Can't mark fish!!??

[narrows in mind]

What do you do when...you can't mark fish? All your hotspots reveal no fish! You have good electronics (X-85) but just can't mark anything!! Fish the spots(anywayys) by dragging crawlers, maybe aggressive cranking? Move from spot to spot until you mark something?
Move off the spots? Have had this problem several times and is frustrating. Our hotspots would only produce 1 eye once a day! Tried everything. Finally tried new spots and after half day of nothing we marked fish on small hump and had our limit in 1/2 hr. plus some nice perch. Were the fish finally turned on (it was noon, bright and sunny!) or did we just finally find a lucky spot?? My thoughts are they turned on and we were on the right spot!? It's hard to fish a spot when you trust your electronics and they say NOTHING HERE- esp a new spot!!

[s.f.]

lol I can totally understand what or how you are thinking. Been there, done that.
1. My answer to your question about marking fish is based on the type of fish seeing tool you refer to. So...First, I never would fish until I see fish on the screen, UNTIL, I have looked at quite a few spots that commonly hold fish. At the point of NOT seeing fish anywhere, my old saying kicks in. "They ain't got shovels and they ain't got wings." So,there is only a few choices left. The most common( on the great lakes for sure) one is they are above the level of seeing them because the boat is spooking them before they get into the cone. So at that point, one has to fish for those fish to find them. That can be time consuming but that's the way it is. Now, IF, the fishery has very little suspended type fishing history, as will be the case in many inland lakes and reservoirs, then the mindset has to be that the fish are UNDER your fish seeing eyes. (most graphs can't separate fish from the bottem closer than ten inches. what you see, in most cases, when a fish has no daylight under it on the graph, in fact, it is most likely ten inches off. You can usually bet, if you see a fish or two like that, there are many more you simply can't see...so fish)When you see nothing, and have seen this all over the lake, you have to fish common spots, tight on the bottem to in fact prove where they are at. Again, time consuming. And of course, there is such a thing, that the fish are too shallow, but on the bottem, so you can't see them. After I exhaust the previous possibilties, I go out at night with a high beam light and comb the shorelines or shallow structure for fish and then come back to the fish the next day. It's the only time managing way to do it. Fishing to find fish is too time consuming. One always learns more WITHOUT the lines in the water at higher speeds.
2. cover the bases from the start, and be equiped with no fail fish seeing tools. Then there are no questions except how to catch'em. And that is usually easier than finding them.
Sorry for being so long here but hopefully you envsion what I'm saying. "hunt before you fish".

Good luck!

#49er

[SnellTier]

Been there, done that, SF has hit the nail right on the head!!!

I might add ... note the circumstances of your catch and marks ... depth, structure, wind exposure, etc.

Then when you have fished out that spot, look for spots with similar properties (wind, structure, depth) and start carefully combing that new spot, checking first at that prior depth.

If we don't catch a fish in 15 to 20 minutes, we move on.

[manitobawalleye]

another tip to keep in mind is....
when checking reefs look for fish by moving from deep water to top of reef and not top of reef down into deep as you will lose the fish in the bottom signal...also on the drop off itself if you are running parrallel you will also lose the signal in the bottom signal...
never thought of this and when someone suggested it to me it has proven very helpful on our canadian reefs...

[perchjerker]

Steve, just wanted to tell you that was a excellent reply.

This is the kind of info I comb Walleye Central for.

Keep it up, bud!

[s.f]

Thanks...we try. I just hope EVERYBODY, (you know who you are)lol is paying attention, and learning.lol

#49er

[SnellTier]

Manitoba ... help me to understand??? How does the signal of that fish which is lying on the bottom get lost when one moves shallow to deep?? I think I am missing a point about my locator.
Thanks

[SnellTier]

Hey Steve ... should I feel insulted???? lol

[s.f.]

TomD,

I guess I don't follow you. Why would you be insulted? By someting I said? If so, I truly didn't intend to insult anyone. I guess I'm confused.lol Easily done, I know. The "everybody" I mentioned in a previous post was directed, in a funning way, to an angler who frequents this site and who SHOULD realize the little jab I was takin'. I hope!lol lol

#49

[Juls_WI]

yepper...it's starting to feel like accupuncture! But hey, my shoulder doesn't hurt anymore! ;-)

Juls

[s.f.]

LOL LOL LOL LOL

#49er

[manitobawalleye]

tomd
narrows in mind did not ask about fish on bottom... he asked about fishing spots that are not showing fish....
a fish a foot or two off bottom will not show up when you are going downhill but will show up going uphill... i always try when looking to go this way....

[REW]

I have to 2nd the post - about doing a zigzag on structure. Many times I have been cruising down relatively shallow structure, not seeing anything. Then, I will start working the shallow - deep -- deep shallow breakline in a zig zag fashion, and I see the fish on the graph. Start fishing, and sure enough - I catch the fish.

I think that many times, if you are working - relatively shallow structure - i.e. less than about 15 feet, the boat will spook the fish out from under the boat, so that you don't see the fish.

However, often, by going from a deep - to shallow --- or shallow to deep - relatively quickly you will often see the fish, that aren't able to scatter before you see them in your depth finder.

The other thing, that for spring fishing - where a lot of the walleye fishing is done at depths of less than 10 feet; I never get particularly excited about not seeing fish. As a matter of fact, in waters this shallow, I seldom see fish. Nothing wrong with the equipment, simply a case of the boot spooking out the fish.

At these times, I simply look for the depths, look for the breaklines and work the structure, and flats.

When the water depths get deeper than about 15 feet, then it is relatively straight forwared to start seeing and catching fish. At depths shallower than this - the fish are more inclined to move out of the shadow of the boat, as it passes overhead.

The advantage of having a unit that works well at high speeds, is the ability to see some of these fish that you might fly over at 30-40 mph.
Obviously the fish won't have time to spook with the fish moving at that speed - and if you keep an eagle eye on your depth finder, can often spot fish - that are in shallow water, that you would spook if going slow - or aren't even aware that you should be fishing for them at a particular spot.

Take care
REW

[the legend]

You wrote,"I go out at night with a high beam light and comb the shorelines or shallow structure for fish and then come back to the fish the next day. It's the only time managing way to do it. Fishing to find fish is too time consuming. "
What do you look for at night Baitfish or the actual fish???

[Juls_WI]

Glowing eyeballs...;-)

[SnellTier]

Steve ... I realized you were teasing someone you knew ... I was being facetious when I was suggesting it might be me ... I took it all in fun and meant my remark in fun.

[s.f.]

The actual, real live walleye's. Just stand up on the bow, running the electric motor, and shine the light into the water ahead of the boat as far as you can see bottem. Of course, this will vary from lake to lake as far as depth etc. AND, it is hard to do on windy or rippled water. Believe me, when the other boys are sleepin', some of us are workin', and learning very interesting stuff if the fishery is shallow oriented at that given time period. Great way to find fish that live in the weeds.

#49