08-04-2006, 11:41 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Right you are, oh esteemed Z. Throughout my tubing career there have been many occasions when boat anglers have been miffed...nay, outraged...that such a lowly one as I was catching fish and they were not. Some are polite and respectful, graciously asking for information or assistance. Others become surly and hostile to the point of running right over the spot I have been fishing, just to put the fish down.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]These boaters were sportsmen and did not encroach upon our space nor interfere with our action in any way. But, sound carries across the water and I heard the grumblings of frustration as I was reeling in my second wiper as one of the boats was troiling by not too far away.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]An accomplished tuber/angler, in tune with both his tackle and the fish, can often do a better job of figuring out the pattern than someone in a boat who trolls all the time. I have nothing against trolling, but I find it a much less personal approach to fishing than finding the fish, figuring them out and then connecting at the end of a long and accurate cast with the right goodies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That was definitely the case today. Most trollers on Willard Bay believe that you have to troll a deep diving crankbait at a minimum of 2.5 to 3.5 MPH. That works some of the time, but not always. Today it required small plastics, on light heads, with a slow drop and a slow retrieve...at different depths...to get strikes. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short, it was a "finesse" day. There has been a series of storms and fronts moving through and the fish are not stabilized. Most of the marks on sonar were fish suspended at mid depth. That typically indicates fish in a neutral or negative mode. They occasionally feed for brief periods, but will ignore food and/or lures when they go back to pouting. Even flashy reaction bite lures do not get the job done. It takes smaller and slower offerings to get the fish to yawn.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finesse Float Tube Fishing 101.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]These boaters were sportsmen and did not encroach upon our space nor interfere with our action in any way. But, sound carries across the water and I heard the grumblings of frustration as I was reeling in my second wiper as one of the boats was troiling by not too far away.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]An accomplished tuber/angler, in tune with both his tackle and the fish, can often do a better job of figuring out the pattern than someone in a boat who trolls all the time. I have nothing against trolling, but I find it a much less personal approach to fishing than finding the fish, figuring them out and then connecting at the end of a long and accurate cast with the right goodies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was definitely the case today. Most trollers on Willard Bay believe that you have to troll a deep diving crankbait at a minimum of 2.5 to 3.5 MPH. That works some of the time, but not always. Today it required small plastics, on light heads, with a slow drop and a slow retrieve...at different depths...to get strikes. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In short, it was a "finesse" day. There has been a series of storms and fronts moving through and the fish are not stabilized. Most of the marks on sonar were fish suspended at mid depth. That typically indicates fish in a neutral or negative mode. They occasionally feed for brief periods, but will ignore food and/or lures when they go back to pouting. Even flashy reaction bite lures do not get the job done. It takes smaller and slower offerings to get the fish to yawn.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Finesse Float Tube Fishing 101.[/#0000ff]
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