A discussion on using big boards and little boards

[jimski2]

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/communit ... p?t=160255

Lake Erie Ohio guys talking.

[tonyb]

An interesting discussion for sure...but I got the impression the original poster was paying a little too much attention to what everyone around him was doing to get their fish and not putting the effort into finding a working spread on his boat.

Keying in on just the board, big vs small, is neglecting some of the other very important factors that must be calculated first (speed, depth, bait profile, etc)

I don't do a lot of open water trolling for eyes but if it's anything like salmon trolling, trying to mimic another boats presentation that is working for them can be futile.

It's always more rewarding and consistent when you can start with what works for you (the confidence presentation), and then make adjustments based on what the weather, conditions and fish are telling you.

I know from what little experience I have, that by doing this you'll gain confidence and perhaps also discover some tweaked strategies that other guys aren't using that can give you the 'edge' over the competition

Thanks for sharing that interesting discussion from another board jimski

[K Gonefishin]

I was part of that discussion. I can tell you that Jim Stedke is a pioneer of walleye fishing on Lake Erie that has been fishing Erie for 50+years, he can always get them going expecially on a crank bite which fall is. I also agreed that it's not always the baits, but the pull of the baits in the water, there are days that little boards vs big boards can outshine one versus the other. It was a good topic to discuss, catching Erie eyes isn't always easy. Ohio Game Fishing is a great site with over 25K members alot of knowledgable people there check back often.

See what one of the last poster said about Otter boards.

[tonyb]

K Gonefishin...I didn't realize Jim was so experienced. That level of experience alone, can sometimes be a problem, when you have too much confidence bait/presentation to try something truly different to get the fish biting.

If I've learned anything from tough days fishing and worse, in tournaments, it's that somewhere, someone, is pounding fish and has figured out the equation for that moment in time. It's very rare that when boats around you are catching fish that you can't keep changing things up to get them to go in your own way. Active fish are active fish, simple.

It sounds like in similar conditions another angler was able to adapt and be rewarded with success.

Here's the exerpt from that same thread, and represents exactly what I'm talking about with respect to paying attention to details, and intellectually experimenting until you start catching.

Member Shortdrift says: "Big boards were catching fish and kittle boards were not in 3 to 4 foot waves. I finally set two flat lines thinking in terms of the boat reducing the surge and we started catching fish. Not as many as the big boards but enough to tell me that the presentation with less surge was the key."

Member Jim replies: "Nice!! Great thinking (or at least ... better than mine.) Never gave that a thought."