First, just put weight on the line and cast out and try to feel when it hits the bottom, said Yingling. Keep the line taut as it sinks. When it starts to slack, you’re on the bottom. For bobber fishing, experiment with depth settings from about a foot off the bottom to half the water depth.
What depth do you fish?
When deeper than 8 to 10 feet, always fish on the bottom, not close, but on the bottom whenever possible. The exxception to this rule is when crappie and white bass might “suspend” off the bottom. The same is true when largemouth bass are chasing shad.
How do I know when my lure hits the bottom?
When they are in the water column, you should feel the vibration of the lure as it moves. If you feel anything else, you have either hit the bottom or some debris in the water column. If you just graze the bottom, you will feel a tick. If you are dragging the bottom, you will feel an uneven extra weight on the line.
How deep is too deep to fish?
Too deep, on the other hand, would be unusable for fish. These deep areas, anything in excess of eight feet, generally has low oxygen levels, they’re not an appropriate area for bedding, so it’s kind of a dead zone of a pond. So there is a balance between too shallow, too deep that benefits one-way or the other.
Do fish like deep water?
As for margins, fish simply love them. Margins are the edges between deep water and shallow water, between fast water and slow water or between cover and open water. Wherever there is a current, fish will look for places where they can hold in slower water while allowing faster currents to deliver food to them.
How do you control crankbait depth?
Move your crankbait too slow or too fast and it’ll run too shallow. The bill has to bite into the water at the correct angle for the lure to run as deep as possible. The length of your cast is the next thing that affects running depth. A longer cast will let the bait get down deeper.
How much line should you let out when trolling?
Downriggers. Downriggers allow for extra long length between the downrigger ball and the lure. Let out 50 feet of line and clip into the release. If that’s not enough distance to prevent your lake’s wary walleyes from seeing the ball…then let out 150 feet of line!
What is a straight retrieve?
A Straight Lure Retrieve
The lure is brought through the water through the intake of line via the reel. The rod is used very little, although it may be raised or lowered slightly to make the bait ascend or descend in the water column or to add some variety to the lure’s action.
Does deeper water mean bigger fish?
When studying populations of a flounder-like North Sea fish called plaice in the early 1900’s, a man named Heincke noticed that older, larger fish are found deeper in the water than younger, smaller fish.Biologists assumed it was ontogenic in nature, meaning that it must be connected to how the fish age and mature.
Should you always fish on the bottom?
Fish do not always feed on the bottom. For different reasons at different times of the year, fish can be near the surface or in mid-water. A float can be used to set the bait at a particular depth, not just on the bottom.
What depth does a fish need to float?
You want to set the depth of your float so that the bait is 8 to 16 inches off the bottom of the river because that puts the bait right in the fish’s face. The closer the bait is to the fish the more likely it will eat it.
How deep should I dig my lake?
Most fish like to reside in the first 4-5 feet of water. These areas are richer in oxygen. The deeper you go into the pond the less oxygen, so with this mind 10-12 feet would be adequate.
Can a pond be 20 feet deep?
*Is there a winter freeze
Everyone wants a pond super deep. However, the average pond we dig is 12′ deep throughout and depending on the size at least one area 15′ deep. If the pond is large enough, say 1 acre we can dig a couple holes in the pond 15″ to 20′ deep and maybe 25′ round.
Can a pond be to deep?
It can be too deep if it doesn’t have enough surface area at the top. If your pond is 10 feet deep and 10 feet a cross, that’s not enough surface area. There wouldn’t be enough oxygen for the fish in the deeper parts. It wouldn’t be a healthy pond.
How do you find fish in a lake?
Look for the tip of a long point extending into the lake, where it suddenly drops off into deeper water. The general edge of weeds attract fish. Any turn in the edge further focuses them within a distinct spot. Places where timbers cross or form small gaps can hold fish.
Do bubbles mean fish?
It varies from oxygen to methane and to the noxious, rotten-egg-smelling hydrogen sulphide. But to watching anglers, the chemistry is largely irrelevant, it is simply the act of bubbling that suggests a fish is present.
What is the best speed for trolling?
So, what is the best trolling speed? The best trolling speed depends on several factors including the type of fish, water conditions and lure choice. In general, trolling speeds between 1.5 and 2.5 mph, as measured by GPS, are a good starting place for most species like walleye, trout and salmon.
How deep can you troll without a downrigger?
You can easily reach 20 or 30 feet of water with 4 to 6 ounces when trolling light tackle for trout or walleye.
How deep do square bill crankbaits dive?
Square bill crankbaits are best for running in the shallows from 1 to 4 feet, while a plug with a 1-inch bill will dive to about 10 feet deep. Some crankbaits with even longer bills have the ability to reach depths down to 25 or 30 feet. Another factor for choosing the right style of crankbait is the time of year.
How deep can you fish with lead core line?
The slower the speed, the deeper the lines will run. At normal walleye trolling speeds, you can figure about 6 feet of depth for each color. With segmented lines, let out more mono backing to run deeper. Four colors of segmented line will easily run 30 feet deep or more.
How do you know how deep a lure will dive?
The diving depth of the lure can be roughly determined by the size of the bill; the bigger and longer, the deeper it will dive.
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