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I fished Strawberry yesterday 1/17. I saw OK numbers on the fish finder, but only a few actually bit.
Almost every fish I saw on the finder moved into view from the bottom, moved up toward our baits, and then dropped before exiting out of view.
What information should I take from that? Should I move into deeper water? Are fish hugging the bottom a sign of being inactive?
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I saw a lot of the same on 1/16. I was in 22 ft. and when I had my bait at 16ft I could get them to come up, but didn't typically take. I found that my best action came from having it on the bottom already and caught a lot this way. I would do a lot of erratic jigs to attract the fish and end up with doing a bounce off the bottom and pulling it about an inch or two off the bottom, so when they came over I could dead stick in front of them and they would take it. Give that a try next time you are out. That seemed to do the trick for us. They were taking white glow tubes more than paddle bugs or other bates as well.
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in my experience you should be fishing the bottom, just a couple inches off of it. When you see suspended fish reel up to them and try and catch them but stick to the bottom in general for most of the fishing. If they aren't biting, try dead sticking one pole. Many times I jig one pole to "call" the fish in and leave the other pole dead sticking and they hit that one. Just depends on what the fish are doing.
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I did notice that I got the fishes attention by dropping my bait all the way down, hitting the bottom and then reeling it back up 4 ft or so. Next time I'll try leaving it down just a few inches or a foot from the bottom and see what happens. And I definitely need to pick up more glow tubes.
I'm still curious if there's any way to tell whether I should be moving deeper, more shallow, or moving to another area entirely. I was seeing fish, but not the constant marks I've seen on better days.
Thanks!
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I only saw one fish enter the view suspended significantly off the bottom. I figured my baits were at an OK depth because the fish kept moving up to look at them - I just thought I must be using the wrong lures or tipping with the wrong bait.
I'll definitely fish closer to the bottom next time. Thanks for the info!
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One thing to consider is that your lure / tackle combo could be contaminated.
I had the same thing happening to me and then accidentally forgot some gear at home (like... all of it) so I got replacement gear the morning I went fishing and saw a big difference. Very similar gear and a huge difference.
Then I tried comparing the two setups (old and just purchased) and without fail, the old gear fish would come into view, show up on the finder and then not even hit. The new gear, not the issue.
I'm not saying go out and replace all of your fishing gear, but if your auger leaked fuel on your gear then maybe that's what you need to do.
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I've found that if they come in to look but don't commit change up jigging patterns, find what they want. If that still won't entice the bite then change up colors if possible or change sizes.
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That's why I love fishing with a sonar and will until the day I die. Being able to see how the fish behave is amazing.
The issue you're seeing is something we all deal with (those with sonars anyways). It could mean 1 or 2 things or even a combination of things. It could be the simplest of things such as the color of your jig/lure/bait. It could be the size (too small or too big). It can be the smell, worms or lack of worms from another fish 'hit and run' as I call it. It could be the color of your line. It could be how your jig/lure/bait is being presented (horizontally/vertically). It could be sound (rattling spoons). Tons of options.
Another thing to consider is sounds and sights above the ice. If it's a blue bird day shadows shoot down into the water. Have you ever walked by a stream and cast your shadow into the water and you can see all the fish swim as fast as they can for cover? Or watch a hawk fly over and watch the same result? Some people play music while fishing, laugh, talk loud, 4 wheeler/snowmobile traffic, etc. It's most likely something with your presentation if they're coming right up to your jig/lure/bait.
Last week at the berry I fished in 35' of water at one point in the day. I was jigging a paddle bug at 15'. Whenever the Rainbows would show up on my screen they immediately raced up 20' and T-boned my jig, every time. The Cutthroats would show up on the bottom and slowly rise and nibble on the jig. They would bite 3-4 times before I finally hooked them.
Sometimes the fish are on fire, other times not. It's the times when they're not when you have to attract them and make them want to bite. I dead stick one pole on my jaw jacker right off the bottom with different jigs/lures/batis/colors/worms than the pole I jig with. That way when I catch a few fish I can start patterning what they want. Do they prefer dead stick over jigging? If jigging, do they like the presentation slow, fast, small jigging strokes or big jigging strokes? I will jig almost constantly until I see a fish show up on my screen. Once I see a fish on my screen I stop jigging and allow the fish to bite.
One thing I've noticed with Strawberry is the Rainbows T-bone my jigs whereas the Cutts like the nibble on the tail a few times before they inhale the jig. Sometimes I just have to sit there and watch my pole get a good solid hit before setting the hook.
I could go on and on but I better stop before the keyboard warriors try to eat me. Lots of trial and error and TONS of time on the Berry. Just have to figure them out. See ya out there.
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