So this is the start of season 2 for me and my new to me boat.

Thanks to alot of reading, research and suggestions here, I was successful last season for the most part. My main issue with owning a boat was I needed to make certain I could catch fish, because lets face it, not catching fish gets a little boring. I didn't want to be one of the many who buy a boat and it sits and collects dust- or worse, leaves and mold, because its not much fun to go out.

This year I upgraded my trolling motor to a new Ulterra I-pilot link, and we've had it out a few times so far. The last trip was pretty lengthy, we really hammered the water and gave it our best shot.

I also have a Helix 9 SI

We caught 2 fish. (Walleye and a channel..)


We were specifically targeting walleyes, but Its also a good crappie reservoir and we fish them often in peak season.


This is what I did.


Water temp was 43-44 in a 5k acre reservoir (Brookville, IN). I figured fishing deep would be best, So I motored to a deep break on a flat that is popular in the spring. I marked waypoints of big bait balls, and suspicious bottom markings/ (I.e, to me, fish). After 4-5 marks, we started downwind and spotlocked each waypoint, jogging a bit here and there for 10-20 mins each spot before moving to the next.

We used spoons and blade baits.


We repeated this on another deep break next to a shallow flat, and finally moved mid lake to a causeway. We fished the windblown side, and marked massive amounts of shad, as well as what appeared to be fish under the shad. We repeated jigging under spots that seemed to have fish below the bait balls, but only caught the last fish, a channel cat, before giving up.


I felt I really gave it a solid attempt. We only fished spots that we marked tons of shad, and shad + markings under them.

We didn't stay too long in one spot. 10-20mins without action and we were off to the next mark.


What could I do differently to increase my chances of catching more fish?

When does color and presentation really come into play? If your over fish, and no bites, would you go back over the same spots with a diff approach or color before moving on?