help, how to fight the current

[fisher17]

went to fishing walleye in the river.  found some fish on a drop-off.  but the current was fast - dropped a 3/8oz jig head with a live minow, when reached 30ft bottom, it has gone from the sonar signal cone (20 degrees).

so, i was able to see some fish on the flasher, but can not be sure if they are following my jig.  feel like fishing blindly.  finally caught 2 walleye and 2 sauger, one on a northland spoon with minow head, other 3 on the lipless crankbait.  the reaction on the lipless was good, but i missed a lot.  one important reason i think is that my line could not keep straight, and bended at the edge of the hole.

have any idea to help this problem?  or just raise the weight of the jig?

[osiris]

drill another hole down stream a little ways and drop the transducer there untill your ontop of your bait , unless the ice is clear then put it ontop of the ice thats what works for me plus a little jig with the spinning blades is the ticket some days good luck

[eiderz]

If you have enough current to keep a spinner blade going, use a 3-way rig. Put a sufficiently large weight with about 18" of dropper on the dumb swivel, and a spinner with meat on the other, just like trolling!

[fisher17]

thank you guys.  i will try all your suggestions if i have chance to go back this weekend. also, i am thinking to increase the size of the hole to 8 inch (was fishing in 6 inch holes).  hope all these will help me catch more fish.

good fishing

[Gillfisher]

If you put your transducer so the bottom is just below the bottom of the ice and then pull it tight to the upstream side of the hole you can get it to tip slightly so it is looking down stream as well as the suggestions above.

[Yankee Troller]

We fished over some current two weeks ago in Bay of Quinte. I found that 3/4oz spoons helped minimize the angle on your line, but these were also Walleyes up to 13/14lbs. Although, these same spoons took smaller eyes up there too.

[hntfsh09]

All of the above.  I will drill an hole if its real bad, but heavier baits and lighter line will straighten the line a bit too.  Also, what is your cone angle? Many cones now are 20 degrees or have multiple angles, but if you have an 8 degree ducer then going to a wider cone may also solve the problem.  You would have to fish rivers a lot to justify the cost though, just a though.