Page 62 - ODUNovAndDec2018

Things

Change For

Whatever

Reason . . .

By Mike Frisch

Those of us who love the outdoors rely on patterns – things that typically happen at particular times –
that help us predict what fish and game will do in an effort to maximize our chances for fishing and
hunting success.

While patterns are reliable at times, sometimes the fish do what they want to do regardless of what the
“pattern” says they should do. A case in point comes to mind from this past season and involved
walleyes and an episode of Fishing the Midwest TV that a fishing partner and I were trying to film.

We located three schools of walleyes relating to main lake structure that were eager to hit our live bait
rigs the day before the scheduled shoot. The next day with cameras on board, under very similar
weather conditions, we were only able to get a few of the live bait, structure fish to bite.

Mid-day and with several fish still needed, we made a switch to a basin area and began trolling Lucky
Shad crankbaits (pictured next page) on lead-core line in deeper water. This open water trolling

pattern had produced only a few small fish the day before. On this day, however, three of our first four
fish were over 20” and we wrapped up the shoot that afternoon.

Why did the structure fish shut down and the trolling fish “grow up”? I’m not sure, but the lesson from
that day was the importance of keeping an open mind and being willing to change fishing locations and
methods when what you are currently doing isn’t working.

While sometimes change doesn’t improve fishing results, sometimes it does and this particular day it
did!

Clear, clear waters