I fished Hagg from my boat a lot last season...3 weeks before it closed I was killin trout pulling Ford Fenders with a small worm. Trollin 1 mph with a 1/4 oz split shot. 1 week before it closed I was running the same setup, however nothing was biting. I could see fish on my FF but no bites. I assume that the fish went deeper and I was not getting down to them. Also, the lake level was really low, the boat launch was like a 1/4 mile long and there was a lot of shoreline exposed. This leads me to my question (finally): If I am not catchin anything when trolling with the above rig and see fish on the FF, what is the best way to get them to bite? Add more lead to the Fender rig? Troll Slower (not sure that is possible)? Anchor up and drop some Power bait on there heads? Suggestions?
trollin4trout
02-29-2008, 02:46 PM
At least you had a good day during that time. I went twice (slow learner) during the last month last fall and got completely skunked both times. Fish all over the screen. Nada.
Some days they just don't bite. However if you didn't try changing something and/or everything about your presentation, and just kept trolling with the same thing that was "magic last time"- you may have just missed giving them what they want.
A different speed, a different bait, a different depth, a different lure, a different color, etc. Sometimes they're just very picky about what they'll take. If you don't try different stuff when what you have is not working, you'll have a lot of long, slow, days ahead.
So change it up often- I give'm 10-15 minutes and then switch.
Watch for our reports after this weekend and we may know some things that are working- or maybe we'll be scratching our heads:D