Marker Buoys when fishing

[SLP]

How often do you use marker bouys when fishing? If you use them do you often drop a series of them or mostly just one to mark a spot?

[Carter1]

Usually drop one to mark a spot.

[SLP]

Usually drop one to mark a spot.

Thanks for the reply. I was talking with a friend who uses them often. I don't use them a lot and I was curious how often others did. I think I might try to use one more often this year.

Anyone else have a preference?

[bob46]

I use them for crappie fishing got mine at bp think you get three of them with a holder. If i see a bunch of gathered fish on my depth finder I drop one and pull away and fan cast that area.

[hairball]

I use them very rarely, but when I do it's generally two at a time. I don't like the idea of dropping one right where I want to fish because it might spook them and I also worry about getting a fish on and having it get tangled up in the buoy's line. I like to keep them just far enough away from the target that I don't worry about spooking them.

[SLP]

I use them very rarely, but when I do it's generally two at a time. I don't like the idea of dropping one right where I want to fish because it might spook them and I also worry about getting a fish on and having it get tangled up in the buoy's line. I like to keep them just far enough away from the target that I don't worry about spooking them.

Thanks, that makes sense about not dropping it too close. You mention that you usually drop two, do you put them each wide of the structure and cast in between them?

[jcb]

I heard of a guy who used to drop marker buoys during tournaments at random places, just to mess with people

[Atomdata]

I heard of a guy who used to drop marker buoys during tournaments at random places, just to mess with people

I see a buoy and no one around....it gets run over or cut!

[sweetwater]

We'll use buoys to mark midlake ledges and creek channels while fishing them. It's just easier to watch the buoys than it is to watch the depth finder. One time a guy ran over one of our buoys and the string fouled his prop, I think our laughing upset him a little.

[hairball]

I see a buoy and no one around....it gets run over or cut!

That doesn't seem just a little drastic to you? What's with the attitude?

[Atomdata]

That doesn't seem just a little drastic to you? What's with the attitude?

No attitude....Almost without fail when I am fishing a bank, ledge, etc....some bubbas come riding in and cut in front of me at least once everytime I am on the water. I think the lake is big enough that you can fish another bank until I am done and have moved on or get behind me if that bank is so good.

Now you want to put buoys out to hold a spot....not happening. I use buoy markers, fish that spot then pick them up...if I leave them I expect them to be gone.

I have discovered in the few years I have been fishing that most folks are fairly polite and considerate....but there are always the ones that think they are priviledged. And it seems to becoming more prominant.

[Moveon]

I like to find a spot and then use the trolling motor to get upwind from the spot before throwing out a marker buoy. This way I can use the trolling motor going INTO the WIND and hover over the spot down wind of the maker. This way keep the lead anchor from dropping into the brush pile and scaring the fish.

The lake I fish is pretty barren of wood as it's an old coal strip pit that was mined and then some of the area was reclaimed around the deep pit but the pit itself was pretty much left as it was. Not sure how they got buy with that but they did. Now the State Dept of Natural Resources owns the land and water and give the public access to the area for hunting and fishing.

There is not a whole lot of cover in this water. If you find a single stickup it could be a fish magnet. But these single stickups are hard to pin point on the sonar. I often find myself crisscrossing the area several times from different directions before I can find this single stickup in 15 ft of water. I'm only really seeing about a 5 ft diameter circle under the transducer in 15 ft of water and if the stick up is not within that circle under my transducer it won't show up on the depth finder. Now if I'm up at Patoka the brush piles are huge and cover 50 square feet and are much easier to see on the SI and the DI screen. I can find them quickly.


If you looking for a single stump along a ledge then it may take a little while to actually pin point it on the sonar screen. In a case like this I would use my High tech Sonar and mark the spot as a Way Point. Any GPS can do this. But the thing is that the accuracy is only accurate to plus or ten ft most of the time. So if you are in shallow water you will only be seeing a small area under the transducer and may not see the stump.


I love days when it's calm and I can find a spot and just sit over it without dropping the anchor. One these days I will move very slowly over the spot from many different directions. I'll go at a very slow speed of say maybe 1.0 mph or less. Sometimes the crappie I like to catch want the bait moving but very slowly. They will hit it if it's just sitting there in front of them too but at times they like it to move ever so slowly. So keep this in mind.

Start out fishing the top and edges of the brush pile and pick up those fish that are willing to come up or out of the brush to bite. Then after you catch these start fishing into the brush pile. Sometimes the fish are buried deep in the brush pile. Bright sunny days may find the crappie hiding in the shadows produced by the wood of the brush piles.

I like to use a drop shot below the hook. I tied the hook onto the line with a loop knot and leave a long tag line to attach the finesse drop shot to the tag line. This way if the hook gets hung up when I'm pulling the rig up out of the brush pile I can simply drop the rod tip and let the weight pull the hook free from Below the branch. Normally if you are careful and don't dig the hook into the wood hard you can get the hook lose by simply droping the tip of the rod and let the weight of the weight below the hook pull the hook off the wood. Then simply bring the hook back up though the brush.

Some times I'll go with a weed less jig setup. I take a 1/16 oz lead jig and drill a small hole into the lead where I can stick a short piece of 30 lb test fishing line. I glue the heavy line into the hole with super glue. Drill the hole so that the heavy line sticks into the jig head and angles out to cover up the point of the hook. This way the heavy line protects the hook gap and the point of the hook and makes it semi weedless. The length of the heavy line sticking out of the jig can be trimmed with scissors to just reach the tip of the hook in the hook gap. When a fish takes the jig his mouth will depress the heavy line down and then expose the hook point. You may lose a few bites and you won't hook as many fish with the weed protector as with an open hook but then again you won't get hung up in the brush as often either. In really deep water go with a heavier jig 1/8 oz.