What should of I done different

Was on the local lake drilled about 1/2 dozen holes and did some hole hopping. the one hole in the deeper water I dropped down and caught a dandy preach, I thought oboy, were going to hit them today! for the rest of the day I had fish charge the bait, and back away. tried dead sticking, they come up and look and swim away. tried down sizing, upsizing, switching bait, colors, jigging motions, all with the same results, charge in and go away, I tried jigging them up and they would chase up to 4′ and then spook. finally went home frustrated,, any idea’s guys?

Some days are just like that. Various weather patterns sometimes just put the fish in a Negative feeding funk. When you say deeper water – How deep were you fishing? Are you using a spring bobber? If you are not I bet you are getting bites and just not noticing them. Prior to starting to fish a spring bobber I often had the same situation as you. Once I switched to a spring bobber I found out how light the bite sometimes is. I’ve caught fish while other around me fishing a standard bobber never caught a single fish. I would not have believed I was missing bites if I had not seen it many simes since switching

One other thing on tough bite days is to always keep fresh bait on your hook. It doesn’t matter on some days but when the bite is tough it can make all the difference. I prefer eurolarva on tough bite days. They move around on the hook much better than wax worms. I;ve played cat and mouse with fish many times and as soon as I switched to a fresh larva they smacked it right away

Those are more than likely tiny perch…not worth your time.

spring bobber Had a rod rigged with one and never thought to use it.
I was in 32ft. of water of a fairly steep drop.

Most def. tiny perch. That 1st fish was a rogue biggun, made you believe the other marks were the same-keep moving and drilling big ones will hit strong.

There are times when you need a more neutrally buoyant lure. Use the lightest of weight that you can get away with. These fish are not into biting and swimmning away fast. These fish often just slurp up the lure.

I agree 100% that you were seeing little perch after the bigger one hit. Once an area gets bombarded by little perch, the bigger ones stay below them and often get tight lipped.

Two things you can do that will make a difference.

1: Move. It doesn’t take a big move. There are bigger fish there. Just hop over 50′ and try again.

2: Try a slow falling minnow. I don’t know why it works, but it does. The little ones will watch it fall and it triggers the bigger fish. Put a crappie minnow on a light jig, or even a bare hook (without any additional weight) and let it slowly free fall on it’s own with an open bail. It’s painfully slow in deep water, but try it.

Watch your line as it’s falling. You might have 20 marks on the graph (mostly dinks), but if your line stops sinking before it hits the bottom, set the hook. Chances are it’s a bigger fish. If nothing hits, reel back up above the little fish until they stop chasing and drop it again.

I’m guessing you were on a lake that starts with a “B?”

Just letting a minnow sit under a float or jigging doesn’t work nearly as well. It has to be falling through the school. 60% of the time, it works every time.

I personally dislike spring bobbers but each to his own. As someone else posted I’d be willing to bet they were small perch and a spring bobber is’t going to change that.

I wasn’t there but the way you describe the first fish hitting right away makes me feel like you needed to move more. I’d have to say if the first big fish ate others would have too if you found more big fish. I would have drilled 20 holes in each direction and fished each hole for a min or two. If there was a good fish in the area I’d be willing to bet you would have caught em.

I’ve had similar things happen many times throughout the years. Good luck next time out.

1. move

2. Move

3.move
Drill drill drill

Definitely little perch. I picked up a cheap Aqua-vu this winter and it’s already saved me from chasing marks not worth my time.

One day last year when it was -22F and the wind was lightly blowing I only wanted to set up once and not move. I set up on a lake that holds more tiny perch than you can count and I was right on top of them. The difference is they were hitting, I could’ve caught over 200 tiny perch with ease but I wanted some bigger ones. I up sized everything, I used a 1/4oz jig and the fattest fatheads I had along with a bobber bigger than necessary. It worked like I hoped. Only big perch would eat the big bait and I waited until the big bobber went under. I didn’t even bother looking at my Vexilar because there were perch stacked up there the whole time. Just thought this might help when dealing with those pesky tiny perch.

B-man wrote:

I agree 100% that you were seeing little perch after the bigger one hit. Once an area gets bombarded by little perch, the bigger ones stay below them and often get tight lipped.

Two things you can do that will make a difference.

1: Move. It doesn’t take a big move. There are bigger fish there. Just hop over 50′ and try again.

2: Try a slow falling minnow. I don’t know why it works, but it does. The little ones will watch it fall and it triggers the bigger fish. Put a crappie minnow on a light jig, or even a bare hook (without any additional weight) and let it slowly free fall on it’s own with an open bail. It’s painfully slow in deep water, but try it.

Watch your line as it’s falling. You might have 20 marks on the graph (mostly dinks), but if your line stops sinking before it hits the bottom, set the hook. Chances are it’s a bigger fish. If nothing hits, reel back up above the little fish until they stop chasing and drop it again.

I’m guessing you were on a lake that starts with a “B?”

Just letting a minnow sit under a float or jigging doesn’t work nearly as well. It has to be falling through the school. 60% of the time, it works every time.

We may be thinking of different well known perch lakes that start with a “B,” but the one I’m thinking of doesn’t get anywhere near 30’+ deep with sharp breaks….so I’m guessing not, but I’m know to be wrong frequently.

But, I was just out on that “B” lake, and same story. Nothing but dinks, and I drilled many, many holes. Very frustrating day.

I had the same problems the last two days out. All of these suggestions are helpful! Thanks!

Smllgmhuntr wrote:

I had the same problems the last two days out. All of these suggestions are helpful! Thanks!

Move
Move
Move
Drill drill drill, jig jig jig