreline and chug a chug bug back to the boat, or walk the dog with a spook, or twitch a floating rapala. At certain times you can find just about anything having a good munch in the shallows.
But as the day wears on, I would tend to hang off of the drop. Tossing a texas-rigged worm or tube into half a dozen feet and hopping it down the slope often produces right at the beginning of the slope. As more and more fish are caught in deeper water, I'd keep my bait in the deeper water.
Early in the morning I wouldn't hesitate to make a cast with a top water all the way to the shoreline and chug a chug bug back to the boat, or walk the dog with a spook, or twitch a floating rapala. At certain times you can find just about anything having a good munch in the shallows.
But as the day wears on, I would tend to hang off of the drop. Tossing a texas-rigged worm or tube into half a dozen feet and hopping it down the slope often produces right at the beginning of the slope. As more and more fish are caught in deeper water, I'd keep my bait in the deeper water.
Fishhawk
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
We shall have a hoot at Kilmarnock. If I can throw a tube somewhere I am happy.
The Fish-Hawk is awesome hanging on the back of the garage wall. We were celebrating it being Thursday Night in the garage tonite. Several times we toasted you
Dubie.
The Fish-Hawk is awesome hanging on the back of the garage wall. We were celebrating it being Thursday Night in the garage tonite. Several times we toasted you
Dubie.Fishhawk
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
"gotta run like a madman bye thanks see ya good luck"
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Joisey Joe
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Fished this exact senario last fall, on Sun Beam Lake in Algonquin, water as as clear as glass, mid afternoon.
Smallmouth Bass, 3-4 lbs.
Drifted the canoe on the deep end (C), throwing Pink jigs, with white twister tails and small spinners to shore (A). 6-8 in the boat in 1/2 Hr. They were hiding in the shadows of the trees from the bank.
Now if the water was muddier and with a few more weeds, definately tubes (my new favourite, thanks Hawk) and rattlein Shads. With these you could drift further out to (B), and maybe find Walleye?
Smallmouth Bass, 3-4 lbs.
Drifted the canoe on the deep end (C), throwing Pink jigs, with white twister tails and small spinners to shore (A). 6-8 in the boat in 1/2 Hr. They were hiding in the shadows of the trees from the bank.
Now if the water was muddier and with a few more weeds, definately tubes (my new favourite, thanks Hawk) and rattlein Shads. With these you could drift further out to (B), and maybe find Walleye?
I forgot to mention that a drop-off like this next to a bank can follow the bank for a while and could have scattered fish either on A B, or C but as you follow the drop-off down the bank, I figure that it would eventually lead to something different. An underwater point?? A hump?? An inside turn??
The best walleye spot that I have ever fished can be a good example. This lake being in the James Bay area is very shallow so I would have my birch deapth finder (a ten-foot stick, works better than any elextronic device in ultra shallow water) marked at 6ft, which would be the deep part of the drop-off, or C on the diagram. The drop would occur at about 40 yards from shore and holds true for about 1/2 km, a good little trolling run. But at a certain point, for no apparent reason, the drop turns inwardws and my old-school hummingbird marks 6ft 15 yards from shore. Walleyes galore. The fact that a massive cabbage bed is found right before the turn kinda helps.
So if I am on a drop like this, looking to shore. I would probably go right or left and fish fast with whatever until I find something that's different that could gather fish, then whip out 'ole faithful.
The best walleye spot that I have ever fished can be a good example. This lake being in the James Bay area is very shallow so I would have my birch deapth finder (a ten-foot stick, works better than any elextronic device in ultra shallow water) marked at 6ft, which would be the deep part of the drop-off, or C on the diagram. The drop would occur at about 40 yards from shore and holds true for about 1/2 km, a good little trolling run. But at a certain point, for no apparent reason, the drop turns inwardws and my old-school hummingbird marks 6ft 15 yards from shore. Walleyes galore. The fact that a massive cabbage bed is found right before the turn kinda helps.
So if I am on a drop like this, looking to shore. I would probably go right or left and fish fast with whatever until I find something that's different that could gather fish, then whip out 'ole faithful.
I'd probably troll this edge. If a buddy was with, we'd combine and choose a shallower lure for the inside edge, and a deep runner. I would do my best to zig-zag the boat in the B area. I like suspending crankbaits, and there's nothing wrong with a medium sized mepps spinner. If its weedy, then a spinnerbait and a weedless spoon. I'd troll until I got one, or found a specific point or hump, and then maybe pause and cast a few. But sometimes it's just nice to keep on trollin and cover lots of ground, especially if its a body of water I haven't fished before.
I love these... even more fun when you get the drop offs from a submerged island - then the fish can more around the drop offs - making it a real patience tester...
In the morning - running a nice shiny ripplin' redfin from the shallows out will wake up the biggies. Failing that large mepps with a bit of worm trailing off the treble seems to be productive. If you vary the retreive to let it flutter down a bit once it starts coming into the deeper waters, often get hits on the flutter.
Later in the day, a nice slow texas rigged minnow is great. A little bump, bump, bump along the bottom all the way out to find where they're sitting. If real minnows are permitted, they're step 2 to the jigging.
This also allows for the leisurely sip of fresca or puff on a nice cigar.
Late in the day, a topwater is good news again. A jointed jitterbug, or some other noisy lure that you don't need to actually see is good - as I seem to have a hard time seeing through the mesh on those bug jackets...
In the morning - running a nice shiny ripplin' redfin from the shallows out will wake up the biggies. Failing that large mepps with a bit of worm trailing off the treble seems to be productive. If you vary the retreive to let it flutter down a bit once it starts coming into the deeper waters, often get hits on the flutter.
Later in the day, a nice slow texas rigged minnow is great. A little bump, bump, bump along the bottom all the way out to find where they're sitting. If real minnows are permitted, they're step 2 to the jigging.
This also allows for the leisurely sip of fresca or puff on a nice cigar.
Late in the day, a topwater is good news again. A jointed jitterbug, or some other noisy lure that you don't need to actually see is good - as I seem to have a hard time seeing through the mesh on those bug jackets...
Very Ottawa River
Wow does this scenario look familiar. There are so many areas of the Ottawa river (Between Ottawa - Hawkesbury) that look like this and it is in deed a mind boggling experience to figure out where the fish are going to be holding at any given time of the day because it varies depending on the weather. Wind, sun and water temperature. Where do you start? 
Go back to basics. Don`t believe the Fish-finder because in a moving river it will identify a lot of debris floating as a fish and watch only speed and temperature and try to stay on the edge of the drop-off. Try not to abandon your trolling pattern when you mark a big fish but rather make a mental note of where you saw the fish because chances are if it was a muskie it won`t be going far from the area. I now mark locations using GPS and this will hopefully help me stay on the fish more. (I do have a tendency though to like to play with electronics toys that might make me a better angler when ever I can.) Continue to cover the area you want and come back later and cast over these areas.
I have been told that many people fish like this and troll slowly (2mph) for pike, bass and walleye or at about (5-7 mph) for the monster muskies that tend to hold off the deep drop off. You got to have patience and you will have to mess around with different colors and styles of baits but don`t despair you will find the magic combination. I find that using this style of fishing on waters similar to this you can cover lots of water and usually hook into some good fish. If it is real rocky try anything that resembles a crawfish color.
Go back to basics. Don`t believe the Fish-finder because in a moving river it will identify a lot of debris floating as a fish and watch only speed and temperature and try to stay on the edge of the drop-off. Try not to abandon your trolling pattern when you mark a big fish but rather make a mental note of where you saw the fish because chances are if it was a muskie it won`t be going far from the area. I now mark locations using GPS and this will hopefully help me stay on the fish more. (I do have a tendency though to like to play with electronics toys that might make me a better angler when ever I can.) Continue to cover the area you want and come back later and cast over these areas.
I have been told that many people fish like this and troll slowly (2mph) for pike, bass and walleye or at about (5-7 mph) for the monster muskies that tend to hold off the deep drop off. You got to have patience and you will have to mess around with different colors and styles of baits but don`t despair you will find the magic combination. I find that using this style of fishing on waters similar to this you can cover lots of water and usually hook into some good fish. If it is real rocky try anything that resembles a crawfish color.