SNEAK UP ON MORE FISH THIS YEAR
By Bob Jensen

There are certain times of the year when fish are more likely to be found in shallow water. When the fish are shallow, they are often biters. However, they are also more spooky than ordinary when they are shallow. Too much motion will spook a shallow fish, and so will too much noise. If you want to catch more fish when they are shallow, you need to keep quiet, and that involves more than not dropping tackle-boxes and the like on the floor of the boat. How you approach the fish can be a big influence on how many you catch.

Whether it be walleyes on a shallow point, largemouth bass in a shallow bay, or crappies in a rush bed, you will be far better off if you sneak up on them. Here’s how successful shallow water anglers approach an area to be fished.

First of all, shut the outboard off a good distance away from the area to be fished. If you have an electric motor, lower it and use it to approach the fishing area.

If you don’t have an electric motor, you will have to rely on the wind or oars to get into the fishing spot. The wind will provide for a quiet approach, but oars can be noisy. Take care to be quiet with the oars.

Different anglers have a different approach when using an electric motor to fish a shallow area. Some anglers like to move into an area quietly with the electric, then shut it off and fan-cast the area completely. When the area has been completely fished, with the electric motor on low, they move into a new casting position, shut the motor off, and repeat the procedure. These anglers feel that this approach spooks the fish less.

Other anglers like to keep the motor on the lowest speed and move super-slow through the area. However, they keep the motor on the low speed as they work the area. They feel that the constant low speed spooks the fish less than the start-stop technique.

The one thing you don’t want to do is to do start-stops with the motor speed on high. If there are fish present in the shallows when you hit the “go” switch with the speed on high, it is often possible to see the wakes created by departing fish. The Minn Kota motors that are favored by many anglers are very quiet and extremely reliable and perform very well in shallow water.

If the area being fished is wind-swept, you may want to have an anchor to drop to hold your position. Again, be very sure that you place the anchor into the water quietly, and also into the bottom of the boat quietly.

Also, long casts will be much more productive. The more you can do to avoid revealing your presence to the fish, the more success you will have.

If you want to consistently catch fish when they are shallow, keep the above ideas in mind and watch your catches go up.