Fished the same spot as the 22nd. On the MI,OH line right out from stony 22 26 FOW. Lines in at 6:00 Pm. Started out pulling spoons off boards 70 and 80 back at 1.5 to 2.0 mph. At 7:30 and no fish we tried drifting 2 oz BB gold blades red beads and pick up 4 Walleyes, but ran out of time and pulled lines at close to 9:00 and headed in. Were are all the fish? Im use to the mid 80s, this is slow!
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Several things at work right now on that Big Pond IMO...
1. Mayfly hatch. Ask Little Dandy and Cantgetenough about how bad it was out there Friday evening. Fish are feeding in the afternoons/evenings and hugging bottom during the day.
2. Nearly daily thunderstorms. Rapid changes in barometric pressure, air temperature, and wind/wave conditions are sloshing things up.
3. The lake is starting to turn over. I noticed several large patches of bottom gunk floating on the surface out by W. Sister on Saturday. This screws up the temps and scatters the fish.
Just my opinion..but if you are pulling spoons at a max of 2.0mph..you might want to kick it up...Little Dandy has been running them at 2.2-2.5knots...(2.4-2.8mph).
Keep fishing...they WILL turn back on soon...
BFG
Official Ohio Delegate to Team Heavy Super-Sized Fishing Specialists bfg@educatedangler.com
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Clark is right on about your speed with the spoons. On LD, we use Speed Over Ground (SOG) from the GPS. Mine is set for knots rather than mph. I like to start the day trolling walleyes at about 2.1 knots and will adjust throughout the day depending on the mood of the fish. Normally we're trolling 1.9-2.4, some days 1.7 up to 2.8. Much beyond 2.8 and I'm going to have to rig up some smaller trolling bags.
If they hit on the outside of the turns, consider bumping the speed a few tenths. Hits on the inside, back the speed down a notch. If the fish are swallowing the whole bait, bump speed up and conversly if you're barely lip hooking fish, back down and let them eat it.
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I do very my speed on what I am using but I am around 1.5 to 2.4 MPH, and you guys are running faster 1.7 to 2.8 knots. Thats alot, I will have to give it a try.
So were I am fishing is the best spot right now, I am not use to fishing over hear I use to fish most of the time the gravel pit, crib, westsister, and A can areas.
Thanks again guys
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At 1.5, I'm not sure you'll get enough action out of "walleye" spoons to be very effective. I can't get my boat that slow unless we're going upwind, so I can't say for sure. On the other hand, if you're pulling some kind of crawler rig, that's probably a good starting point - vary down or up as needed.
One thing for sure, if you're pulling different stuff, make sure they all run well at the speed you plan on running. Test stuff alongside the boat and watch the action. You'll see if your running spoons too slow, they don't have much action.
If you're running big boards and want to run different types of baits, you need to be carefull how you deploy your gear. One type bait on one side of the boat at a set lead length. Another type bait on the other side of the boat at another lead length. You can get away with running different type crankbaits on the same side of the boat as long as their dive curves are very close (see Precision Trolling books).
As to the "best" spot right now, that's anybody's guess.
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The numbers are down a little this year but the 2007 spawn wasn't bad (average) and 2008 we will know more about later this year with the annual fish assessments. In spite of this there are reports on this site that have been phenomenal.
Stony point has slowed down. Although I think The Reel Naughty boys reported they were fishing there recently and did well. We have been fishing near W. Sister and doing well. I have had 4 trips this year where I didn't do good. Trips that I was disappointed in. I've had some okay ones. I have had more than a dozen trips where I have limited. May and June were real good! Summer days can be slow. Keep at them. Mike and I have had weeks where we were out 3 - 4 times! "You don't know if you don't go!" Pay attention to what you're reading, hearing from all sources. Most of all keep a log or at the very least a mental picture of what's happening as the season changes. The majority of the fish are shallow in the spring, often move deeper in the summer.
Different things happen all year. Mayfly hatches, Pre spawn, spawn, post spawn, dirty water, clean water e,t,c, It helps to have experience with all of this too.
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Good point about the log Steve. After a couple false starts the last couple years, I've been religiously keeping a log this year. Its already proven worth the effort and helped put more fish in the box. Even the same day information is helpful. Which side (lead length) of the boat is working better, which baits are catching the walleye vs. which ones pulling only silver bass or sheep, speed, direction of troll... If I had to guess, I'd bet at least a 10% improvement in catch vs. last year w/o the log.
I found some waterproof paper that works in laser printers and made up a form and printed out a bunch. Got a waterproof pen to go with it too. If interested check out http://writeintherain.com/. Pricey, but after a couple months of using it, I'm happy. Not affiliated, just a satisfied customer. I'm using their all-weather copier paper. No smears even when you spill coffee on it (not tested with beer, lol).
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