Fishing Shoals

[PickerelHunter]

Hey Guys...I have shore fished since I started fishing more seriously about 6-7 years ago. I rarely had access to a boat, and when I did it was often a canoe. Just recently my friend got a boat and I've been fishing from that much more often. I've learned all the new language that was foreign to me as a shore angler...rocky point, dropoffs, deep weedbeds, shoals etc.

 

It is that last one that I have my question about, I'm fishing a lake east of Parry Sound for the next 3 days and will have a boat with me. After researching on here and the web, there is a very pronounced shoal in the middle of the main lake...ultimately goes roughly from 100 feet, up to 10-20 (my map is a bit fuzzy). It isn't very large, but seems like a good place to start on a lake that I have never fished. My question is, how exactly do you fish a shoal like this? I know it is a good place to hold fish, but what do I do once I find it with my fishfinder?

 

Any help would be great, I'm really trying to strengthen my tactics now that I have regular access to a boat.

 

Thanks

Pete

Edited August 23, 2010 by PickerelHunter

[Pigeontroller]

Well, kinda depends on what species you're targeting...

[brw]

Here's a tip: pay close attention to the direction of the wind. For example, assume a large shoal has a general north-south configuration and runs from 25-30 feet at the south end and shallows up to 5-6 feet at the north edge. If you have a south wind, at certain times of the day the walleyes will be at the shallower end of the shoal, coming up to feed. So a good south wind makes it a prime spot. Start in 20-22 ft and drift up to 7-8 ft, and pick up and start another drift. And then move to the left and right sides of the outside edges to see if any are hanging around on the periphery.

 

Many times wind blowing in the wrong direction will preclude me from fishing a spot like that. In the example above, a strong north wind would cause you to start real shallow and drift into deeper water. I prefer the opposite, since by and large most active fish will be in shallower water. A due west wind will be harder to work that same shoal as you will only be able to cover certain grids of the hump.

 

So pay attention to the direction of the wind. Of course, if you have a trolling motor you can cover the nuances of the hump better. But when I am in Canada I don't bring my boat and have to make due w/ a simple small HP tiller and no trolling motor, which makes paying attention to wind direction all that more important.

 

Hope this helps some, recognizing there are many exceptions to some of the general rules I've thrown out.

[PickerelHunter]

We will mainly be targeting smallies, but wouldn't be disappointed to see a walleye either.

 

Thanks for the wind suggestion...the shoal is oval shaped, running in a southwest to northeast line. Would you suggest jigging tubes or grubs in the areas you suggested?

[OhioFisherman]

Tubes or grubs can be effective for smallies or walleye, you don`t really have to jig them, just drift and keep bottom contact, or establish bottom contact a keep the lure a little off the bottom to reduce snags, it should make contact with higher rocks in the drift.

Edited August 23, 2010 by OhioFisherman

[singingdog]

Definitely tube jigs, with enough weight to make occasional bottom contact. Deep diving cranks, making lots of contact, are another good way to cover a hump like that. Look at your map and look for variances in the slope of the shoal....there is usually a "spot on the spot" on humps like that. For smallies, I would be looking for boulders and spots where the drop-off to deep water is slightly steeper than the surrounding contours.

 

Check out this InFisherman article. It has some great info about fishing humps for bass.

[Billy Bob]

Take some ALL BLACK jigs in 1/8 and 1/4 oz weights. Drifting them along the bottom as mentioned by HIO-Fisherman will produce many smallies and walleyes...sometimes just tipping these jigs with a pinch (1") of a nightcrawler will get them to pick it up on the slower days.

 

Now certain areas of any shoal will often be much better than the rest of the shoal and if the fish are concentrated in that area or the winds are not favorable to staying in that certain area very long don't hesitate to anchor close by and cast and jig back to the boat. Sometimes this is a much better presentation than drifting because you are spending much more time in the productive zone than just drifting quickly by it.

 

REPORT BACK

 

Bob

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Troll by it with big muskie lures. I would not be surprised if you nail a large musky or pike(and occasional pickerel). Use tubes 1/2 ounce and up if its windy and or really sunny. You can get away with lighter jigs on calm, overcast days because the fish will be suspended. Don't be afraid to experiment. Sometimes its a mater of changing the presentation,weight or color. It sounds like a really good spot that holds a lot of fish. The trick is getting them to bite.

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Oh I forgot. Try throwing the tube on the shoal and then slowly dragging it off a deep ledge. There will be fish there waiting to ambush it.

[OhioFisherman]

Like everyone has mentioned with the different approaches, any could work. Time of day, or night could also be a factor, the fish can move on and off of areas like this to feed. They usually have easy and quick access to much deeper water and may attract bait fish and have a resident craw fish population. Walleyes will also feed on craw fish.

 

Another option, a spin off on singing dogs is to troll a crank bait across it to locate fish. Again it is nice to have the crank make bottom contact at some point, but it`s not always needed, a craw fish, bait fish, or even perch pattern may work.

 

A black jig can be very good, a white one in areas with a lot of bait fish present can be also. A common method for us on Lake Erie was to tip a fuzzy grub or foxee jig with a golden shiner 3-5 inches long, the bait was bigger than the jig and the minnow struggled non-stop a distressed action that attracted fish.

 

Some reef - shoal areas turn on at night. One camp owner on the Georgian Bay took us to a couple areas at night to walleye fish, either trolling worm harnesses or casting floating Rapalas through the rocks areas, it worked. We couldn`t seem to catch them in the same area during the day.

 

Always use caution though in un-familiar waters at night.

[PickerelHunter]

Wow, thanks for all the help guys...I'm just heading out in the next half hour and will report back when I get back in. Very interesting information no doubt.

 

Thanks

Pete