difficult time catching a ok size fish.

[frank82]

hey guys i starting fishing this summer but am having a hard time catching anything big, i tried fishing in scugog i find this lake have to many weeds that travels with the current so you don't know if its a fish or weeds on your line, also when i was there every other boater i saw was just casting out & not reeling in anything, anyways i caught a few sunfish & perch my line setup for this day was a wacky rig worm with a weed less hook then i got fedup & started using live worms. Yesterday i went to rice lake I was using a rapala original floater still no bite again every other angler i saw that were casting out was reeling in nothing, i started using live worms & caught a few small perch in a weeded area. any information to help my chances of catching a ok size fish would be greatly appreciated.

p.s. there was a racing tournament at rice lake don't know if this scared the fish away.

 

[hammercarp]

Have a look at this. Carp fishing for beginners . I hope this helps.

 

[diggyj]

Are you fishing form shore or are you fishing from a boat? If you find weeds and structure, you will find fish but sometimes they just don't bite. Change up your baits/lures and move around if you are in a boat.

Hire a guide for one of the lakes you fish then you will know where to go and what to use.

Dirk

 

[frank82]

thanks for the info & yes i am fishing from a boat i think ur right i really need a guide out there because i don't think i want to spend another whole day going through all that aggravation.

 

[Pinck]

...
p.s. there was a racing tournament at rice lake don't know if this scared the fish away.

This is a key thing that I've learned in my first serious season of fishing. If the fish are "scared away", they have limited places to go. Unlike you and I, they can't decide to leave the lake if boats are being loud and obnoxious. They're still in there somewhere. The trick is to find out where they take cover. Once you do, you'll find them concentrated in those spots more than you would on a calm day, and the commotion on the lake may actually play to your benefit as their senses will be dulled a bit by moving water and noisy conditions.

Now the trick is going to be to figure out where the heck those spots are...

Good Luck!

 

[frank82]

This is a key thing that I've learned in my first serious season of fishing. If the fish are "scared away", they have limited places to go. Unlike you and I, they can't decide to leave the lake if boats are being loud and obnoxious. They're still in there somewhere. The trick is to find out where they take cover. Once you do, you'll find them concentrated in those spots more than you would on a calm day, and the commotion on the lake may actually play to your benefit as their senses will be dulled a bit by moving water and noisy conditions.

Now the trick is going to be to figure out where the heck those spots are...

Good Luck!

ur right i was at the same lake as diggyj & i saw that he caught some big fish in his post i would like to find out if he was using a fish finder.

 

[diggyj]

Was using a combination of things. Local lake knowledge, ie: spots and structure, knowledge of what baits work and don't work as well as full moon phase. My fish finder played a secondary roll. First look for weeds, structure, fish will be there. Fish finder will tell you if fish are there or not but I could turn it off and still catch fish.

Dirk

 

[RedSkullz]

Was using a combination of things. Local lake knowledge, ie: spots and structure, knowledge of what baits work and don't work as well as full moon phase. My fish finder played a secondary roll. First look for weeds, structure, fish will be there. Fish finder will tell you if fish are there or not but I could turn it off and still catch fish.

Dirk

Exactly what dirk said...finding structure, weedbeds, dropoffs will get you into fish. I really only see a use of a fishfinder for finding deeper structure. Pick up some very weedless baits(4.5" tubebaits, 3/0 offset wide gap hook, 3/8 oz bullet weight) and learn how to rig them and then go into very thick weedbeds and work the lure through the weeds pausing in holes to let the bait sink. If there is largemouth bass you will get them. Make sure your rod is fairly stout and you have fairly strong line.(10lb+ mono or ideally 20lb braid)

 

[salmotrutta]

Light line allows you to at least hook into more fish. With light line, fish will be more inclined to bite and keep the bait in their mouth as they swim off with it, vs spit it out because they feel heavy line.

My 2 cents...

 

[frank82]

Wow I never thought catching a few fish could be so technical I guess this is the reason why I see so much anglers casting out all day & not reeling in anything the problem fishing in weeds is ur hook gets stuck in them so u don't kno if it's pulling a fiSh or weeds.

 

[diggyj]

You will know if its a fish or weeds 9 out of 10 times although this year I though a couplke of times I had weeds on but it turned out to be a fish with a pile of weeds as well.

If you rig weedless you will not get caught in the weeds, Texas rigged senkos, weedless tubes, dropshoting a Slammer, etc.....

Also your equipment should be appropriate for what you are trying to catch. Don't use a 7'6 heavy muskie rod with 50 lb PP for panfish or a ligthweight 5'6 or 6 rod with 2 lb mono for muskie. MAybe your setup and line/hook combinations are not ideal for your intended target.

Dirk

 

[frank82]

thanks for all the info guys i really appreciate it am heading back to scugog Saturday that lake is loaded with weeds & the water has alot of current moving the weeds with it. am going to go with a weedless setup like dirk & redskull mention if u guys know of any spots where the fish are in this lake please let me know. thanks

 

[TMRKD]

While in Scugog try to find the Scugog Island marina, from the entrance to it go right and if you keep going you'll hit a nice little cove, there's tons of fish in it.

 

[frank82]

Thanks I have been reading some post where people is saying scugog is over fish since it's the only lake that's open in winter so the fish never gets a chance to reproduce.

 

[diggyj]

Rice Lake has ice fishing and it is a great fishery that is not overfished at all in my opinion.

Dirk

 

[grubman]

Frank I had a great time fishing with you and Kim. Here's the first LMB you ever caught in your life/Ontario/Scugog. Nice catch buddy. Sorry I didn't get a pic of the second bass you got. I'm sure you'll be catching more and bigger in the future. Thumbs up to you and the Jumbo Perch. I never knew Scugog had perch that size 12". I think everyone else on the lake got skunked today. But you're really good at finding the spots where the fish were biting. Congrats on your first and second LMB.