Stalking Fish Armed with a Jig and Sonar On March 25, 2015

By Doctor Sonar Pro Staff Kirt Hedquist

 

Have you ever found Walleyes live bait rigging or pulling spinners, and the fish have been in a positive mood, biting all day.... and then they just plain shut down? The Lowrance is still marking fish but they have become uncooperative and are holding tighter to the bottom, no longer taking your faster presentation?
I live by the motto - Don’t leave fish to find fish. It’s time to get down to their level, and hunt them down.


Armed with a Fin-tech NuckleBall Jig tipped with a minnow, a good jigging rod like one of St Croix’s Legend Tournament Series, a top quality spining reel loaded with superline, and a Lowrance HDS series with Navionics Mapping is key to find those fish that are holding tight to the bottom. Mark your waypoints where the fish where biting earlier as a good starting point. Move around slowly looking for that slight separation or change in the bottom indicating a fish. Drop the NuckleBall jig down into the fish, and use various jigging strokes. This technique is where the Lowrance HDS Sonar unit’s really shine; the jig can be clearly viewed as it approaches the fish, and the jigging motion is easy to see. When a fish smacks that jig, the superline and St. Croix will leave little doubt; set the hook hard!


Start by lifting ithe jig slowly up and down to see if this will entice a strike. If this fails, change up the cadence by holding the jig stationary in the fish’s face, and if this fails drop the jig to the bottom; the stand up head design keeps the bait pointed up in a tantalizing position and an easy meal will be tough to resist.
If fish are not being marked at the waypoints where they were biting earlier, start moving circularly outward, slowly scanning the bottom. The fish may have moved off to a subtle break, slipped out to deeper water, or moved to near by rocks. When they are relocated, repeat the same procedure as above and SLAM 'em!

by Bruce Samson under fishing tips lowrance

Comments are closed for this article.