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I was wondering if any one has been catchin any while drifting. I love to be able to turn of the motor and go with the flow when its windy out there but it hasn't been to productive this year. I usually use slip sinkers or bouncers with crawler harnesses and blow up the worms to float. I have my tried and true colors which aren't much help either. (not since the warm up anyway) Is it because the baits moving to slow maybe? just curious.
I've been using a one ounce weight (Gapen's Baitwalker) with a three to four foot leader and a floating jighead behind it on a flat line - even in fourteen feet of water where the weeds start to thin out (in fourteen feet I would normally need just one-quarter ounce to stay in constant bottom contact) . This is sort of a "finesse" rig for drifting, because the only thing following along behind the weight is the floating jighead. The Baitwalker weight works best for me because it kicks up more silt as it moves along than the wire arm of a more standard bottom bouncer does. I think you could duplicate this action by using a one-ounce egg sinker in shallower water. (Pass your line through an egg sinker, tie on a barrel swivel, then add the leader and floating jighead.)
Also... this is a seasonal pattern. It is working right now, but there is no guarantee it will continue to produce. Anglers need to adapt to the changing "submerged situation" and that requires lots of experimenting. An example is the bunch of perch I recently caught by using a slip float rig. Normally, a double hook "perch rig" or jigging staright over the side of the boat while anchored is all that is needed to catch perch. That day (and several others) perch responded best to a slip float dragging the bait along bottom in deep water out twenty feet away from the boat.
When I go out on the bay, I have all the stuff I need to try these different possibilities. That's fishing ! Once you find that day's preference, it converts to catching (and honestly, I don't successfully make that conversion every time out.)
I love to drift when the conditions warrant, much more fun than trolling most days, but trolling definitely puts more fish in the boat throughout the year. We've been drifting lately when the wind is strong enough. I don't like to go too slow when drifting for walleyes, it gives them too good of a look at your offering. I like to drift kind of fast, the fish then have to make a quick decision whether to bite or not. I've always found that if I'm drifting too slow I pick up lots of perch. I know I'm drifting the right speed for walleyes when I'm not getting lots of perch bites. I agree with raywriter on the "kicking up silt". I make my own pencil sinkers and cut them off to the desired size for the day. I have no idea how much they weigh, they just work. They are very snag resistant, and dragging along the bottom they kick up some silt and I believe the fish come to investigate. They then see the floating jig come by and snap it up. Most bites while drifting with floaters are very subtle, it just feels like your starting to snag a weed or there's suddenly just weight there. Sometimes we have to open the bail and let them have it, sometimes all you have to do is bow to the fish and then set the hook, just depends on their mood for that day. We do lots of drifting on our charters all summer long when the conditions are right. Good luck fishing...hope the info. helps.
All we do is drift. It seems there is always enough wind to get us moving a little. My boat has a large top and canopy which helps like a sail.
We use between 1/2 oz and 2 oz slip weights that hook to a changable clevis.
Then a long 4' florocarbon leader with a gummy floater or harness with a crawler or leech.