I generally troll shallow water, but recently purchased a Helix 9 mega. I'm very impressed with what I see but i'm really lost as the best way to try and catch these deep water fish. Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Scott
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I generally troll shallow water, but recently purchased a Helix 9 mega. I'm very impressed with what I see but i'm really lost as the best way to try and catch these deep water fish. Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated.
Scott
Should be able to vertical jig for them in 20' of water without spooking them .... unless the water is very clear. You can also set a slip bobber and float a minnow over them. It would also probably be able to spider rig them.
When you spider rig a spot like this would you use a heavy type drop sinker with a jig or minnow on a leader?Quote:
Originally Posted by BobB
Great looking images. You could spider rig fish this as long you keep your lines out of the brush. Brush and spider rigging fishing don't go to good with each other unless you can stay above the brush. Also you could used minnows with sinker just hoovering over the brush without moving much.
LittleJohn
I'd be spider riggin that at about 3ft off bottom ... and then raise just a little if baits want to hang up ...
Spider rig into the wind for maximum boat control ...
Rickie
Just curious, Rickie .... why would you run your bait so deep ?? Most fish seem to be showing up in the darker segment of the SI image, and their shadows are well off to the side of their location ... so doesn't that mean that they are closer to the tdx than the logs or bottom ?? And if so, then doesn't that mean that they are most likely "above" those logs ?? And looking at the DI images, it looks as though the logs are close to the bottom & some branches stick up to nearly only 10ft deep. Wouldn't Spider Rigging at 8-10ft deep be more prudent than trying to negotiate that wooden mine field at 15ft deep ??Quote:
Originally Posted by rnvinc
I'm just trying to get a sense of what a SI image is telling me and "where" the fish are actually located in relation to the rest of the images shown on the screen .... in case I have 'ol Saint Nick drop me off a SI unit, someday. :biggrin
Start out about 12ft. Spider rigging. Set two outside poles 14-15 to see how hang brush is. Then adjust. Looks like a great place to cast jigs. Very nice screen shots thanks.:ThumbsUp
Like Bob B said,unless the water is very clear I would vertical jig that thicker brush.I normally like to fish thicker,shaggier areas vertically because I can really get in there and get to where they are with as little hangups as possible.If I was gonna spiderrig that I would start with my baits pretty high(8-10ft deep)and see how I made out.Some of the brush come up pretty high in the water and I wouldn't want to get a bunch of rods all hung up and be scaring fish away and retying a bunch of rods.That's just me though,there's some guys who I'm sure could pick that apart spiderrigging it.
Target depth can be deceiving (especially in SI) ...Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
Baits at 3ft above digital depth will most likely get baits touching structure to verify exactly how tall the structure is ...
Another reason why I'm usually riggin into the wind = boat control when the baits start hitting brush ...
Rickie
Thank you all for the tips, I'll probably try everything that was suggested. The water clarity is usually around 2-3 feet so I will try some vertical jigging. This is a large area with similar cover (probably 10 acres or so) so I want to spider rig it as well. Would anyone care to share their rig for deep water trolling? Drop sinker? Jig weight or maybe jig/minnow combo. I typically troll with a single 1/8 tube jig, but I'm usually in 3-6 fow.
For slow trolling/spider rigging I usually like to use a bass casting sinker on bottom with a lite wire Aberdeen hook(tied on with a loop knot)about 18 inches or so up from that and then another hook 18 inches up from the first hook.I use a size 4 or 2 hook and weight is normally 1/2 ounce or sometimes 3/4 depending on conditions.I really prefer minnows when fishing like this but have used tubes with crappie nibbles with pretty decent results too.I use this way of rigging it over the Capps and Coleman style mainly because I can get one tied up a lot faster and I have less to buy not using the 3 way swivel.
I have used that loop knot before in shallow water to run a minnow above a jig. I'm anxious to try this deep trolling, I think I'll get some 1/2 and 3/4 oz weights and give it a go Friday. Thanks to all for the tips and suggestions.Quote:
Originally Posted by ad1974
Scott
Those pictures are amazing. I don't get anything close to that with my Lowrance units
For rigging to spider rig try a different color and size on each line. Some with minnows some not.
Pictures look good and keeping your lines vertical will help
Excellent scenario for Panoptix.
Anchor off to the side, point Panoptix at brush and fish, cast suspended bait and adjust depth depending on what Panoptix shows you.