old school 2d sonar marker buoys= bass

[scaleface]

Fished a small 200 acre lake yesterday out of an 8 foot one man boat. Havent fished this lake much. After four hours of beating the banks with one 12 incher landed , boredom set in so I started looking for structure in open water. I found two brushpiles and an inconspicuous point in different locations. Tossed marker buoys out to stay oriented and ended up catching over 20 bass . No giants but did have a nice one wrap me up. Did land three over three and a dozen more 2 lbers all on a worm.  One brush pile there were no distinguishable features  to help me find it next time. So I marked a tree on bank with a strip of yellow cloth. With new technology,  GPS and waypoints , a lot of anglers dont fish this way anymore. It still works.

[TnRiver46]

Nicely done, that’s the only way I can find my magic spots is line up things on the bank. I have GPS at console but the dog might as well be reading it 

[Tennessee Boy]

Sometimes I miss the good ol days when you had to use your high school trigonometry to find fish.

[TnRiver46]

@Tennessee Boy, it’s all fun and games until the tallest tree in the woods you used for a landmark fell over 

[Tennessee Boy]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Tennessee Boy, it’s all fun and games until the tallest tree in the woods you used for a landmark fell over 

Tell me about it.   The greatest fishing spot I have ever known required a precise cast with a few inches.  A limb pointed at the exact spot.  The tree was between two docks and was easy to find.  I caught about a dozen fish off that spot over time.  The fish always hit on the initial drop.  They were all over 4 pounds.  A tornado took out the tree, the docks, and all the houses in the area.  I couldn’t tell you within a half mile where that spot was.   I have no idea what was down there that held the fish.

[gim]

The problem is that its a visual marker that everyone else can now see.  The last time I dropped in a buoy marker about 10 years ago it was like a magnet for a dozen boats walleye fishing in the area.  Then one of them came along and picked it up.

 

Technically it becomes public property once you drop it in the water.

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

The problem is that its a visual marker that everyone else can now see.  The last time I dropped in a buoy marker about 10 years ago it was like a magnet for a dozen boats walleye fishing in the area.  Then one of them came along and picked it up.

 

Technically it becomes public property once you drop it in the water.

That hasnt been much of a problem for me. My buoys are yellow,  not bright orange and hard for me to find when I get away from it. One time in a tournament I did have my buoys spotted and fished by competitors. 

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

So I marked a tree on bank with a strip of yellow cloth.

On my home lake back in the day, that would get removed upon being “discovered.” The weeknight tourney guys were pretty cutthroat - lol. Someone tried a little orange spray paint on bushes once - they got trimmed with clippers. Strategically placed boulders got moved 20-30 ft further down the bank. Brushpiles got hung with anchors and dragged off spots. The defensive strategies and head games played were as much a part of the competition as the catching 😎 Good times!

[Tennessee Boy]

I was the first person in my bass club to get a GPS.  After that I didn’t need markers buoys.  But moving someone else’s buoys?   Who would do that?

[rgasr63]

10 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

On my home lake back in the day, that would get removed upon being “discovered.” The weeknight tourney guys were pretty cutthroat - lol. Someone tried a little orange spray paint on bushes once - they got trimmed with clippers. Strategically placed boulders got moved 20-30 ft further down the bank. Brushpiles got hung with anchors and dragged off spots. The defensive strategies and head games played were as much a part of the competition as the catching 😎 Good times!

Tie them scurvy dogs to the yard iron!! LoL. I have been around some rough dudes that would fish out someone's spots before the time to fish the tournament and they collected buoys but not destroy the spot by pulling up the brush piles and such. Wow

[Catt]

@Tennessee Boy On Toledo Bend you are required by law to mark both ends of all Trotlines. The marker of choice is a Preston Antifreeze Jug. 

 

Wanna guess what my buoy markers are?

 

 

[king fisher]

I use both GPS and buoys.  I need all the help I can get.  

 

One time I gave directions to a fellow guide on how to find a small creek loaded with salmon in Alaska.  I had fished the hard to find place for a few years.  The mane river had many side channels and it was difficult to find the correct one that would lead to the tributary with the salmon.  There was always a plane parked on a gravel bar, that marked the location of the turn off.  I told the guide to take the cut off where the plane was parked.  He ran out of gas looking for the plane, and had to float down river until he ran in to another boater who loaned him some gas to get back to the lodge.  He never did find the creek.  It ended up the owner of the plane actually flew in to town that day.  It was the first time in 4 years that I had ever heard of the plane being moved.  The guide was not happy and told me I should have given him better directions.  I told him the next time to turn at the big cotton wood tree.  He said which big cotton wood tree, I said the one next to the plane.

[Team9nine]

Our buoys were made by a friend of mine out of closed-cell foam, no bigger than a bar of soap, and painted black. Incredibly difficult to see if you were more than a cast away from them. While a team was weighing in, one of us would be scoping out his boat, looking for left out lures or broken pieces of soft plastics on the floor to clue us in. I’d pick up clipped off pieces of the tag line left on the floor of the boat and then mic them to know what pound test line guys were throwing certain baits with. And, of course, everyone carried binoculars with them in their boats. We’d turn off our aerators when fishing by someone so you couldn’t tell if we had fish in the livewell, and slackline fish we were playing (thumbbar) if someone was moving past us.

[Dwight Hottle]

I have put out a buoy to mark a spot that didn't hold any fish. When another boat  commented they found our buoy but the spot marked absolutely sucked my buddy remarked " well the rat always finds the cheese  " We had a good laugh over that one. 

[gim]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

But moving someone else’s buoys?   Who would do that?

 

Its public water.  So its public property once placed in public water.

 

I wouldn't do it.  But I also understand that its not mine anymore when dropped in.

 

Its kinda like placing a deer stand on public hunting land.  Anyone can use it.  Don't be too upset if another hunter is sitting it on opening day when you arrive.

7 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I have put out a buoy to mark a spot that didn't hold any fish. When another boat  commented they found our buoy but the spot marked absolutely sucked my buddy remarked " well the rat always finds the cheese  " We had a good laugh over that one. 

 

That's awesome.  And funny.  And a good idea.  The "decoy."

 

I have a relative who places an old ice shanty in a terrible spot as a decoy too during ice fishing season here.  He purposely plants it over dead water and when he comes back to check on it, there's a dozen other houses around it.

[scaleface]

I use buoys a lot. Its impossible to stay oriented without them unless you have the electronics  that will do it for you. If someone happens by and takes notice , I wont lose any sleep over it. Spot lock is a real nice feature. I wish I had it on my Lowe.

[TnRiver46]

35 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Our buoys were made by a friend of mine out of closed-cell foam, no bigger than a bar of soap, and painted black. Incredibly difficult to see if you were more than a cast away from them. While a team was weighing in, one of us would be scoping out his boat, looking for left out lures or broken pieces of soft plastics on the floor to clue us in. I’d pick up clipped off pieces of the tag line left on the floor of the boat and then mic them to know what pound test line guys were throwing certain baits with. And, of course, everyone carried binoculars with them in their boats. We’d turn off our aerators when fishing by someone so you couldn’t tell if we had fish in the livewell, and slackline fish we were playing (thumbbar) if someone was moving past us.

You are shady 😂 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Its public water.  So its public property once placed in public water.

 

Ain't how it works here!

 

We set out duck & goose decoys all time on public waters. We set up deer stands on public WMAs. We put out Trotlines in public waters 

 

Game Warden will arrest you for messing with them. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

 

Its public water.  So its public property once placed in public water.

 

I wouldn't do it.  But I also understand that its not mine anymore when dropped in.

 

Its kinda like placing a deer stand on public hunting land.  Anyone can use it.  Don't be too upset if another hunter is sitting it on opening day when you arrive.

 

That's awesome.  And funny.  And a good idea.  The "decoy."

 

I have a relative who places an old ice shanty in a terrible spot as a decoy too during ice fishing season here.  He purposely plants it over dead water and when he comes back to check on it, there's a dozen other houses around it.

So when you put your boat in the water and tie it to a dock somebody can just legally steal it ? 

[gim]

53 minutes ago, Catt said:

We set up deer stands on public WMAs.

 

Complete opposite here.  Any deer stand placed on public land is available for public use.  Otherwise people would stake out plots of public land like they owned it.  And believe me, encounters on this subject occur.  They can be quite confrontational too.  They also cannot be permenant in nature.  Some people still try to do it but doesn't take long before an LEO marks it for destruction.

 

Edit, you can place a temporary deer stand on a WMA in advance but its still open for public use.  You better get there 2 hours before legal shooting time to ensure no one else beats you tho.

 

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

So when you put your boat in the water and tie it to a dock somebody can just legally steal it ? 

 

Good question.  Stealing is definitely illegal.  So my answer would be no.  I have heard of rods/reels snatched right out an unattended boat sitting on a dock so I try not to leave mine unattended out of sight for very long.

 

Leaving a marker buoy out and then someone coming along and taking it I would not classify as stealing.

[GaryH]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

 

Its kinda like placing a deer stand on public hunting land.  Anyone can use it.  Don't be too upset if another hunter is sitting it on opening day when you arrive.

 

 

Wow… around here you’d be better off sand papering a bobcats butt and jumping in a phone booth with it than using another’s tree stand.

[gim]

4 minutes ago, GaryH said:

Wow… around here you’d be better off sand papering a bobcats butt and jumping in a phone booth with it than using another’s tree stand.

 

I would never use someone else's stand that was legally placed in a spot on public land.  For starters, I have a little more ethics than that.  I'll find my own spot and place my own stand.

 

Second, I don't need to get in a confrontation with someone who also has a high powered rifle.

 

There are a lot of lazy hunters out there that don't want to put in any scouting or time before they hunt.  They just want to show up on opening day, fill their tag, and be done.

[GaryH]

@gimruis there’s no way you’d ever do it. You’re a sportsman but like you said there’s lazy people who have no self respect. 

[TnRiver46]

20 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Leaving a marker buoy out and then someone coming along and taking it I would not classify as stealing.

I would. Same as the boat or rods. You didn’t buy it, it’s not yours 

[GaryH]

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I would. Same as the boat or rods. You didn’t buy it, it’s not yours 

Stealing is stealing no matter the cost of the object.