How long to wait before trying a new spot?

[DaveZman14q]

Whats the best advice for how long to wait before moving, drilling a new hole, and checking for fish? Do you guys usually drill your hole, instantly drop the transducer down the hole to see if there are fish... and then move if you see no fish? Or is it better to drill half a dozen to a dozen holes... wait 15 or so minutes giving the fish a chance to come back in case you spooked them while drilling the hole? Does the initial drilling of the hole spook fish much? I bought my first flasher this year and am just curious the most efficient way to find fish.

[luv2fish]

I have heard people say that drilling holes actually attracts fish, in some cases I buy that. The answer to me depends on a few factors. If you know the lake and area you are fishing drill a few holes (10 - 20) then check them out. If you are fishing with 2 guys, have the 2nd guy follow with the flasher and check right behind you. If you are fishing a completely new area, I drill alot of holes before I check.

[toughguy]

It depends on the weather and my experiances on that lake. If the weather is nice and it's daylight out I will move every 10-15 min if I don't catch anything. I'll drill 15-20 holes or more and hop around till I see something on my flasher. If I catch a few in one spot I'll drag the portable over and set up. If the weather is terrible or if I know the lake well and I'm on a good spot I'll set up and stay for an hour or so without a fish.

[Deitz Dittrich]

For me, I usually punch about 10-15 holes in an area. I'll drop a large spoon of some sort down to see if I get any fish come it.. Maybe wait 15-30 seconds.. If I dont see anything.. I'm moving on!

If I am walleye fishing, I will often wait a little longer..

[Jordyn Kaufer]

that's a good question.

I think this year I'm going to hole hop aka run and gun

[fishermatt]

Mid day my tendency is to drill 10 or so holes, then spend 20 -30 minutes fishing them before moving. If fish are either residing in that area or are traveling through in any numbers, you'll know in that amount of time. For evening walleyes on a known-to-be-good spot, I tend to go to a certain spot, drill 10-20 holes, then fish that spot for the remainder of the trip. Sometimes the "travelers" don't start coming through right away, but that doesn't mean the spot isn't good. Sometimes the bite is best from 4-5pm, sometimes it doesn't start until 5:30.

[Neighbor_guy]

If I am on a good spot and commited to it I will fish it.

If I am searching, checking structure, or don't know the lake well, I will drill 6-20 holes in an area and check them with the depthfinder, mark dept in the slush "X" if I am marking fish and "X + 15" say if I marked fish @ 15ft. That is best done with partner. But then I will fish the holes marked with the X. If nothing goes in 15 min, off to the next....

[muddpuppy]

I have the H2Oc with lakemaster chip. What I do is look for some new structure on the map before I go out. when I get to the spot I will drill 15 - 20 hole in a zig zag pattern about 20' apart. I will check for depth and then move from shallow to deep as the day progresses. I rarely fish the same spot twice in the winter.

[Jesse Drummer]

when your searching for fish i drill 10- 20 holes then check with vexilar. if mark shows up i drop a swim bait or something fast and hevy that a aggressive fish would hit! if not i'm moving on. but if i know i'm on the "spot"i'll sit and wait em out like at sun down or sun up.

[Mike Stark]

so i have been fishing an area for the last two nights....marked and caught only one 6in walleye...bad spot?...give it another chance?.....move on?

what do you think?

mike

[Jim Almquist]

What type of structure are you fishing and what depth ? If I am on a proven spot I will set up and fish it till it is time to go home. If I am on a new spot and the lake is new to me I will find the best spot on a piece of structure and start there and have a tip up close by and if no fish showed up bye 4:45 I would start searching. I like to have baitfish in my hole cause the walleyes will show up sooner or later. I have been on lakes were the best bite sometimes will not happen till a hour after sunset so some patience is required.

[Mike Stark]

its a shorline drop to about 15fow....a gradual drop...there is about a 60 foot basin near by...and lots of current from the river about 100yards away

[Jim Almquist]

I don't know the water clarity but I am going to guess that it is pretty clear. You might want to go out to 18' and see what type of activity you see there. You didn't say but are you seeing any bait fish and if not you might want to move until you see some minnows or perch on the flasher. They should be around until the walleyes get close by and then they will leave and that is the sign to get ready and keep the noise down. Oh and hang on

[Mike Stark]

no the water is stained...tea colored

thats why i have been fishin shallower..figured the eyes would be more comfortable

the only issue with moving out to deeper water is the quality of the ice....might have to wait a little while before i venture out toward the deep basin...the current of the river is keeping the ice from forming

do you think that fishing this deep basin is a good bet

60fow with current kicking in from the river.

[riverrat56]

For me, I usually punch about 10-15 holes in an area. I'll drop a large spoon of some sort down to see if I get any fish come it.. Maybe wait 15-30 seconds.. If I dont see anything.. I'm moving on!

If I am walleye fishing, I will often wait a little longer..

What he said!

Sometimes I don't even fish a hole if I am in an area that is holding fish but they are scattered, I will just drop down my flasher and if I don't see anything it's off to the next hole and repeat.

[Jim Almquist]

If it is stained your problem might be you are not in a area that the baitfish are feeding and you might be close but the walleyes only care about the baitfish. You might want to drill a lot of holes and just keep looking for little blips on the flasher so you know you have some feed down below before you setup. If there is any weeds you might want to check that out and don't be afraid of going shallow you will just have to keep the noise down.

[fadal]

I usually drill 6 holes drink 1 beer at each hole while fishing, if nothing I get lazy and just stay at the last hole i was on.

[BuckKiller]

too much work to move around like that... im more for sitting by one hole and relaxing weather or not i catch fish. if i want excersize ill go for a jog...lol like that will ever happen

[Christopher Quast]

Hey Tim you told me you were a hole hopper LOL!!!!!!!!!

[BuckKiller]

lol nope... way too lazy. if i wanted to work id get a job.

[gritsnham]

Hoping holes is half the fun of ice fishing for me. Moving until you find fish can often be more rewarding when you finally find htat hot hole of active fish. Run and Gun baby!!!!!

[Beege]

i drill 15- 25 holes in a star pattern right away. Then go to my first hole and fish for 5-9 minutes. If no action onward i go to the next hole. 5-9 minutes in each hole. And if you are wondering why 9 is the number i use most. it is because i set my alarm on my cell and hit the snooze and that waits 9 minutes before it goes off again

[Shawnny B]

It depends on if i know the area or not, if i have a hand auger, or power auger. If i know the area, ussualy just a few, if i dont know the area, and have gestimated with a map, then make it swiss chesse, run around with the depth finder and a jig and see what happens, feels like i wait 5 minutes but with ADHD, I am assuming 1 minute max then off to the next hole, If im returning and I saw something at a previous hole and didnt catch it or had caught something, its a return visit on the return trip to the house.

=)

as far as fishing that Kawishi, be safe with that current, I would think that the walleyes would be shallower up there then in most lakes, but woudl recommend go where you find them in the summer/fall if you can.

[jigging-matt]

I always drill a bunch of holes. we will check the area, if we mark fish we will set up the portable and use it as a base. You can fish out of it while warming up, taking a break, and then hole hop looking for more.