Niagara Bar Drift

[idn713]

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s):

Time on Water:

Weather/Temp:

Wind Speed/Direction:

Waves:

Surface Temp:

Location:

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 6

Total Boated:3

Species Breakdown:

Hot Lure: 3 way rig with emeralds and one on the jig

Trolling Speed:

Down Speed:

Boat Depth:

Lure Depth:

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SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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So I got out to the bar for my first drift fishing trip ever. My buddy are totally new to this so we read up on drift fishing and gave the bar our best go. All the guys out there said the bite was tough but we managed six hits and only I boated my three fish, as my buddy lost all his. I pulled up a football and a Laker on the three way and I nailed another beauty brown as I jigged the green can. All in all it was pretty slow and we were fishing for 6-7 hours. It was only at the end of our trip that a seasoned vet told us that we should have been slightly dragging the three way rather than drifting it straight up and down with the speed of the boat. I had always thought the current would move the minnow downstream of the pencil lead and the boat on a horizontal drift but the way the guy explained it is that we should have had our nose down current and our rigs on a 70 degree angle from the back of the boat while tapping bottom, and that the trolling motor on a low speed would help accomplish this. It seems to me that this is like a creeping troll rather than a true drift. Can you seasoned Niagara guys confirm if the advice I was given was correct? Also here are the pics

[ Post made via Android ]

[RodBuster]

Which boat were you? No doubt we were next to you at some time. It was a slow bite. Our best time was from noon on.

We found that our best drift was to set up just over into the deep water and drift with the boat sideways with the current. I use my GPS to get drift speed and found arnd 2 MPH wass best. With our boat pointing into the drift the current tends to push the boat slower. Its trial and error.

I just got done cleaning the only fish we kept and it had no less than 30 baitfish in it. I wonder if they put on the feed bag before Friday and were on the downhill side of the bite???

[idn713]

We were the 20ft Tracker with two people in it. Yah it seemed as if those trout were stuffed to the brim. How did you do? And if you don't mind me asking how do you envision your rig working underwater in relation to boat position and current?

[ Post made via Android ]

[nbajack70]

I was out there too with a few buddies. The bar was pretty slow. We got a few on the bar and a couple browns trolling the shore, but the river was hotter. We got the majority of our fish in the river on emerald shiners. Sacs pulled some fish too, but they were definitely locked in on all the minnows in the area. Incredible weather, saturday was crazy with all the fog on the lake.

I agree with the advice of slightly dragging bottom. You can suspend your bait if that's what your electronics are showing you, but I've done better touching bottom.

thanks for the report

[RodBuster]

We went to devils hole first thing saturday AM. I was puzzled because by 10 AM there was only 4 boats. We had two steelhead, but decided to head for the bar because we had a decent bite mid day Friday. Running to the bar we only saw one boat fishing art park. I couldnt figure why not more boats in the river. Then we got to the bar and not many out there. Maybe too foggy. I just bought a GPS/Sonar combo and was glad i had it. Our last drift at about 2:45 PM you couldnt see 50 yards....

[nbajack70]

we didn't hit the bar until midday on Saturday and it was so foggy we had a hard time finding the right drift. These next few weeks should be great if the water stays good.