How Do You Use Marker Buoys?

[cjam93]

Hey guys so I am starting to get more into deep structure fishing. I have seen a number of people talk about different ways they use marker buoys so I was wondering what you guys see as the best way. Do you drop the buoy in the beginning and then another at the end of whatever it is you are marking to fish, or do you drop one where you think the middle of the school or rock pile or whatever shows on the depth finder? 

 

Also this is a random question I know but do you think you have ever spooked a fish by dropping a marker buoy and the weight on it dropping down to the bottom?

[roadwarrior]

If it's a ridge or trench, drop your buoys outside both ends. For holes or humps, either side,

but remember which side!  I don't think the falling weight has any impact on the fish.

[MikeinFresno]

same as I do. The weight falls relatiely slowly so I too dont think it matters to a fish unless it hits it

[Fishing Rhino]

I use them to mark the outline of a shoal or hump.  It depends on the size and the shape. 

 

I select a depth.  For the sake of the discussion, let's say it's twelve feet.  I'll approach the shoal/hump.  As the depth decreases, I'll drop a buoy at 12 feet.  Then, I'll continue across the shoal and as the depth increases, I'll again drop a buoy at 12 feet.  I'll fish the "line" which passes through the two buoys.  That includes the shallow bottom between, and the deeper bottom outside the two buoys.  

 

Generally, the depth I use is along the "shoulder" of the shoal.  I've read and experienced that this is the area where fish tend to gather.  If I find fish at the "shoulder" area of a shoal/hump, I'll cross the shoal at a right angle to the original line, halfway between the two buoys, and drop buoys at the 12 foot depth.  I'll use as many as needed to provide a good visual of the shape of the shoal.  It also provides a good visual if the fishing is more productive at one section of the shoal.

 

It's not unlike following a dropoff which can be seen in clear water. Or, working the edges of a lily pad bed. 

[Felix77]

If it's a ridge or trench, drop your buoys outside both ends. For holes or humps, either side,

but remember which side!  I don't think the falling weight has any impact on the fish.

 

I was curious about this as well ... RW you make perfect sense.  Sometimes the best advice just needs to be simple enough to smack you over the head.  - Thanks  

[jhoffman]

Throw one on the structure, then one as soon as you start catching fish to get the proper angle of cast relative to that structure.

[papajoe222]

I use them two ways.  The first is to mark structure or, say, a weed line. I'll drop on the deep side about a casting distance from the area I want to search. I'll go down the break and drop another anytime that line jutts out or in.  This gives me a visual target that I then cast to, but shallower than the bouys.

The other way I use them is to mark the location where I've contacted fish.  Normally this is a summer situation as I don't run into many schools early in the year.  When I hook a fish, I'll toss one overboard and look for landmarks. Now, I can return to that general location after landing or loosing the fish and have a starting point for finding the school.  I don't have gps on my front unit, so I can't mark a waypoint unless I return to the console. 

[Catt]

Y'all got some great answers for structure but one more use to consider.

When fishing matted vegetation I keep a buoy on my deck & when I catch a bass I'll kick it overboard. I'll then fish that area in an ever widening circle, bass in grass tend to group up.

[Lund Explorer]

When I use a buoy, I always try to place it on the downwind side of the target a little less than one cast from the target.  If that target is fairly large, I will set multiples on the downwind side with one on both the left and right sides and perhaps a few in the middle. 

 

Because I usually fish deep structure with T-Rigs and Jigs, I would rather target it from downwind as it makes it easier to control the amount of slack in the line.

 

BTW, It's never a bad idea to have one last buoy to throw out in the middle of nowhere if you find that other fishermen decide to "Seagull" your real buoys.  It happens.  To help keep others away, use smaller buoys in muted colors for your own use and carry around a bigger one in some bright color to lure others away from you. 

[FrankW]

Hi cjam93,

This is a good question. In this day of fancy electronics many fishers forget about marker buoys. They are not just for deep structure fishing. I use them to mark creeks in coves, drop offs from flats to deep water and any area that fish might be. My favorite way to fish a creek is to make the channel over a cove or inlet. I motor over the creek with electronice using buoys to mark out side bends and important structure. Bass don't live every where in a creek and you need to fish all of a new creek until you have some history with the creek. If you mark it correctly you can then look at the buoys and pretty well know how the creek flows. Then back off and fish along the creek until you locate the fish. This was one of my favorite techniques when I lived in Texas and just had a simple depth finder.

Frank

[flicker1]

For you guy's that have used buoy's, in the wind, will the buoy keep unspooling and drift away from the weight?

[Catt]

For you guy's that have used buoy's, in the wind, will the buoy keep unspooling and drift away from the weight?

 

 

Never had that happen, mine have 40-50' of line 

[WRB]

Since 2006 when I got my first good sonar/GPS unit with marker icons and learn how to use it for marking "buoys". I only keep 1 physical buoy on the deck for emergency use. It's easy to know where you are at on the water using the GPS markers zoomed in on 1 foot Navonics maps and I am used to looking at the map/sonar to keep oriented.

Don't need to worry about anchor lines or picking up buoys and can return to the exact same spot weeks later without metering around to find the spots.

Never thought the virtual buoys could replace the physical buoys, they have except when I catch a fish on a spot not marked and don't have time to mark the spot, then I kick or toss the emergency buoy over the side until I can set up the virtual marker.

Tom

[MikeinFresno]

never had one unwind once it hits bottom

[Paul Roberts]

Really good stuff above. All I might add is that a buoys purpose is to orient me to unseen landforms and cover underwater. The important details I fill in as I fish the area. A buoy or two just gives me a stationary reference. I then build the "picture" of the important stuff (fish, breaks, or potential "ambush points") in my head while fishing. I feel for them and "map" them in my head. I've been fishing long enough that I have a "feel" for the unseen underwater stuff. The buoy(s) just orient me n terms of angle and distance. The rest is... fishing.

 

If it’s a complex area (often the best) I may drop additional buoys. I don't drop them on top of fish, breaks, or "ambush points"; I’m pretty circumspect around such spots, esp in clear water although this relaxes a bit in deeper or dingier water. I drop to a known side and distance from the break and in relation to my existing buoy(s), shoreline markers, and internal map.