Draping Spinners In Shallow Water:  Put Yourself in the 10%

HUH?

I guarantee that was the reaction from a large percentage of you when you read our headine for today.

The next thought in your head was probably:

What in the h*** is he talking about?

It’s quite simple actually.

North Dakota Fishing Regs: 2 Rods in the Summer

The practice I am going to talk about today is only made possible by our ND fishing regulations.  An open water fisherman is allotted to have 2 rods in the water.  Really, it is just a numbers game.  Increase the darts thrown and increase your bullseyes.

Fish don’t always follow the rules.

Conventional wisdom says  Spring and Early Summer should have Walleyes holding in NOTHING deeper than 3-4 feet.

A few Springs ago, my fishing partner and I were following that wisdom, hitting a wind blown shoreline hard with crank baits.  The shallow water temperature was right where it should have been for a Crank Bait Smackdown.

GOOSEEGG!!

We couldn’t understand what was going on.  We were in the right spot, in the right temperature area, with the usual colors and we were getting nothing.

We continued on the shoreline and dropped spinners with leeches trailed behind bottom bouncers in 7 feet of water and almost immediately started hooking up with some big walleyes, some too big to keep.

As we adjusted our boat depth we began to notice a massive fly hatch with larvae and casings littering the water surface.  There was none of this activity up shallower.  By draping those spinners over the outside edge we were able to locate the active feeding fish and turned a goose egg day into a successful trip

Capitalize On The Resources Given

With the ability to employ 2 rods, a person can optimize their presentations.  I have never met a fisherman who could effectively pitch crank baits with two rods at one time.  That leaves the early open water crank bait pitcher with only one rod in use.

With any good rod holder, that same fisherman can increase his chances of hooking into some Walleyes, by simply dropping a bottom bouncer with a spinner and setting the rod in the rod holder on the outside edge of the boat.

I can’t count the number of times we have discovered more active fish and Perch schools doing this.

Electronics are great and getting better by the day, but those electronics are only telling you that there are fish, not necessarily active fish.

The draped spinner tells me that the deeper fish are either more active or less active.  Seldom do we not drop spinners down when we are pitching a shoreline.  There is just too much information gathered by simply having that rod in the water.

Adjust The Presentation For The Time Of Year

On our recent trips, and throughout this early season, we will be using bigger spinners with a single hook.  Leeches are the live bait of choice right now and we are targeting Walleyes in the shallows.

As the water temperatures rise and the days get longer we will be moving deeper and deeper.  As we move deeper we will be changing that presentation up a little.  When our boat is in 8-12 feet of water but we are still pitching weed edges in 4-6 feet, we are gong to switch to smaller spinners with double hooks (crawler harness) and use night crawlers.  Looking for those Perch that are starting to come out of the weeds.

Some of my biggest Summer Fishing Walleyes have come doing this.  It is amazing how many Big Eyes will bite on a Number 1 spinner with a crawler.

Just because you are a pitching guy and like the action of casting doesn’t mean this tactic won’t help you.  The information gathered by having that spinner running a little deeper can be vital in turning a frustrating day into a successful trip.

1st Annual Like/Share Facebook Guided Trip Giveaway

Right now, on our Facebook page, we are running a Like/Share Giveaway.

Simply go to our Facebook page by clicking the link on the heading.

Like and Share yesterday’s post.

You will have a chance at 2 days of guided fishing on Devils Lake with us at devilslakefishingreport.com.

Good Luck Out There!

Hold On To Your Rod…

And…

CATCH MORE FISH!!