Do You Know How Deep You Are Actually Fishing?

[slabbandit]

I almost always vertical jig with a 1/4 oz Bighead Jig or tightline minnows with a 3/8 oz lead. But i have noticed by watching my depthfinder that just a slight angle in my line raises my baits several feet shallower than I want to be fishing. I can put out 2 more feet of line than the length of my 11 foot pole which is 13 feet of line and according to my depthfinder my baits will rise as much as 6 feet while making a slow turn.
I have just recently went to a 3/8 oz weight on my minnow poles instead of a 1/4 oz to help with this. Since we are fishing 12 to 14 feet deep right now due to high water I am thinking about tieing on two 1/4 oz jigs or using 1/2 oz. weights on our minnow poles.

[crappie cowboy]

At first you said you jig fish, but later you said your jig raises when you make a slow turn, to me that sounds like your trolling.
Are you holding the pole, or have them in holders?. I spider rigg, and they will
raise up while making a turn, if you go a little fast.
I spider rigg very slow most the time, just bump the tm every now and then.

srm

[slabbandit]

I'm kinda vertical jiggin' but may have an extra pole out also. I also spiderrig too. I also notice that I usually pick up a fish or two when I make a turn. Probably due to the baits rising and falling.

[badbrad]

Do you add weight along with your bighead jig? I use a size two split shot on the line along with the jighead.

[slabbandit]

No, normally just the jighead but might add some weight today to stay more vertical at 14 to 15 feet deep.

[Darryl Morris]

Most of ya'll know that Jerry and I do what we call "hovering" -- rods in holders off one side of the boat fishing a single bushpile. Sometimes it's like slow trolling in circles, left and right, forward and back, really working a spot over. We don't use an anchor but rather use the trolling motor to move the baits around the condo looking for that sweet spot. Our slipfloat rigs are only weighted with two small splitshot (#7 and a 3/0), not much weight at all. So, when pulling or pushing them around the spot they will gravitate up even when moving very slow. In order to adjust for that all we do is pull baits where we want them and then use the trolling motor in an opposite manner to stop the movement and put slack in the line between the float and the rod tip. By doing so the line and weight falls back verticle and the float will stand up. Leave it there a short while expecting the bite. If nothing happens move them to a different spot on the brushpile. Of course, the wind is always a factor when hovering. Just get your bow into the wind, pull forward and then let the wind push you back standing the floats up again. Stay ahead of it and don't get behind or you'll be dragging your bait the whole time and never get them down where you want them. Maybe something in the above description you can adapt for your technique to help. I read and been told many times that the key to slow trolling or spider rigging is "boat control." Personally I perfer to call it "bait control." You have to have as much control to stop them as you do to move them.

[slabbandit]

Thanks Darryl, Here it is so hard to get out of the wind most of the time if we want to fish we just have to deal with it. Yesterday we were fighting 10 to 15 mph winds and trying to keep our baits down around 13 feet. The brushpile that we caught our best fish on is only about the size of my boat. What set-ups do you guys use to troll Bandits? Line size, rods, speeds,ect.