Reading Bait???

[MarkNY]

this may apply more to the fingerlakes than the big lake but i constantly pay attention to the bait clouds i mark on the sonar. especially on the fingerlakes because there is so much bait. but, ive had times when im marking a ton of bait and cant touch a fish. ive noticed that i do best when the bait is suspended and packed tight no matter whether im marking fish or not. on those days when the bait seems spread out and close to bottom there doesnt seem to be fish on them. sometimes i think the fish are just full and not hitting on a particular day because the bait is so easy for them to find. am i making sense here? any thoughts on this? best, mark

[LongLine]

Good observation. One theory is that when bait is suspended & tightly packed, it is because bigger fish are driving them upward as they are feeding on them.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[tcon]

Mark,

This is from a post a while back make sure you read Ray's answer made sense to me...viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1930&hilit=+outside+the+bait+

Tom

[Big Dave]

Its tough to know the size of the bait in the cloud on the fishfinder. If its 4" or 1" , this time of year all the bait that hatched out in the spring are getting to an interesting size to the bigger fish. So if your trying to match the hatch with a Mag spoon when the bait is only 1" long they might not hit it.