| Method 1 | | | | boat over them and throw out my marker buoy |
| Equipment | | | | where I see the fish. A little trick to using your marker |
| I fish baits at all depths, not just the bottom, in | | | | buoys is to throw your marker upwind of where you |
| wide-open water. I always set up and fish deep lake | | | | are going to fish. If you drop the marker right on top of |
| structures. Besides an understanding of the contours | | | | the fish, you will be bumping it and will eventually move |
| on the bottom of the lake, being mobile and being able | | | | it while the wind is pushing you around. If you throw it |
| to read your fish locator are the keys. The tools I use | | | | upwind of the fish, you can run your trolling motor right |
| are 8-foot heavy action rods, circle hooks, cut and live | | | | up to it without the wind pushing you over it. |
| shad, balloons and the all-important fish locator. I use | | | | Next I bait my rods, staggering them at the depth I see |
| 30-pound line, large capacity reels, 8-foot heavy action | | | | the fish. If the fish are up high, above 10 feet, I use a |
| rods, 2 oz. Egg sinkers, barrel swivels and #7/0 circle | | | | balloon and live shad on two rods. The other four rods |
| hooks. | | | | will have half live and half cut shad, which I will suspend |
| Basically a Carolina Rig, I have a hook with an 18-inch | | | | over the fish, continuously moving around the marker |
| leader tied to your barrel swivel, which is connected to | | | | until the first strike occurs. In the warmer months the |
| your main line, which is where your egg sinker is | | | | bite will usually occur on live shad. The colder the |
| attached. My boat is equipped with steel rod holders, a | | | | water, the better that cut bait seems to work. |
| hand-controlled trolling motor, two fish locators, a big dip | | | | Keep moving the depth of your baits up and down |
| net and marker buoys. My equipment is not the most | | | | according to what your locator is telling you. An easy |
| expensive but it is practical. The main thing to | | | | way to determine the depth of your bait is to measure |
| remember is to keep whatever equipment you use in | | | | the distance between the first guide and your |
| good condition. Many know all too well about the | | | | rod’s reel. My rods are two feet from reel to |
| disasters that can be caused by old line and improperly | | | | the first guide so when I pull out twenty sections of line |
| maintained fishing equipment and big Blues will test | | | | between my reel and the first guide, my bait will be |
| everything from your knots to your rod holders. If there | | | | approximately 40 feet deep. Stagger the depth of |
| is a weak link, they will expose it. | | | | your bait so that you know how deep each is. When |
| Find the Big Fish | | | | you get your first strike, move your other rods to that |
| You need to know how to tell the difference between | | | | depth. If no strikes occur within 30 minutes move to |
| larger fish and bait fish while using your fish locator. | | | | another structure. I have set on the same ledge for |
| There are two main structures that I catch Blue Cats | | | | many hours and caught fish, but I will usually have to |
| on: ledges and humps. Blue Cats are creatures of | | | | move after catching 5 to 10 active fish. If you do not |
| edges and they seem to congregate on the brake | | | | have a trolling motor you can use anchors, but it |
| lines of ledges and humps. The one-two punch comes | | | | requires many sessions of heaving up heavy anchors |
| when you find these structures with both bait fish and | | | | and can soon kill the fun of ledge fishing. When water |
| big fish mixed together on your locator. There are very | | | | is at its coldest, the anchor method will work better |
| few spots that I will stop and fish where I don’t | | | | due to the inactivity of the fish below. |
| see either big fish or bait fish on my locator. The | | | | In other words, the warmer the water the faster the |
| ledges that I primarily fish are old river channels edges. | | | | fish will spook out from under your boat. The colder |
| The fish can be scattered up and down the edge but | | | | the water the less chance the fish will want to move |
| the best fishing occurs when they are on the top. | | | | away due to their comfort zone in the water column. |
| Catching Them | | | | Make sure to read Part 3 of this article to learn about |
| Typically, when I set up to fish these ledges, I run my | | | | Capt. Jeff's second non-typical technique! |