marking deep fishing hole with buoy

[gofishruss]

On Bull Shoals lake there are depth of 100' or more; often times there are schools of fish at the 20-30' level.  What is the best way to mark that spot?  Most buoys have only 75' of line....if the weight doesn't touch the bottom, won't the buoy float away from the spot where the fish are marked?  I am very very new at this...please help.

thank you

Russ

[lo n slo]

maybe add more line?

[Deleted account]

If the fish are suspended and not relating to anything, marking the spot is kind of pointless. Most decent GPS units can mark it with a waypoint, but same applies. 

[flechero]

always have 1 or 2 buoys where you replace the line with old braid or some mono is you fish water with those depths... although it's hard to mark those suspended fish that deep because the schools move... When I see something like that it usually ends up being a pronounced structure feature below them... in which case, marking the spot is still helpful, especially if there is any wind to speak of.  And get in the habit of throwing the buoy out upwind of what you are trying to mark... it always floats downwind and usually bows a bit as well.

[WRB]

Locate a structure element close to the baitfish school, ideally in front of the direction the school is moving and drop your maker on top of it shallower than the anchor line length.

Now you have a visual marker and know where active bass should be located when the baitfish approach your marker. Watch the birds, they know the direction the baitfish are moving.

Tom

 

[J Francho]

Basically, you want to mark two points, shallow enough so your weight hits bottom.  Those two points should be far enough apart to be able to use two-point triangulation to locate your deep structure.  Some form of shoreline feature(s) that is easily visible should help too.  This is how I learned to locate spots on Lake Ontario before GPS.

[lo n slo]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Basically, you want to mark two points, shallow enough so your weight hits bottom.  Those two points should be far enough apart to be able to use two-point triangulation to locate your deep structure.  Some form of shoreline feature(s) that is easily visible should help too.  This is how I learned to locate spots on Lake Ontario before GPS.

i still find myself lining up with "those two poplars and throwing towards that house with the screened in porch". ; - )

[J Francho]

I can find the hump at the City Dump by the boat shed and Hill Haven rest home, lol.

[WRB]

Triangulation takes the ability to know where you are verses the geograpghy and takes some common sense some folks don't have. If you are more than a 1/2 mile off shore alignments using shore features isn't very accurate without a third point. With practice and awareness you may not need marker buoys, sonar with GPS is what you need.

Tom

[J Francho]

The marker buoys are what provide your second, third, or even fourth reference point.  On a Great Lake, you can only see ONE shoreline.

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I can find the hump at the City Dump by the boat shed and Hill Haven rest home, lol.

 

For the locals.  Stay off my spots!!!!

 

 

 

[papajoe222]

What WRB said. Finding the spot where feeding takes place is more important than finding the forage.  Quality size fish don't feed when the forage is suspended. They lie in wait.  They don't need to be actively feeding to catch them either. Find the spot on the nearest structure change at the depth you marked the school and you've a good shot at getting into some action.   Don't mark the spot, place it a cast farther up the structure and anchor or use it as a reference.