Every year I like to tackle some different fishing techniques. 2021 drop shot for walleye and smallmouth, early season bass with jerk baits and hair jigs. I wanted to try bass fly fishing but never got that far. So for 2022 I’m looking for some new techniques to try, maybe snap jigging walleyes, jig fishing for bass. Any suggestions?
Thanks and Happy New Year!
Scott
I do the same thing it seems. Each year I try to set some sort of goal to focus on and at least become somewhat adequate in a technique.
2021 was sharpshooting with a jigging rap. Had a buddy help show me the ropes a bit and it paid off big time 1 morning on leech lake. Drive around until you see the marks, quick reverse and toss the jigs at em.
Over the years I’ve focused on slip bobbers, plastics, rigging chubs, fishing the electronics, pulling spinners, etc.
If you haven’t I would suggest slip bobbers. It’s just so much fun watching them go down especially at night using lighted bobbers.
Frog pattern grenades. But not for ice fishing. 
I do the same thing it seems. Each year I try to set some sort of goal to focus on and at least become somewhat adequate in a technique.
2021 was sharpshooting with a jigging rap. Had a buddy help show me the ropes a bit and it paid off big time 1 morning on leech lake. Drive around until you see the marks, quick reverse and toss the jigs at em.
Over the years I’ve focused on slip bobbers, plastics, rigging chubs, fishing the electronics, pulling spinners, etc.
If you haven’t I would suggest slip bobbers. It’s just so much fun watching them go down especially at night using lighted bobbers.
I have been slip bobber fishing for a lot of years. Actually tried the sharp-shooting technique with a slip bobber the past couple years. Great results with that.
For Bass if you have not tried the Neko rig yet. I would put that on your list for 2022. I had never used it till last year. There were days when it was the #1 technique. The best tip I have for you is, Don’t over work it. Fish it slow. I had great luck with it when the bite died down on the jigworm or dropshot. It seemed like I could always pick up a few more fish when those other techniques shut down.
How did the drop shot treat you in 2021. I’ve been a big fan of the drop shot for a long time ( Well before it became popular her in Minnesota ) I learned it from a guy who learned how to do it from Aaron Martins mother when he lived in California.
Focusing on getting fish to choose plastics over expensive live bait. Finding a pattern to put fish in the boat other than running spinners when the water is warm.
Focusing on getting fish to choose plastics over expensive live bait. Finding a pattern to put fish in the boat other than running spinners when the water is warm.
We should swap ideas and tactics. I want to become better at running spinners to get fish in the boat. I can get them pulling cranks in just about any scenario from May-October, but there are times where I’d rather pull spinners but have minimal confidence doing so.
Are you pulling them behind bottom bouncers mainly? When I employ this tactic on the river it’s a dink perch and drum only show.
Focusing on getting fish to choose plastics over expensive live bait.
Same. I hate buying live bait. Always prefer to use artificials if possible.
I do a fair amount of muskie fishing and I would like to do more main-basin fishing for them. I know muskie guys find balls of bait like ciscoes and then rip bulldawgs or medussas success. In fact, the new state record from Mille Lacs in November was caught in this exact manner. Virtually all of my muskie fishing is on a weed line adjacent to deep water with a horizontal moving lure.
Got a nice 14′ boat look forward to busting shallow river fish this year. Work has taken the majority of my time the last several years, peaking last year with only a handful of times in a boat. But its finally been paying off, it’s time to get back to having some fun.
Topwater smallies and the musky bug is gonna bite me come spring time. Had a few big fish follows last year that’s been haunting me to this day
I want to be more proficient at cleaning bottle bass……….
Kidding, I am pretty good at it now. I don’t get out often enough to improve my fishing skills. I just enjoy being on the water.
I’d suggest bass fishing walleyes. Toss bigger swimbaits in shallower water. The “thump” when a fish hits a swimbait is unlike any other bite in <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye fishing. Its addicting. Got hooked on it towards the end of last year. Its an application I will go out of my way to target. I’m very curious to see how well it will work early in the season. I had the best luck with storm GT’s searchbaits, a friend who got me into it swears by <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye assassins.
Swimbaits can be good at any time in open water from Spring to Fall. Some days they won’t hit them, other days it’s lights out.
How did the drop shot treat you in 2021. I’ve been a big fan of the drop shot for a long time ( Well before it became popular her in Minnesota ) I learned it from a guy who learned how to do it from Aaron Martins mother when he lived in California.
Fishthumper – Last year on Rainy Lake drop shot fishing out fished jigs or slip bobber at least 2 or 3 to 1. Being able to adjust the height of the bait off the bottom was the key. Sometimes it was 24″ and others it was 4″. Electronics was key though. Just like ice fishing I could watch them on the graph react to the bait. If the would slowly rise up but not bite I would lower my bait and get them to bite if they didn’t have to move too much. Gulp killer crawler or 3″ leach worked almost as good as live leaches.
A buddy has live view in his boat and that really help see how the fish reacted. That is definitely on my list for upgrades in the next year or two.
IMG_1960-1-scaled.jpg
Focusing on getting fish to choose plastics over expensive live bait. Finding a pattern to put fish in the boat other than running spinners when the water is warm.
Ganderpike – we had pretty good success with Berkly Gulp Killer crawlers and leeches last year. Not as good as live bait but pretty close.
I wouldn’t consider it new techniques, but rather just learning what was renamed. Nearly every “new” way is something that was done 25-30 years ago but didn’t get the notoriety that it does today. Social media and a change in mind set brings these things back. At times it’s weird to think back to when I was a teenager. Back then, the common practice was to keep your mouth shut and not share anything. Now, between kids seeking attention, people wanting to be a YouTube star, or us old farts realizing the benifits of sharing info the industry advances by leaps and bounds
Focusing on getting fish to choose plastics over expensive live bait.
.
Same here, get more confident in the plastics game and the plastics didn’t disappoint yesterday; they were definitely the ticket crappie fishing, on this day at least. Got a few on live bait but I finally put the plastics on after trying a few lures with live bait and it made all the difference.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
