At what point do you "give up?"

[njmccorkle]

This may end up being more of a frustrated rant than a question, but whatever...

I hit Lake Madison, SD this morning. Line in the water by 6:20am. I was in 10-11 fow (haven't found anything deeper in that lake). Weather started out a bit hazy then went sunny with the wind out of the east starting at 10mph then up to 15-20 by the time I left at around 2.

I tried upwind, downwind, and shores parallel to the wind. I fished bottom bouncers, Lindy rigs, tossed jigs, cast jigs, vertical jigged, and drug just about every Rapala I had in the box (deep and shallow). I used crawlers and Gulp minnows on the spinner rigs and jigs (with and without tails) and throw and dragged both natural and unnatural colored plugs. All the while I was trying different speeds and making S turns to try to cover a lot of water. The frustrating thing is that I was constantly marking fish in every spot, both on the bottom and suspended. I marked hundreds of fish today.

By about noon I hit a rocky spot (6-10 fow) that I had hoped would produce some smallies, but got skunked there too. Only concession there was the girl out tanning on her dock. :)

The only things I can think of that I didn't try are drop shotting, live minnows/leeches, and slip bobbers. Who knows if they would have helped though, since it seems that the fish were just shut down all day.

So, in situations like these...when do you call it a day? Do you keep fishing hoping things will turn on or bail to go have a nap on the couch?

[teamlund]

I am as dedicated as the next guy but I think that there are times when fish do NOT want to eat. This is caused, I am assuming, by elements that are out of out control or we don notknow of. When it becomes a daunting task and is no longer FUN than its time to go in and take a fiver or have a refreshing adult beverage. Its not a job, you dont have to be out there 8 hrs but it never hurts:bigsmile:

[fireboat]

EAST wind says it all.

[isudoc03]

Glad to hear that I am not the only who has days in which he just empties the tackle box with no luck.

[Indiana Lou]

Nj, I think you should of joined the girl on the dock. Who knows what you might of caught!! On a more serious note, if it weren't windy and you're fighting the conditions I'd stay out all day. You never know when the fish might turn on. But if conditions are less than optimum, you start getting hungry, you have to take care of nature's call, etc you may as well call it a day. Lou

[krenkey]

Grab a beer sit back and enjoy the day and imagine what the poor people are doing

[krenkey]

oops forgot to mention it could be worse you could be at work or sitting in some office dreaming of being on the water.

[njmccorkle]

EAST wind says it all.

How so?

[Sportdog]

"When the winds from the west, fish bite the best. When the winds from the east, fish bite the least." It doesn't take me 8 hours to give up. For the most part I'm a half day fisherman anyway. After a half day on the water I'm ready for some other activity. I can sit in a deer blind from before dawn until after dark for three days straight before I become a half day deer hunter. It's just the way I am wired.

[colt100]

Even if I was catching 30 inch walleyes one after another, I would have quit when I came across the girl, depending on how good she looked.

In your situation, as long as she didn't break the dock walking out onto it, I would have been going to the shore.

[Seedtree]

Try shallower and slower. Maybe anchor up and try some slip bobbers with live minnows drifted into the shallow weeds on a windward shoreline. Or, maybe they just weren't biting.

[yarcraft91]

That comment on east wind... my experience is that when the wind turns to the east or northeast around here, walleye fishing slows down in a hurry. I've had banner days with a west wind that changed completely when the wind swung around to the NE. Whether on Saginaw Boy or the local rivers, I've seen a pretty consistent pattern with NE winds and my friends tell me they see the same pattern.

I have a small boat on a 2000 acre lake 100' from my door, so on days with NE winds I fish there. If fishing is poor, I just motor back to the dock and have another coffee, mow the lawn, etc. and try again later. People familiar with Saginaw Bay probably understand why I don't head over there when the wind is from the NE. :)

[Mr.Seaguar]

Madison had a bad winterkill couple years ago. There is less than 1 walleye over 14" per acre right now. Even dynamite has only a small chance of success. The SD GFP website has lake surveys online that give good information when choosing lakes. For my money, Madison is a tough lake to fish in a good year. Good Luck.

[RJmjZ]

That young lady on the dock is a good lesson for you. If you don't have your head together for any reason, you will fair poorly. Getting your head together starts one or more days before you make the trip. A long road or two ago I learned to pick the best lake for the weather conditions. For the conditions you described, shallow lakes with poor fisheries should be avoided. It's far better to drive another hour to get to a more productive lake, than spending all day kicking yourself because you didn't. Contrary to some of the comments above, I go fishing to catch fish, and therefore it is a job in a way. But I try not to shackle myself before I start.

[RJmjZ]

Not to take this thread too far afield from your original asking, there are other things needing emphasis when in unfavorable weather, even on a better lake for the conditions.

Accuracy - Subtlety - Sensitivity.

Not all fish are turned off because of poor weather. You need to pick your spots wisely, and be almost pin point accurate fishing those spots and angles to spots. You have to get as near to the fish as possible without spooking them with the splash of your bait. You need to pick the right angle of approach to keep your bait "in the zone" longest.

Subtlety is largely the degree of fineness while finesse fishing. Reaction bites will work sometimes, but finesse approaches will work more often. Anatomically accurate colors and features to baits, live bait, small baits, slow to slower moving baits, jiggled in place baits, stopped baits, and so on is what is needed.

Sensitivity can be practiced. Poor weather conditions often say not only do you have to be both of the first two items to my list, but it says the fish are more sensitive, more subtle, and they are likely in places - physically and mentally - they wouldn't be under better conditions. Knowing this alone makes you more sensitive to the situation. Then there's other feely things. None of us know what clods, how uncoordinated, how insensitive we really are until we try to switch hit. Something to make you more sensitive is to take that computer mouse and operate it with your week side hand. Unless you are exceptional, you'll see immediately you just don't have it together. The switch hit practice will get better after a while, but it likely will never get as good as you think you are on your strong hand side. However, that practice will make you think about how sensitive you need to be on your strong/dominant hand side. . . and, you will become more sensitive.

[njmccorkle]

Madison had a bad winterkill couple years ago. There is less than 1 walleye over 14" per acre right now. Even dynamite has only a small chance of success. The SD GFP website has lake surveys online that give good information when choosing lakes. For my money, Madison is a tough lake to fish in a good year. Good Luck.

Well, that would explain a lot. I didn't know about the GFP surveys, so thanks for that. I had always wondered where I could find contour maps for some lakes.



That young lady on the dock is a good lesson for you. If you don't have your head together for any reason, you will fair poorly. Getting your head together starts one or more days before you make the trip. A long road or two ago I learned to pick the best lake for the weather conditions. For the conditions you described, shallow lakes with poor fisheries should be avoided. It's far better to drive another hour to get to a more productive lake, than spending all day kicking yourself because you didn't. Contrary to some of the comments above, I go fishing to catch fish, and therefore it is a job in a way. But I try not to shackle myself before I start.

Don't try to guilt me into thinking that I was "not in the game" or whatever. I go fishing because I have fun, it's relaxing, and occasionally I get to bring supper home too.

If I had known about the bad winter kill I probably wouldn't have spent my time there. Despite the lack of catching I still had fun.

A teacher has to do something in the summers....

[RJmjZ]

Mccorkle, "Guilt" hasn't anything to do with it. These boards are not just for you, and you are not the only teacher here. I'm sure you know by now, even your students are a great resource for teaching you. If you want your kids to get the most out of their effort, rethink fishing strategy. Then, think how your strategy reflects on them.

[Suzuki]

I stop when its no longer fun. Find something else to do. If you beat yourself to death when the fish aren't biting you just slowly train yourself not to get as excited next time then eventually you may hardly go at all. Keep it fun and exciting. This advice doesnt apply to obsessive type fisherman.

[Jim Ordway]

Sometimes they just shut down and you have to make a location change to find active fish. Perhaps a part of the lake with wave action, current, different structure... you get it. Or maybe, if you never hooked up with your target species, you might have been marking other fish that would not take your presentation. Or, as stated earlier, somedays we get skunked.
Take care,

[dirt]

On days like that I sometimes try to target another species. I´ve often had trips saved because I switched over to bluegill, crappie or bass. To me catching some fish is better than catching no fish. Plus a good mess of panfish makes for a mighty tasty meal.

[oldntired]

Poor lakes = poor fishing.
My son and I are entering our third walleye season. Our first season was very, very frustrating. Our nearest local walleye lake is so terribly mis-managed that the fishing is very inconsistent making it very hard to gain confidence. We started trying other lakes and actually started catching fish using many techniques.
My son and I both boated and resleased 30" walleyes during our second season. I credit the lake we were fishing. Great forage and structure with low fishing pressure.
If the fish arent there, your day will be a disappointment. We drive 5 hours one way to fish our favorite lake. Even on rainy low pressure days with east and north winds we seem to pick off a few nice fish, usually in the late evening. Most days the fish bite all day long so we are trying to learn techniques to catch bigger fish.
If you know the fish are in the lake and the fishing is tough that day then consider it a challenge and dont give up, you may learn one little thing that will change everything.
If the lake is a waste of time to start with then try researching other lakes. Personally I would rather fish one weekend a month on a good lake instead of fishing every weekend on a poor lake beating my head against a wall.
Ken.

[ShadTaxi]

This may end up being more of a frustrated rant than a question, but whatever...

I hit Lake Madison, SD this morning. Line in the water by 6:20am. I was in 10-11 fow (haven't found anything deeper in that lake). Weather started out a bit hazy then went sunny with the wind out of the east starting at 10mph then up to 15-20 by the time I left at around 2.

I tried upwind, downwind, and shores parallel to the wind. I fished bottom bouncers, Lindy rigs, tossed jigs, cast jigs, vertical jigged, and drug just about every Rapala I had in the box (deep and shallow). I used crawlers and Gulp minnows on the spinner rigs and jigs (with and without tails) and throw and dragged both natural and unnatural colored plugs. All the while I was trying different speeds and making S turns to try to cover a lot of water. The frustrating thing is that I was constantly marking fish in every spot, both on the bottom and suspended. I marked hundreds of fish today.

By about noon I hit a rocky spot (6-10 fow) that I had hoped would produce some smallies, but got skunked there too. Only concession there was the girl out tanning on her dock. :)

The only things I can think of that I didn't try are drop shotting, live minnows/leeches, and slip bobbers. Who knows if they would have helped though, since it seems that the fish were just shut down all day.

So, in situations like these...when do you call it a day? Do you keep fishing hoping things will turn on or bail to go have a nap on the couch?

Give up? Why? You just try different things. Different speeds, different lures, different locations. If you can't catch them during the day, try at night.

[Chad]

This may end up being more of a frustrated rant than a question, but whatever...

Only concession there was the girl out tanning on her dock. :)

So, in situations like these...when do you call it a day? Do you keep fishing hoping things will turn on or bail to go have a nap on the couch?

I would haved dropped anchor, pitched out a bobber, had a sanwich or two and enjoyed the view!

[Stoic Cynic]

I give up when the wind hits a sustained speed of about 40mph (depending on which direction its coming from and where I am at the time) ; or it starts lightning. There have been 3 lightning strikes in my area in the last 2 weeks alone...