crazy year?

[hardh2ofish]

Is anyone else having trouble finding fish this year?  I fish a sizable impoundment.  3000 acres or so.  Have been fishing it a lot the same as last year.  We caught a lot of nice fish.  Have been branching out this year fishing similar stuctures.  Can't even go back to tried and true and catch a fish.   Weather patterns have been so up and down.  I know of a few fish being caught.  Some really nice ones.  But everyone is struggling for the most.part.  tried and true in the past is finding ledges in 8' or so with access to deep water.  Alewife forage base.  Marked two good size pods go by right through yesterday.  The bait fish are present.  I think our nice days are pretty high pressure.  Do I need to go deeper? Down off the drops.  I'm about ready to invest in a good underwater camera and just go looking.  Maybe just midwinter?  I didn't get turned on to this lake until end of January last year.  Maybe everything I learned last year hasn't come into play yet.

[thomasthepikehunter]

A lot of the bigger pike are heading deeper this time of year. The smaller ones will stay in shallow all year, but often relate to weeds. I have no idea what the lake you are fishing looks like, but try to find a nice shallow flat with weeds, rocks, and hopefully small fish. If not, find some deep points or inside turns around 25' deep.

[hardh2ofish]

Thanks for the reply Thomas.  I've been thinking about trying to go to those deeper transitions.  I assume you fish dead baits that deep?  Was thinking of tying a three way swivel and dropping a ounce or two weight to keep my creek chubs down where I want them.  Last year none of us could catch a pike on dead bait unless it was fresh alewife taken from a cleaner pike stomach.  I want to see if it can be done here.  Fishing dead baits down deeper.  Something I just haven't given much time to trying.  I have done it just no success.  I'm afraid I'm going to go to  a small 100 acre private lake Sunday just to reaffirm I can catch fish.  I'll probly stare in disbelief if a flag goes up.  That's how bad its been.

[thomasthepikehunter]

You never know with fish (or any wildlife). The fish probably just were not biting. I actually don't like dead bait that much. Some on here seem to catch pike on all kinds of dead bait, and all the time. I've never got that to happen here. It must be a regional thing. My favorite dead bait is no longer legal here, but my second favorite is a frozen sucker. I don't preserve them, I simply put them in a bag and into the freezer. You don't need ounces of weight to get a live bait down deep. Cutting the tail off basically immobilizes the bait, but they still try like hell to move. I actually do that trick no matter where I am fishing. 1/4 or 3/8 oz is all you need. If you don't have a flasher, it might be worth putting on bobber stops to re set the tip ups depth easily. With dead bait I don't like to use any weight to keep tangles to a minimum. If anything, I use split shot right above the bait. Another thing you can try is jigging. A big sweedish pimple with a small sucker or other bait, or a jigging rap work great for deeper pike. One thing to not forget is to try all areas of the water. Don't just set bait 3' off the bottom, try half way up, and 2' under the ice too.

[hardh2ofish]

Thanks again Thomas.  I'll give it a try.  Clipping tails will sure help I know.  Maybe I'll be able to stay with my two strand rigs that way.  I'll have to get a bag of big split shot.