12-04-2014, 08:30 PM
"I hate to take the risk of a skunking but how else does a guy learn?"
[#0000FF]Shane, I have fished with you. I know you know how to tie knots and make a cast. I can assure you that fishing for the whities is not much different in technique and tackle than pitching jig for walleyes.
The single biggest factor is finding the fish. They can be anywhere and/or everywhere. Often they concentrate in one area that they find preferable for their "fall fling". But once you find them you can almost always get a few. Not like walleyes.
I am pretty sure that if you were to show up either Friday or Saturday you would have no problem chatting up other boaters who were finding and catching fish. As long as you stay a good long cast away there is usually not much concern about crowding. By observing you can get an idea of how far from shore the fish are holding and try to duplicate that in the same area until you find willing fishies.
It is no different that learning to fish for any species...on any given water. It may take a little time to get the feel but once you do your past experience and natural abilities will kick in and you will be a pro in short order.
Having a good light (walleye) rod, low stretch line, a smooth reel and a good assortment of jigs will get you started. After that you need to get the feel of the bottom and keep your jigs running just above it or hopping across it. But the more you allow your jigs to touch real estate the more you will be fighting "a piece of the rock". On the other hand, if you aren't hanging up once in a while you may be fishing above the bottom-hugging whities.
While some whitefish smack the jigs with authority, most of them register only as a light "tick"...or as a "rubber band" feel. You need to set the hook with a quick wrist snap whenever there is a change in the force. Hooksets are free. Oh yeah, you also gotta watch your line for twitches. Some hits you don't even feel...especially if there is a breeze.
A final suggestion is to not quickly reel up your jig after it gets back to the boat. Whitefish regulars hook a lot of their biggest fish by making few sexy vertical jigs of their offerings right under the boat before they make the next cast. Those fish both congregate under the boat and also follow jigs for a long ways across the bottom without hitting at times.
I'm sure you will get a lot of good info from Coot's epistle. He knows his stuff and knows how to put it into useable rhetoric.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
[#0000FF]Shane, I have fished with you. I know you know how to tie knots and make a cast. I can assure you that fishing for the whities is not much different in technique and tackle than pitching jig for walleyes.
The single biggest factor is finding the fish. They can be anywhere and/or everywhere. Often they concentrate in one area that they find preferable for their "fall fling". But once you find them you can almost always get a few. Not like walleyes.
I am pretty sure that if you were to show up either Friday or Saturday you would have no problem chatting up other boaters who were finding and catching fish. As long as you stay a good long cast away there is usually not much concern about crowding. By observing you can get an idea of how far from shore the fish are holding and try to duplicate that in the same area until you find willing fishies.
It is no different that learning to fish for any species...on any given water. It may take a little time to get the feel but once you do your past experience and natural abilities will kick in and you will be a pro in short order.
Having a good light (walleye) rod, low stretch line, a smooth reel and a good assortment of jigs will get you started. After that you need to get the feel of the bottom and keep your jigs running just above it or hopping across it. But the more you allow your jigs to touch real estate the more you will be fighting "a piece of the rock". On the other hand, if you aren't hanging up once in a while you may be fishing above the bottom-hugging whities.
While some whitefish smack the jigs with authority, most of them register only as a light "tick"...or as a "rubber band" feel. You need to set the hook with a quick wrist snap whenever there is a change in the force. Hooksets are free. Oh yeah, you also gotta watch your line for twitches. Some hits you don't even feel...especially if there is a breeze.
A final suggestion is to not quickly reel up your jig after it gets back to the boat. Whitefish regulars hook a lot of their biggest fish by making few sexy vertical jigs of their offerings right under the boat before they make the next cast. Those fish both congregate under the boat and also follow jigs for a long ways across the bottom without hitting at times.
I'm sure you will get a lot of good info from Coot's epistle. He knows his stuff and knows how to put it into useable rhetoric.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]