Marker Buoys

[Gansett]

I fish in the Alabama River where current is pretty consistent. I want to use marker buoys, but don't know if they will work. One I'm looking at has 60 feet of line but I'm fishing about 25 feet. Won't the marker just unravel and move with the current? I'm guessing the best place to use them is on lakes and ponds with little or no current. Am I right?

[wasabi]

How do you fish it with a current? Are you using the trolling motor to stay on top of the structure or anchroing upstream and drifting back?

[Doodlesock]

No you are mistaken. The markers will work better than you are thinking. They are wieghted so that they are lopsided. They will only release line until the wieght hits the bottom and then stop. The only exception being when you have big waves. In big waves they will flop over every now and then but not very bad.

[sixfin]

Gansett,
Just a suggestion but you could rig them like a duck decoy. If you know the water is 25 feet deep, unravel 30 feet and put a half hitch in it and then wind it back up. Everytime you throw it out, it will unravel that 30 feet and then, if the anchor is heavy enough, it will hold it in the current.

[Gansett]

Thanks Doodle. I'm anxious to try them because I have drifted off some hot spots lately. Those spots I'm talking about couldn't be more than 3 or 4 feet in diameter. Drift off it just a little and the action really slows down.
Thanks also to Wasabi, I have done both, using trolling motor to try and stay on top of them at times and sometimes drifting back to the target.

[bigfish5]

If You Do The Half Hitch Thing That Sixfin Suggests It Should Work. Unless The Current Is On To Strong Then The Current Will Actually Push Against The Buoy And Push It Under The Water. Havent You Ever Saw Any Trot Line Jugs Waking Just Under The Surface When The Current Is On Really Strong?
I Have Lost A Few Buoy's Trying To Anchor Them In To Much Current.

[Turtlebait]

Have you ever seen a gallon jug or 2 or 3 floating in one spot only to think its/they holding a trotline.

[Nightprowler]

Here's a tip. Paint them black. Unwind all the line off, lay them on newspaper and spray paint them black. A orange or yellow bouy signals to other fisherman "" FISH HERE"", I FOUND SOMETHING THAT HOLDS A FEW FISH". And next time you'll have a few guest on your hot spot. Happens every time.

[Gansett]

Never having used buoys before, there is a lot more to it than I realized. Thanks for all the tips. This is a great forum for getting answers. Thanks, and Merry Christmas to all.

[foul hook]

If the current is that bad you need to relocate. Fish the cuts just out of the current. that is where the fish will be. Use a rubberband on the buoys. Somt things you just have to work out for yourself.