This past weekend on East LaKe Toho was probably the worst I have ever seen fish bite somewhere. Why do you suppose that was? 13 Boats in this, Florida Crappie association, tournament and usally someone figures something out. Not t
his weekend! Those that caught fish caught them in the deepest part of the lake on the bottom. And only 3 teams caught a limit of 7 fish and only one caught 10 fish. The wind was 20mph + and the waves was 2' plus. the moon was not full and most fish had spawnwd out. What would you have tried? I want to build a list of ideas incase I am ever in this position again. I will gladly answer questions that might help me out!

I am not speaking from much experience here when it comes to fishing high winds because my boat is too small to do if safely. However, I've been told and read that sustained high winds can push the zooplankton and other things that form the base of the food chain into the windward side of the lake. The minnows would follow and so should gamefish. The extent to which this happens is probably a factor of how many days the wind has been blowing from that direction. If the wind just kicked up that morning, it probably wouldn't make a difference, but if it had been blowing that way for a couple of days then that might concentrate some fish. How to effectively present a bait to them is another matter. I've never used them, but those long skinny floats (about 12 or so inches) are supposed to ride through the waves with just their tips above water. They might keep a bait more level compared to spider rigging, but I'd say that long line trolling would also keep a bait more level than spider rigging in the waves. Hopefully someone with some real expertise can chime in...

Thanks Dan,

All very good observations. Everyone tried long line trolling but the fish would not take it all week long. Strange I know but they seemed so tired that if you did not put the bait right in front of their nose they didn't bite. Several fish died in the live wells of the guys early in the week and the rest were just terrible weak. I would have tried those bobbers. tough day! Usally, one guy will stumble onto a pattern and catch good numbers of fish. Just not today!

I would added more weight and spidderigged if the fish were through spawning then the were resting somewhere on deeper cover. You have wanted to drag a chain to stay on the fish. Though if George Parker was there and couldn`t get them then it was tough!