Marker Buoys

[zildjian]

Hey Guys,

I just bought a couple marker buoys from *** to try out for the first time. I've been watching a lot of bass tournaments on tv lately and notice when fishing offshore structure they cast to their marker buoys.

So I wanted to pick some up and use them on my home lake. I just wanted to see if anyone had any tips for me as of Do's and Don'ts while marking spots and fishing them.

Thanks,

-Zildjian

[J Francho]

I painted mine black, so other anglers don't see them.

[Sam]

When you see an object on your sonar you have to realize the object is three feet to your left and six feet behind you.

You need to drop two markers, one right after the other, to your immediate right from the boat's driver's seat immediately.

By doing this you have set up a line of the two markers that will show you how to aim your boat when you turn around and go back to the markers. Otherwise you may not find the structure by throwing only one marker as the structure may be difficult to locate even with one marker.

You now know the direction of the structure and by looking at the sonar you should be able to locate it once again by going in the same direction when you saw the structure and using the two markers as your roadway on the water.

[Highhawk1948]

I keep two out of my locker, one goes on the front deck where I can kick it into the water when I catch a fish (if I am fishing off shore), and one in the middle seat so I can pitch it out while moving and watching my sonar. (I carry 6 in the boat).

Pitch them off to the side of your object so you don't get lures tangled up in the line.

[zildjian]

Great points! Thank you guys!!!

[papajoe222]

There are two times I use them. The first is when marking a piece of structure like a bend in a creek channel. I'll drop enough bouys on the shallow side of the bend, to get a good idea of where the bend is and then fish the drop or deep side (just the opposite if I want to fish the lip).

The other time is when I'm targeting a school. I'll toss a single marker out as soon as I hook a fish and if I drift off the spot I can get back without having to mark a way point or guess where I was.

In either case, as mentioned, don't cast directly to the marker. Keep your offering to one side or the other.

On a saftey note, use caution when retrieving markers that you've tossed into shallow water. I hit a boulder as I was reaching for one of mine earlier this year. I was going to just reach down and grab it as I went by, but the boat stopped when I hit that boulder and I didn't! Luckily when I was tossed into the water, it was between boulders and aside from ruining an i-phone, I was none for the worse.