At times, success on the water comes from changing your approach. Let me share some examples. No matter what lure you choose, there’s a compelling desire to cast it as far as you can and retrieve it on the surface or just below it. Trollers insist on a full spread well behind the boat on top of the water. Anglers who prefer to drift with the current fish natural baits or artificials a distance from the boat on the upcurrent side and closer to the surface. Even those who fly kites on the offshore grounds keep live baits barely splashing on the skin of the water.
The tendency in all of these examples lies in ignoring the fact that distance on the water must be measured vertically as well as horizontally. Most fish species spend the major portion of their existence at or near the bottom of the water. Consider, too, that there are some species that will suspend at mid-depth or cruise somewhere between top and bottom in search of food.
Even moderate attempts to cover vertical distance as well as horizontal can make a difference. If you enjoy casting and retrieving an artificial and you have two outfits, rig one with an artificial that skims the surface or just below it and put an offering on the other that will sink to the bottom. Alternate them on casts, and you will quickly learn where the fish are in that spot. If trolling becomes your technique of choice, rig one line on a downrigger or weight it sufficiently so that it covers the mid-depth or close to the bottom. And, if you are just drifting with offerings streamed on the upcurrent side, fish at least one of the baits or lures at a reasonable depth.
Probing the depths becomes even more important when there is structure on the bottom that attracts fish. Some species will hug the structure while others will probe and prowl the area. Fishing a bait or working a lure from the bottom to the surface in these waters often is paramount to success. It is usually more productive if you focus on the upcurrent side of the structure.
Veteran anglers keep an outfit on board expressly for deep jigging. It’s rigged with a leadheaded bucktail or some other type of metal that boasts the weight to get the offering to the bottom. It can be rigged with natural bait, a natural bait tail behind the bucktail or an artificial tail such as a plastic worm. It works on countless species. The key is to drop it to the bottom straight up and down and then retrieve it with a bunch of moves with the rod. You’ll find it is much more productive when the retrieve is close to the boat rather than working it to the surface at an angle.
Vertical jigging won’t work every time, nothing does, but it’s a method you want to remember and use when other approaches don’t produce fish.