Need help in deeper water

Hey all,
I went out fishing tonight with a buddy and had a pretty great night.
Bad weather was predicted, but we had clear skies up until about 11pm
when we started seeing lightning and decided we'd best get our
highest-point asses off the water. We fished a brand new lake tonight
(Pine Lake, Waukesha County, Wisconsin,
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water...p/0779200z.htm)
and had pretty good luck once we observed the amazing clarity of the
water. The bottom seemed to be mostly rock and light weeds. Not much
emergent vegetation. In the shallows (5-10ft) we used plastic tubes
and grubs with no weight and worked them slowly. I had a moment where
4 successive casts brought in fish. My fishing buddy was real happy
with that. We caught crappie, bass, and northern. Lots of fun.
Anyway, to the point. We started out the day running the fishfinder
over the bottom and noticed a decent concentration of fish near
drop-offs where we could find weed patches (not many on the lake).
There are many flats as well where fish tended to gather. Mostly
textbook I suppose. I just don't have any luck getting the fish at
these depths to bite. I tried different levels of aggressiveness and
colors, along with differing presentations. I used weighted pumpkin
tubes, bucktails, the newer Rapala DT-10 (fun to cast), some 4"
soft-bodied shads in assorted colors, etc. Over the course of an hour
or so we drifted over groups of fish and didn't catch a thing. I can
catch fish all day in the shallows but I'm having a hard time with
these types. Can anyone give me some tips on where I should try to
change things up? I'll check my books again as well.
On a related note, we thought we'd try some deeper water (90ft+) on
the way back in to shore since the fishfinder was going nuts telling
us about the concentrations of fish (walleye, I assume) at the 50-70ft
range. The problem is that I have no idea how to tell how deep my rig
is. I basically let out line until I felt bottom and then reeled it
up a bit. Once we started drifting/trolling it was basically a crap
shoot. No luck. I was thinking of spooling out some line in the yard
and tying some thread to it at 20ft intervals. Is there a decent way
without resorting to this?
Thanks for any help!
Mark

"werlax" wrote in message
om...
Hey all,
I went out fishing tonight with a buddy and had a pretty great night.
Bad weather was predicted, but we had clear skies up until about 11pm
when we started seeing lightning and decided we'd best get our
highest-point asses off the water. We fished a brand new lake tonight
(Pine Lake, Waukesha County, Wisconsin,
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water...p/0779200z.htm)
and had pretty good luck once we observed the amazing clarity of the
water. The bottom seemed to be mostly rock and light weeds. Not much
emergent vegetation. In the shallows (5-10ft) we used plastic tubes
and grubs with no weight and worked them slowly. I had a moment where
4 successive casts brought in fish. My fishing buddy was real happy
with that. We caught crappie, bass, and northern. Lots of fun.
Anyway, to the point. We started out the day running the fishfinder
over the bottom and noticed a decent concentration of fish near
drop-offs where we could find weed patches (not many on the lake).
There are many flats as well where fish tended to gather. Mostly
textbook I suppose. I just don't have any luck getting the fish at
these depths to bite. I tried different levels of aggressiveness and
colors, along with differing presentations. I used weighted pumpkin
tubes, bucktails, the newer Rapala DT-10 (fun to cast), some 4"
soft-bodied shads in assorted colors, etc. Over the course of an hour
or so we drifted over groups of fish and didn't catch a thing. I can
catch fish all day in the shallows but I'm having a hard time with
these types. Can anyone give me some tips on where I should try to
change things up? I'll check my books again as well.
On a related note, we thought we'd try some deeper water (90ft+) on
the way back in to shore since the fishfinder was going nuts telling
us about the concentrations of fish (walleye, I assume) at the 50-70ft
range. The problem is that I have no idea how to tell how deep my rig
is. I basically let out line until I felt bottom and then reeled it
up a bit. Once we started drifting/trolling it was basically a crap
shoot. No luck. I was thinking of spooling out some line in the yard
and tying some thread to it at 20ft intervals. Is there a decent way
without resorting to this?
Thanks for any help!
Mark

When fishing for salmon we generaly strip out line.
( grab your line and straighten out your elbow ) if your reach is 24 "
you have a fair indication of how much line is out . if your line is
straight down this is a good indication. when you troll the drag will
raise your bait or lure much higher

"werlax" wrote in message
om...
Hey all,
I went out fishing tonight with a buddy and had a pretty great night.
Bad weather was predicted, but we had clear skies up until about 11pm
when we started seeing lightning and decided we'd best get our
highest-point asses off the water. We fished a brand new lake tonight
(Pine Lake, Waukesha County, Wisconsin,
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water...p/0779200z.htm)
and had pretty good luck once we observed the amazing clarity of the
water. The bottom seemed to be mostly rock and light weeds. Not much
emergent vegetation. In the shallows (5-10ft) we used plastic tubes
and grubs with no weight and worked them slowly. I had a moment where
4 successive casts brought in fish. My fishing buddy was real happy
with that. We caught crappie, bass, and northern. Lots of fun.
Anyway, to the point. We started out the day running the fishfinder
over the bottom and noticed a decent concentration of fish near
drop-offs where we could find weed patches (not many on the lake).
There are many flats as well where fish tended to gather. Mostly
textbook I suppose. I just don't have any luck getting the fish at
these depths to bite. I tried different levels of aggressiveness and
colors, along with differing presentations. I used weighted pumpkin
tubes, bucktails, the newer Rapala DT-10 (fun to cast), some 4"
soft-bodied shads in assorted colors, etc. Over the course of an hour
or so we drifted over groups of fish and didn't catch a thing. I can
catch fish all day in the shallows but I'm having a hard time with
these types. Can anyone give me some tips on where I should try to
change things up? I'll check my books again as well.
On a related note, we thought we'd try some deeper water (90ft+) on
the way back in to shore since the fishfinder was going nuts telling
us about the concentrations of fish (walleye, I assume) at the 50-70ft
range. The problem is that I have no idea how to tell how deep my rig
is. I basically let out line until I felt bottom and then reeled it
up a bit. Once we started drifting/trolling it was basically a crap
shoot. No luck. I was thinking of spooling out some line in the yard
and tying some thread to it at 20ft intervals. Is there a decent way
without resorting to this?
Thanks for any help!
Mark

When fishing for salmon we generaly strip out line.
( grab your line and straighten out your elbow ) if your reach is 24 "
you have a fair indication of how much line is out . if your line is
straight down this is a good indication. when you troll the drag will
raise your bait or lure much higher

Mike wrote:

When fishing for salmon we generaly strip out line.
( grab your line and straighten out your elbow ) if your reach is
24 " you have a fair indication of how much line is out . if your
line is straight down this is a good indication. when you troll
the drag will raise your bait or lure much higher

I did exactly that. I figured about 3-4 line pulls for every 10ft. It's
the part you mentioned when I'm trolling that I'm having a problem with I
guess. I will probably head out and get a Dipsy Diver and see how that
goes. I don't know that I'll be presenting my lure to the fish
appropriately, but at least I'll be in their little faces.

Mike wrote:

When fishing for salmon we generaly strip out line.
( grab your line and straighten out your elbow ) if your reach is
24 " you have a fair indication of how much line is out . if your
line is straight down this is a good indication. when you troll
the drag will raise your bait or lure much higher

I did exactly that. I figured about 3-4 line pulls for every 10ft. It's
the part you mentioned when I'm trolling that I'm having a problem with I
guess. I will probably head out and get a Dipsy Diver and see how that
goes. I don't know that I'll be presenting my lure to the fish
appropriately, but at least I'll be in their little faces.

One of the great fishermen of all times, Buck Perry basically think that the
most important thing is to locate the fish and put yout bait / lure in their
area. Once you are doing that then you can refine presentation (speed) for
the best bite. After you have that down then you play with color and other
minor details.

Buck and I disagree on some of the details, but over all it makes pretty
good sense.

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"Werlax" wrote in message
...
Mike wrote:

When fishing for salmon we generaly strip out line.
( grab your line and straighten out your elbow ) if your reach is
24 " you have a fair indication of how much line is out . if your
line is straight down this is a good indication. when you troll
the drag will raise your bait or lure much higher

I did exactly that. I figured about 3-4 line pulls for every 10ft. It's
the part you mentioned when I'm trolling that I'm having a problem with I
guess. I will probably head out and get a Dipsy Diver and see how that
goes. I don't know that I'll be presenting my lure to the fish
appropriately, but at least I'll be in their little faces.

Bob La Londe wrote:

One of the great fishermen of all times, Buck Perry basically think that the
most important thing is to locate the fish and put yout bait / lure in their
area.

I keep it there, it makes all the deference in the world

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com