Riddle me this........

[Esox_Magnum]

Ok never could understand how 1 day you can see nothing and the very next day, same areas same baits ect move 12...... 2 of us fishing Sat partner saw 2 I saw 0, today fishing solo I raise 12 and get 1 to eat. Used the same bait today as yesterday to move most, went back on a couple with different baits and get one to eat but a different fish than the one I went back on. Just one of those things that makes you scratch your head I guess.....

[delmuts]

Over the years i've read that same story many times from other guys!! Guess that is one of the reasons fishing is so challenging!

[Shawn Kellett]

Just because they're there doesn't mean they're going to move. I've fished through places and seen nothing. I've then gone through them again with the camera and have seen up to 3 fish there. When they're not in the mood it doesn't matter what you're doing.

[kingfish689]

I dont know about where you were fishing but around here the wind was out of the NW on sat. and the SW on sun.It could have been as simple as you were on the wrong side of the point or lake or hump on sat. or as everyone else says. the fish just did not feel like moveing on sat. But where I was fishing it was just the opposite I moved 3 fish on sat. and went back sunday to get my hookup and only got 2 pike and moved no skis.

[Esox_Magnum]

Same conditions both days, misty clouds and no wind, and my home waters that I fish 80 days a year....

[muskieboy46]

This summer we consistently fished a very small spot that we just circled and circled and eventually one would go. We could see the baitfish on the graph and a few muskies would surface every once in awhile. I don't understand why they don't eat the first time around, or why on some days we would only get 1 or hit once off of it while other days we would get 3,4, or 5 under all the same conditions. But eh, that's muskie fishing.

[APCfishing]

Same conditions both days, misty clouds and no wind, and my home waters that I fish 80 days a year....

What makes you think they were there the first time around if you never saw them in the first place?

[Esox_Magnum]

Well heres another riddle, I followed a boat through that saw 0 I raised 4 that pass, of course I was thowing something different but threw the same bait they were later as an expeiment and moved a couple.... as far as knowing, that just comes with time on the water....

[Jack Peterson]

I have that same problem, but with walleyes.

First Night, SE wind, 25 feet of water. 20+ bites, and 7 or 8 fish.

Next Night (same spot), SE wind, 25 feet of water. 0 bites.

Same pattern for the whole fall. Not very consistent.

Where do these fish go? Maybe they're all "full."

[jtroop]

One evening, as an experiment, I kept going around the same small mid-lake hump with the same bait. On the 4th time around I raised 3 fish. Sun, moon, tides ? I don't have enough experience to convince myself of one or the other but they sure are synchronized to something.

[HugoBox]

I've hung onthe same spot "knowing" there were fish there as well but I always switch baits. They say doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Clearly "they" have never fished for skis!!!

Maybe I gotta be a bit more insane.

[Shawn Kellett]

Esox, that's because you tried "fishing better". Works most everytime

[RK]

Hiya -

About 10 years ago I was on Leech with my friend Dan Craven, and we fished a spot in Agency Narrows. We fish around it and didn't move a fish, and he said "OK, now let's go look..." Moved up on the spot, and there were at least 8 muskies there, from 6 to about 35 pounds. None of them responded to a bait. They may be there, or they may not, but either way when they don't wanna, they don't wanna.

I think it has something to do with windows of activity. I hesitate to call them feeding windows because I don't think it's always necessarily forage-related. But there are times when they move and times when they don't.

Lord knows why those windows open and close, but I've seen it over and over through the years to the point where I'm convinced it occurs.

A couple examples:

- A friend and I decide we're going to fish Goose Island weedbed on Leech and just keep fishing it. There were several other boats out there fishing it as well. As we'd drift through the weedbed, we'd see muskies below us but they wouldn't move. Then I get a slow lazy follow. 2 minutes later, my partner has a fish come in hot and go around on an 8 3 or 4 times. I get a hit on my next cast. When I look around, more than half the other boats are either figure-8ing or fighting a fish... A few minutes later I get another slow lazy follow... Window closed. We didn't have another follow for 2 hours (even though we'd drift over fish every so often). That I could tell, neither did anyone else.

- Open water trolling on a lake in MN with several other boats. We'd all troll for a couple hours at a stretch without a bite, then 3 or 4 boats out of the half dozen that were trolling would catch a fish within 10 minutes of each other... Then go back to not catching anything for another couple hours.

- One of the most interesting: My best friend, Dan Craven, and I are about 100 miles apart as the crow flies when I'm at my cabin and he's home in Walker. For at least 15 years we've compared notes on fish activity for multiple species, but especially bass and muskies. Most of the time when they bite here, they bite there. What's uncanny is how often - I mean a LOT - we both catch muskies within a few minutes of each other 100 miles apart.

There's a very, very good guide on Leech Lake, Jim Flesch, who has no trouble at all fishing one spot for an entire day, especially in the fall. His theory is if it's a proven good spot they'll bite eventually so may as well be there when they do. Whether it's fish cycling onto a spot that's part of their home range, or fish that are there the whole time deciding to move, either way it's timing. I think in fall, especially late fall, the windows are shorter overall, which makes his reasoning even more convincing... Hate to be running from spot to spot or fishing "C" water when the window opens...

Sadly, I have no earthly clue what turns them on and off. Sometimes there are environmental conditions you can point to - wind or light changes, sun/moon, etc. Other times it's nothing you can detect.

This stuff is part of why I get so cynical about lures and colors and stuff. Just keep knocking on the door...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Esox_Magnum]

I'm also one that if the feelings right I may fish the same spot all day long or even several days in a row, we have made 4 drifts on a spot that yeilded nothing but the 5th drift but up 4-5 follows the 6th put 1-2 in the net....Just one of those things you think about while your fishing alone I guess....