Tonight we decided to try late afternoon/evening fishing and we had absolutely no luck, just one tiny sunfish we caught on a garden worm. No matter where we put our shiners at we did not get a strike worth setting the hook. We didn't even get our obligatory chain pickerel of the day.
I guess my question is what parts of the lake should we be looking at during those late afternoon hours up until darkness? I had always thought that dusk was the second main feeding time for bass but tonight was just devoid of any action.
Also what is the Sonar sim mode on our depth finder good for? I can't figure it out.
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The simulation mode on your sonar is exactly what it says, "Simulation." It's not good for anything, and does no productive function. It simply demonstrates what the screen would look like in the event it was being used. It's all pre-programmed.
Like previously mentioned, you probably just had bad luck. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. If it's a large lake, they may have just been somewhere else, on another piece of structure. If you've caught fish doing what you were doing, then you probably weren't doing anything wrong. That's just fishing.
On another note, sounds like you need some training on your electronic equipment. The sooner you learn how to effectively use that equipment, sonar and GPS, you'll be able to put more fish in the boat. Well, you'll have an easier time finding the fish anyhow.
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Yes I've been trying to educate myself about the fish finger. Its tougher than I had imagined.
We actually fished everywhere we've ever had success before and a few new spots to boot that night. Was an off night no doubt, but I was amazed that we didn't get anything, normally we at least land a good sized pickerel or two trolling the shallow weed beds.
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its the watter temp you need to look at..latter in the summer fish goe deeper to get coller temps and more oxygen..i regulary get em in 20 to 30 foot of watter in late august early sept..
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The fish finger, I crack myself up.
I did try some deeper water stuff but I am not really familiar with good spots at that depth in the lake at this point. Being a relative fishing newbie is catching up to my as ability to adapt to new conditions is limited.
What kind of things should I be looking for in the deeper water?
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fish..haha..proper temp..lakes will what they call turnover this time of year...the warmer sufuce will acctually turn over to the bottom and the cooler temps will be on the surface..a fish finder and a simple thermometer so you can check temps at different depths..start there
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If you're trolling around, just use different size planers and/or lures that dive to various depths. When you find the depth range the fish are at, focus there. Keep your eye on the sonar while you're moving, looking for structure and of course fish. If you mark something, work the spot. Get your lures where the mark is.
Remember, when you're trolling, there are many different variables that effect how deep your lure actually goes. The type of line and the pound test you're using, the speed you are trolling, how the lure is rigged, the angle of the rod tips, etc...... The best way to do it is with a down rigger. You can get a lake troll for like fifty bucks or something.
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I agree with Tarpon4me that you use your electronics to find the fish and how deep, then get the bait to that depth. Thats why you have the finger or finder. If you have trouble figuring out the arches, then put it on fish symbol.
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Fish Symbol seems to give a lot of false positives when I use it, plus it wipes out all the extra detail that you get otherwise.
The biggest problem I have is interpreting what I'm seeing aside from fishes. I wish I had screenshots to show what I'm talkin about.
Will you find bass in the deeper water late season or do they still stick to shallow cover?
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Bass will start to move into shore to chase the bait. But we find them deep as well as shallow now. Deep being 10-12ft of water. Yea you do get alot of false readings with the fish symbol.
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