Fishing Tip of the Week – 01/08/20

Fishing Tip of the Week

Friday, 31 January 2020 13:18

Deep fishing by Mike Gerry Warmer days are escaping, and the cold temperatures will be upon us before we know it. With that in mind, many of us will head to the deeper water to find our catch of the day. Finding the correct deep presentation will be key. Knowing that the fish are moving deeper because of the cold, we have also found that the bigger fish have moved deeper to escape the pressure of the enormous amount of fishermen on the water. We have approached these deeper fish in many ways, from Carolina rigs with heavy 1 oz. sinkers to A-rig weighted with about 2 or more oz. of jig heads. None of these deeper baits have the catching appeal to me as does a crank bait, but we have not found a way to get a crank bait consistently to the 25 ft. depths to make it as effective as the A-rig has been. Although there are crank baits designed for below 25 ft., it’s still not an easy task to fish it that deep; also, the average fisherman gets frustrated with deep cranking. Some of the best of the crank baiters, fishing the circuit, came up with a presentation a few years ago that we call long-lining. This is where you cast your crank bait out and move your boat with the trolling motor to extend the distance, hence, allowing the crank bait to get deeper by using distance to increase your mathematical depth with the crank bait. This is time consuming and a lot of work to get your bait down deep. One presentation that has escaped many tackle boxes is jigging a heavy jigging spoon; it’s the ideal deep bait and anyone can fish it with just some basic instruction. The key is getting it to the bottom by letting it sink until the line goes slack, then jig it sharply and quickly off the bottom while working it back to you. Then, repeat the process. Jigging spoons catch fish – big fish – and make a day of winter fishing a success by just finding some active deep bites. The trick is working that spoon in front of their face until you get them excited, and they start biting. Deep fishing is not easy, but persistence pays off, so don’t give up. Keep moving until you find the ideal spot. Captain Mike