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Thread: Drift Fishing question

  1. #1
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    Default Drift Fishing question


    Getting back into the sport with my son, we have a co-worker who helped us tie on 2 1/32 jigs. The second jig was about 12" up from the bottom. Wind was quiet then got really strong and the fish seemed to like the wind. Is there a speed that is desirable when drifting, I have a drift sock I bought for cat fishing but did not throw it out. At the end of the day we were cruising down the lake but still caught a few. I believe we were moving .8 to 1.0 mph

    Also is there a preferred way to tie on the second jig, he just used a simple knot.

    thanks for any help
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  2. #2
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    Top jig tie it in a loop bottom a knot is ok. Gets windy go to 1/4 ounce jig on the bottom. I'd run them 3 feet apart since you are drifting

  3. #3
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    Default Our Success

    My partner, Walt, and I drift fish for crappie about 90% of the time up here. Great technique that produces some fine catches for us (check out our posts in the "New England" forum below). I would not be concerned with the speed. We've fished in 10 - 15 mph winds; with our jigs just about water skiing as we drift along. We get slammed frequently and not by just the crappie, but yellow perch and bluegill as well. We've even caught bass, rainbow trout and pickerel this way.

    We do favor 1/8 oz. jigs for drifting, as they do keep the baits out of the top water chop. But we've never had to resort to 1/4 oz. or larger. I don't know what it is, but a heavy chop on the surface equals a ferocious bite for us! We are only allowed 2 rods per person here in MA. We've many days with over 100 fish (all CPR) between the two of us, in about 4 or 5 hours of fishing this way. Like I said, I wouldn't be concerned with speed in a chop.
    "A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."
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  4. #4
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    I fist got the idea of longline trolling way back in the late 1970's and got the idea from drift fishing. It was a windy day and I was not doing well at all so I just got agitated and tied on a 1/32 Oz Roadrunner and started drifting over the huge grass flat and started catching really nice size crappie. I was amazed really, so started thinking about what I had come across and then it hit me that I could do this even if the wind was not blowing, I could just use my troll motor to pull it. That was the start of my longline trolling that I still do today. I found several places back then that I could troll along and over the Hydrilla here and just killed the crappie every time I went! It was some of the best crappie fishing I have ever experienced and still have not found a place to beat what I had then. The same of it is once the Hydrilla was killed off a lot and even after it came back, it didn't fill where I needed it to on one special spot. That spot was what I call the greatest crappie hole ever because every time I went there with me and one other person we would average 60 to 70 crappie per hour. We caught some monsters too and all damage was done with the little 1/32 Oz Roadrunners!

    Skip

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  5. #5
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    Thanks guys for replies, I noticed that when the wind picked up we really started to catch them. Then I was worried we were really moving to fast. I had to fire up the big motor to make passes the trolling motor could not handle the wind. We had fun and caught a few

    thanks again
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  6. #6
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    Luv to drift fish when the winds are to aggravating to control the TM, for double jig set-up's try a 3-way swivel with upper jig lighter weight than lower jig & weight depends on depth of water & upper jig 6-8" of leader & lower 24" of leader, however, like Skiptomylu said, a roadrunner can be the most affective, there's just something about how the spinner falls in rocking waves......
    crappie down !
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  7. #7
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    I can tell you from my experience trolling we use .4 to .8 MPH as normal speed via GPS. I also know some kinds of trolling guys use as fast as 1.2 MPH so there is a large range and think you need to let the crappie tell you how fast they want it on any given day as they can and do change.

    Skip

    Peak Vise Dealer
    Tying Materials, Chenille and Hackle
    For Pictures of my Crystal, Nylon/Rayon or
    New Age Chenille Please PM Me! Also I
    have the Saltwater Neck Hackle and some
    colors of Marabou plus other things!

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