Triggering Fish

[Gustafson]

Just wondering if you guys would share any tips on how you trigger fish. I have been seeing lots of fish this year but only had a few takers. Just wondering if you guys have any tips for turning those followers into takers.

[Random guy]

Don't feel alone my friend, we are all seeing the same mood from the fish. This year is in some sort of funk. A neat trick that I have had some success with is having a heavy walleye rod rigged with a jig and some sort of plastic tail or creature. Once you get rejected at boatside grab the jig combo and work it in a "erratic" manner, sometimes this will trigger lazy fish.

[Jim Hudson]

Yup, this happens a lot to all musky addicts and sometimes you just need to change something in your lure retrieve to get them fish to chomp down.

One of the most simplest things to do is speed up your retrieve and change the direction of your retrieve. Just as if a baitfish was trying to escape the grasp of a musky. Or just by moving your rod tip up and down while retrieving, making the musky want to strike as the bait is coming up as your rod tip goes high, or as it falls as you push your rod tip lower. Another thing that has worked for me, is if I can make the fish commit to a good follow and I am starting my figure 8, I try to figure 8 as wide and as fast as I can. Again, speeding up the lure and also allowing for enough room for the fish to turn.

But sometimes the fish are just lazy, and you might need to throw back a slower presentation or something that just ticks them off enough to strike. And if it is a good fish, by all means, go back to that spot an hour later or so and see if the fish is in a much more cooperative mood.

I am sure there will be others that will chime in also.