[Gut Hook]

Headed up for some perch Wednesday and Thursday. Sure would be nice to throw a few fat wallies in the ice box after a limit of jumbos.

So - what would the chance of dragging some worm harnesses in "drifting style" out in the deeper water? Unfortunately I'm just not set up to troll - though I do have a few inline planer boards and trolling bags.....just not the 20,000 bucks worth of stuff to go the distance.

 

[Misdirection]

We used to drift fish Bula and Conny all the time. If that's what you have the gear to do, there are fish to be had. You just gotta find an active pod and keep the junk at bay.

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[hearttxp]

Headed up for some perch Wednesday and Thursday. Sure would be nice to throw a few fat wallies in the ice box after a limit of jumbos.

So - what would the chance of dragging some worm harnesses in "drifting style" out in the deeper water? Unfortunately I'm just not set up to troll - though I do have a few inline planer boards and trolling bags.....just not the 20,000 bucks worth of stuff to go the distance.

hey Gut Never fished there But I would say Yes. Find out what depth they are and target them. Do not be afraid to reel. Drift fishing isn't just pitching it out and hanging on. It is working the swing maybe or touching the bottom with 1 1/2 oz sinker and reeling it back at a decent pace. Or if windy setting draggers/Bottom bouncers out.

Just don't drag them. Work them.

I'm sorry but if it wasn't so dam far I would come down and help ya out !

Good Luck

 

[Gut Hook]

Thanks guys. I'm reading through Conny posts - and can't seem to find one that gives me an idea how deep they are. Most posts have dipsey settings or how far back.

I'm guessing we'll just have to figure that out. Gonna have some fun trying - and I'll sure post my results when I get back.

 

[Misdirection]

We have been catching them 50' down in 65'+ of water.

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[Rod Hawg]

Thanks guys. I'm reading through Conny posts - and can't seem to find one that gives me an idea how deep they are. Most posts have dipsey settings or how far back.

I'm guessing we'll just have to figure that out. Gonna have some fun trying - and I'll sure post my results when I get back.

Good luck. Curious to see how ya do. I fish with a guy that's always wanting to drift fish up there. We troll and kill em that way. But they are a blast to catch on stand up tackle.

 

[hearttxp]

Thanks guys. I'm reading through Conny posts - and can't seem to find one that gives me an idea how deep they are. Most posts have dipsey settings or how far back.

I'm guessing we'll just have to figure that out. Gonna have some fun trying - and I'll sure post my results when I get back.

Gut You do not have fish finder ? Sure hope so ?

 

[flylogicsteelhead]

Absolutely, I used to drift fairport with my good buddy in 62-65 fow, we usually would box 2-4 fish per man in 3 or so hours.


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[Neo]

Why not just throw 3 oz of lead in front of your harnesses and troll? I read where quite a few guys were doing well with that program both with inlines and off the back in combo with dispsy's.

 

[hearttxp]

Why not just throw 3 oz of lead in front of your harnesses and troll? I read where quite a few guys were doing well with that program both with inlines and off the back in combo with dispsy's.

Neo It is all about setting the hook when you feel the bite ? That is why some cast & drift and don't troll !

 

[Rik]

I put up a post about Sunday fishing Conneaut/ashtabula with info about depth a couple replys down.Misdirection was dead on..

 

[Workdog]

When you cast it is with one rod... why not just troll with that one rod in your hand instead. You still get to feel the hit, and harness is in the zone 100% of the time. One rod out each side and one out the back. Run a 3 oz/145' at 1.5-1.6. Dipsies would be too hard to hold in your hand for any length of time.

 

[sherman51]

theres no reason why you couldn't catch fish drifting but your going to need some heavy sinkers to get you down to the fish. most of the fish are going to be about 50 to 60 ft down. I would use a 2 or 3 oz sinker and try letting in out until I hit bottom then slowly reel it in about 50 to 75 ft. or just let out about 135 ft with a 3 oz sinker. you can count the passes on your reel to get your footage. just have someone pull line off your reel and keep count on how many times the line goes across your spool then measure the line out this will give you a close idea how much line to let out.

good luck to you and let us know how your fishing goes.
sherman

 

[Neo]

Neo It is all about setting the hook when you feel the bite ? That is why some cast & drift and don't troll !

I understand what your saying. When I read his OP it sounded like he didn't think he could troll because he was lacking the right equipment so I was trying to give him some option using what he had or he could pick up without sending a bunch of money.

 

[boss302]

Here's a 2 rod drifting technique to try...works for me in 50+ flow, should work further east as well. We call it long line drifting...can be quite effective.

Cast out your harness and let it sit..spooling out line as you drift. Once you have a ton of line out (100 yards+-) lock the bail and start working it back in. I like to get my rod really loaded up by reeling fairly quickly and making a couple long sweeps of the rod tip. This gets your lure up off the bottom a bit. Then, retrieve fast enough to keep the rod loaded. Sometimes a steady slow crank works, other times its a pull and pause. As you work your line in you'll come up off the bottom and into the active zone. If fish are on/near bottom, stop your retrieve part way in and free spool to get back near bottom.

For second rod, spool it out while working the other in, or drop a bottom bouncer and place it in a rod holder.

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[Gut Hook]

Enjoying all the input here guys. Thanks.

For clarification - my boat is a haggard old Sea Ray. Fantastic drifting and perch boat, but not fully rigged out to troll.

I have 2 Amish Outfitter trolling bags I just rigged up. Without them, my boat can't get down below 4 mph. As you know - this makes trolling impossible. I'm pretty sure these things will do the trick though.

Second point - my rods/reels are typical casting rigs. No line counters, wire or braided. Just 8 lb. mono.

I have made 2 rod holders from 2 x 4 sections which have a Scotty (yes - I know...) holder on the end. These will extend one rod out each side of the boat. So I'm "set up" if you can call it that - to troll 2 rigs and my partner can run another pole straight out. I'm pretty sure we can drag something enticing around and am looking forward to the adventure. Just in reading all the posts by Carpetbagger (and others) has me drooling for some walleyes once we tackle the perch.

I was hoping to hear "Oh yeah - just go way out there, cast your harness and give it some line" which would certainly be better than nothing. I'm now of the opinion we may very well catch a few fat girls with my make-shift trolling set up.

Looking forward to it - I'll be out there tomorrow afternoon and Thursday morning if anyone wants to know how I'm doing catch me on 68.

Gut Hook.

Thanks again guys!

 

[hearttxp]

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=192556

I am No expert by No means but there is plenty of good info in this thread. Read thru it and see what you can learn.

3 of us got our 18 this morning in less than 3 hours All casting in 40+ feet of water out west here. Biggest 29"

 

[Gut Hook]

Thanks for the encouragement Hearttxp - I have read the other thread on drifting. Great info there. Going this deep for them will hopefully be a great new adventure for me. We're going to drift at first and be ready to hillbilly troll if the drifting doesn't work. This is, of course, after our limit of jumbo perch. Those perch over there are incredible!

 

[SteelEyes]

Guthook,
I've often wondered the same thing. I fish out of Conneaut and Ashtabula. When we fish the inland lakes we drift fish. That's also what we do when we got to the western basin.
I imagine it's a pretty tough technique here in the central basin, not really because of depth, but because of the difficulty in finding the fish. Just don't cover as much water when drifting compared to trolling.

As was said right now we have been getting the eyes at a depth of 50' in 68'-75' of water. That is quite a ways off the bottom. Last year at this time every fish we got was on the bottom in the 68-76' range. They don't seem to be schooling up much this year either. Point being, if you don't have good luck this year don't give up.

In June we were perch fishing out of Conneaut in 62' of water, one morning my anchor didn't grab for some reason. We drifted for a mile at .5 mi/hr, still caught perch. 1/2-3/4 oz sinkers on our crappie harnesses, and braided line kept us on the bottom, but with a little to much action. So the techniques you use elsewhere would still work, would just need to adjust weight for depth and wave/wind action.

 

[hearttxp]

Thanks for the encouragement Hearttxp - I have read the other thread on drifting. Great info there. Going this deep for them will hopefully be a great new adventure for me. We're going to drift at first and be ready to hillbilly troll if the drifting doesn't work. This is, of course, after our limit of jumbo perch. Those perch over there are incredible!

Most of the fish we have been catching in deeper water have been tight to the bottom ! not many are suspended ! Been casting 1 1/2 oz sinkers with our harnesses Touch bottom and reel !