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Author Topic: Stay or Go?  (Read 1321 times)

Offline IceDuck406

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Stay or Go?
« on: Feb 13, 2018, 10:17 AM »
When your having a tough time at a lake, is it better to  move to a different lake? I've been having a tough time finding perch and am not sure whether to focus on changing my method or moving to a new lake where the fishing may be more productive. Thoughts?

Offline SpitzoMT

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #1 on: Feb 13, 2018, 11:43 AM »
Obviously, moving to a more productive body of water should catch you more fish & if that's what it's all about to you then that's cool.....I myself like the challenge of finding the fish & hopefully as a bonus get to catch a few.....I'm a trout fisherman & the amount of insight I've gained by sticking to a certain body of water is priceless.....Putting the time in will eventually benefit you. Good luck to ya !!
        

Offline RuralMT

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #2 on: Feb 13, 2018, 04:54 PM »
My advice would be to avoid the temptation to succumb to the "grass is always greener" feeling.  I've been in situations where moving as little as 5 feet transformed a morning of being skunked into a limit in a hurry.  I marked the two holes on my gps and checked it out in the spring and noticed that that 5 feet moved me from open water to the edge of a weedbed which made all the difference in the world.  What's more, when I was first learning the art of perching, I had a fellow approach me and offer to show me the ropes during late-ice last year.  He handed me some soft plastic minnows (I had been using a glow-jig and maggots like I would for salmon and was catching 1 fish to every 5 of his).  This, again, made a world of difference, and transformed a frustrating morning into a fantastic day on the lake.  Keep drilling, learning the structure/bottom composition of your lake, and play around with the presentations and it will pay off in dividends!

Offline SpitzoMT

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #3 on: Feb 13, 2018, 06:09 PM »
Solid advice RMT.....The info that can be gathered & used by sticking with it is amazing.....I fished a lake heavily for about 6 years & got skunked many times.....What bothered me most was that I knew there was a lot of big fish in this lake, but I wasn't seeing much on the flasher.....The many outings & many hours of recon paid off.....I noticed what time of day they cruised the shoreline & when they moved out deeper.....Heck, I even noticed they liked to cruise back n' forth off a point in the afternoon.....All in all, what I learned resulted in a few more fish on the ice & being skunked less.....Now that I've typed this post, I just might have to go give that lake a try since I haven't been there in a couple seasons.....Good luck out there & stay safe !!
        

Offline Griztrax

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #4 on: Feb 14, 2018, 11:36 AM »
Good question.  I live in Helena and am fortunate to have Canyon Ferry, Hauser, and Holter just minutes from the house...not to mention the Regulating Reservoir and Spring Meadow.  We bounce around all winter because each body of water is unique in it's own way and offers different challenges.  If fishing gets hot in one spot we definitely keep going back but when we struggle we bounce around.  Not everyone has this many solid choices close to home and I understand you may be stuck with what you have because it is too expensive or time consuming to drive to another lake.  One thing that is somewhat controversial around here is asking for tips and suggestions from other fisherman on your lake.  I never hesitate to tell fellow fisherman exactly what I am doing to catch fish...if they simply come over and ask.  Fishing is fun and we all want to catch fish so don't hesitate to ask around - you might be pleasantly surprised at the help you will get like RuralMT mentioned.  Good luck!

Offline missoulafish

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #5 on: Feb 14, 2018, 10:38 PM »
Move to a different part of the lake. There’s been several times this season where I was at a spot, marking fish and they would blow by my presentation. Plenty of fish around, zero interest. I moved to different parts of the lake and for whatever reason those fish in the new area were active and biting. Sometimes all it takes is moving 10 feet or maybe 5 miles. No reason to stay put  if the fish won’t bite.

Offline Lcfraley

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Re: Stay or Go?
« Reply #6 on: Feb 19, 2018, 12:23 AM »
We moved 10 feet farther into the lake and started catching.

 



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