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I have had a terrible year so far this season. I just got done fishing for 4 days stragiht and never landed a single pike, only had one run off that I screwed up between the 4 days. I understand it is February and the fish are a bit tricky this time of year, but man this is discouraging as this has never happened before. My question to ask is if I am fishing 8-12 ft of water that has very little to no weeds, sandy bottom and the occasional wooded structure, where should I be setting my bait? I usually set up all different depths from 3ft of bottom up. I use fluorocarbon leaders and my buddy runs steel leaders, and are seeing poor results between us. I also run two with blades and beads and I am not seeing any huge increase in flags. Also we fish with large sucker minnows ranging from 6-8 inches.
I would say there's some good advice here. I would also say don't be afraid to exercise your locational prerogatives; in other words MOVE. Sometimes patterns change, like weedlines, like baitfish movement......... Just fished this past weekend on the advice of my cousin. His spot, his layout for pike to 30" or a little better. Very clear water, need to use plastic leaders etc..... I had the hot hole(s), outfished Willard 4:1 and the other guy 12:1 with wire and beads and other stuff. To me it says it's all about location.Don't be afraid to leapfrog tipups through an area to find fish. Be willing to move. Also good advice to see what the forage is. That can point you in a direction.There's a reason they call it "fishing" instead of "catching"..................Good Luck!/m