Meerkat this may sound a little far fetched but I had a buddy of mine that fishes tournaments and does fairly well tell me once that when those fish are coming off after you remove the board and are getting them close to the boat that he hand lines them in. And that he rarely loses a fish that way. Now I've never tried this but I thought I'd pass it along and maybe somebody else can try it !!! I'm not BS'n either.

 

Went out fun fishing for 30 minutes tonight before I go to work with my 4 year old because she wanted to catch something. Caught 2 sheep's and 2 good sized fish in front of sawmill in 28 fow. Daughter tried to reel them in but they were just too big and fiesty for her to handle. Reefs 25 back at 2.0 mph. Was thinking of burning a vacation day because the fish were stacked up. GPS 34.5 25.5 I think if I remember correctly.

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Had a good day working with Meercat and Chucky "D'. Always more fun sharing info and working together. Tough bite but that is why it is call "fishing/not catching.

 

we dropped more fish than usual this weekend, and a lot that we netted the hooks came out.

 

Has anyone tried free spooling the board when they see a bite? Sometimes this encourages the fish to take the harness deeper. In fact we call it shoving it down their throat. It simply allows them to suck it in easier. It might be worth a try.

About a 4 second drop is all it takes.

 

Tried spooling over the past two weeks and it didn't work. I have never before experienced a bite this strange. Beginning to think that the walleye have gone to "bite school".

 

we were running big boards and had a lot of rods buckle over then nothing hooked up, never seen it like that before. We were also running reef runners. It was a weird bite that's for sure.

 

Really makes you wonder how a fish can bite a lure with two trebles hard enough to hold on and pull a board back and then unload it without getting hooked. I believe those are the walleye that follow for some time. engulf the rearmost portion of the the lure directly from behind, bite down hard and never turn before opening their mouth which allows the back hook to simply clear all parts of the mouth while it is wide open. Same thing for the harness. I am convinced of this based on the hook position on those we boated, mostly centered in the very edge of the top lip. Also explains why most became unhokked once they were in the net.

 

I was in Ashtabula and Conneaut yesterday and every fish fell off in net,weird. crazy thing is we didnt lose any!

 

sometimes I think the fish hits the blade on a harness and holds on not the hook. what are you thoughts ?????

 

It seems that when we are loosing hooked up fish or getting short hits that don't hook up, the fish we do catch are hooked on the outside of the mouth. We think this is due to them investigating the offering with their head and mouth but not actually biting it.

Thus fish that come off in the net or simply come unbuttoned.

 

KPI, I've seen teeth marks on my blades and also on my inline weights before after board sinkers got off and the worm never showed any sign of being touched.

 

@jason pelz I've heard of guys getting the in line weights with grommets and putting treble hooks on them. Guy won a tournament out west and said he saw paint getting worn off his weights, put the hooks on and says he always got a couple on it. I would assume they are pretty aggressive when this happens, despite what the bites been like the last couple days. I'm not much of a trolled but cast fishing the other day I noticed the bit was really weak.


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I'm very new to this awesome sport, been a basshead all my life. I know in that world, bass will inhale baits and never get a barb in them. I just think that when they aren't feeding they hit them out of instinct and natural reaction. Evidently the weather or pressure has them in a foul mood right now, as most reports and contacts I have all have the same story. I always downsized my baits when bass did that, maybe we should try it with these gators as well?

 

My main fishing partner and I both tend to start days literally with a rod in hand (usually with braided line and a harness). This gives us an idea of what type of bite we are going to encounter at that time. When we feel that initial surge..."give" the fish some line (drop the rod back), to let them really grab hold...feel the weight, then pull forward. This really helps us out on those days of light bites, etc. There are days that we end up not landing a single fish on a line with boards, but pull in a dozen this way...

Take it for what is worth, but giving them that extra second or two is how my dad taught me growing up trolling with rods in hand. Hard to not set the hook immediately, but it really seems to work.

 

We also tend to switch to single hooks, and away from the trebles on those days as well.

 

That makes a lot of sense. I've definately learned in my short time that it doesn't hurt to let them have it awhile. I was with 2 newbies yesterday that jumped all over the rods immediately. That could explain it.

 

Good post fishin buddy. Def something I'll try next time.


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If fishing with in line boards, when you see the board dip or start to go back open the bail and thumb it back for a few seconds. Allot of times they just have it in their mouths and don't get a chance to suck it in, this allows them to do that. Drop the rod tip to the back of the boat and give a good steady pull, start reeling in the board, you got um then.