How "still" do you need to be still fishing bait in a lake

[Rusty Psoadman]

I was at Elk Lake near Bachelor for a couple of days with the family 2 weeks ago. I marked a ton of fish in only the deepest part of the lake (ie..no fish on screen when in 30 - 40 feet of water, but tons of fish suspended from 40 to 50 feet deep when in 50 feet of water)

Didn't fish much, got out for a couple of 1 to 2 hour stints. I fished worms and Gulp in the early morning when wind was pretty still (0.4 mph or less drift speed on my gps)..but I was not anchored up. I only caught a single fish (a small brookie) one morning.

Later in the evening tried it again..but the wind was blowing quite a bit harder (1.5 mph drifting on my gps)

My question is...when fishing bait, is it pretty important to anchor up and be "still"...or should one expect to hook up sometimes when you're drifting through with bait.

I didn't try jigging or trolling rigs.

thanks for your thoughts.
I'm looking forward to an East or Paulina trip before the end of August..haven't made it up there yet. Great recent posts on East!

[laxmike11]

I was there this weekend and tried still fishing as well and had no luck. but at other lakes i like to stay anchored up and just twitch my line with my finger every once in a while to grab their attention. oh yeah, at elk try casting into the rock beds at the south end. the big brooks like that area

[twisted lines]

those are good trolling speeds :D