OK… This might seem to be over emphasized, but if your not versed in utilizing electronics while fishing deep water Walleyes and Pike than spend the time to understand what your seeing!! Trust me if your in 10 fow then most fish are going to notice your presentation, but when fishing a 30-45 foot water column there will be many fish that never see your presentation if your not closely monitoring the action on your flasher. I personally like my gain up as High as I can set it without getting too much interference. Marcums are fantastic for allowing this without clutter. Now the reason in my opinion you want to do this is to detect fish entering your transducer cone from a greater disctance. This allows you maybe a couple precious seconds to get your presentation in front of feeding fish. Many people I fish with lack in this department. Might seem overkill, but trust me timing is everthing when it comes to actively feeding BIG WALLEYES. 3 days ago a 29 inch walleye I iced would never had been caught without this knowledge. If they pass underneath you and your a even a second/couple feet behind a fish swimming away then you likely have just missed any chance to lower the BOOM on a big fish. Keep this in mind, and you will land more and bigger fish. As signals show up weak or flash in and out often times you are marking baitfish that just isnt’ leaving solid signals. I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get on top of these marks. I’d say 1 in 5 of these marks turn out to be a big pike or walleye just entering into your transducer cone. Ever notice when you race up the water column fish appear?? LIKELY not just by chance. Walleyes and pike are attracted to this movement as it simulates a feeding frenzy. This can and will attract fish from farther distances. Sometimes when I’m not seeing fish I do this over and over. Try it you’ll like it!! You will be right in front of that fish. snap it hard and then slowly rise up the column!! Watch for the reaction based on the strength of the signal on you marcum. Set flags based on where the majority of the baitfish are in the water column. Think it isn’t important?? Think again!! Bring your Marcum out when your setting flags instead of guessing about where you are on flags. Makes a huge difference. Trust me int he winter time as fish want to exert less energy for meals they know where to be looking. They most always will feed up. They swim say 5 feet below baifish to attack from below. This gives them a stealthy approach on baitfish usually undetected. I your 5 feet too low most fish will not notice your presentation unless being snapped around. Think your buddy always gets the lucky hole?? Probably not that likely. The single greatest advancements in the ice fishing industry are chips and flashers. Neither of these do much good if you don’t understand how to maximize their effectiveness. Maybe that means 2 more fish per day… Who knows?? I can tell you this though whenever fish come in at odd depths where the majority of your target average sized fish are roaming the are the BIGGEST BADDEST DOMINATE fish of the area, and without a close eye on your electronics are slipping right through your fingers!! Relate it to the monster bucks. Most deer hunters realize that big bucks often times utilize a seperate trail system close by the heavily used trails. They work these trails and gather scents from the other trail. Big fish don’t really need to utilze bottom structure for safety like a 14 inch walleye does here on Rainy Lake. SO…. There is not much reason to lay low 20 feet away from a lunch!!
Lastly here’s another tid bit of “What am I seeing” Ever notice a lot of panfish waters show weir signals rising off the bottom at dusk or after dark?? ZOO PLANKTIN Likely those lakes have a very poor night bite also. When I see the zoo planktin appear I pack the bags. They will come in as real weak signals and typically rise a few feet off the bottom.
