| A buddy and I were ice fishing the other morning | | | | ignore false anecdotal conclusions. I am not saying |
| without much luck at first. After about 30 minutes | | | | color does not matter, but the next time you hear |
| my friend peeked his head in my portable shanty and | | | | "they would only bite on yellow", translate that to |
| said "I changed to orange and BAM... two nice | | | | "we tried a few colors but the first fish was caught |
| crappies instantly. " I could not resist since I had no | | | | on yellow and no other color was ever tried after |
| bites so far. I changed over from a red Whip to an | | | | that". Unfortunately, you really can not learn anything |
| orange one and within a minute or two, I had a few | | | | from this information. Anecdotal evidence is the |
| 11" crappies flopping in the bucket. Then it cooled off | | | | opposite of science and is often flat out wrong. For |
| for a 1/2 hour and then I caught a few more. On... | | | | example, fishermen are always talking about |
| off... on... off until we left. On the drive home I | | | | barometric pressure, moon phase, lure color on |
| started thinking that I probably should not have | | | | cloudy days. The funny thing is, nobody can agree on |
| changed colors. The bite was hot-cold-hot-cold typical | | | | how these things effect fish, not even the experts. |
| of roaming schools of crappies. Did the school swim | | | | Search the forums and online article and you will find |
| by us about the same time we changed lures or did | | | | that about 50 percent say fishing when the |
| they really prefer orange that morning? I will never | | | | barometer is falling is best and the other half say |
| know for sure. | | | | fishing when the barometer is rising is best. Half say |
| What makes fishing challenging (and also frustrating | | | | use bright colors on bright days and half say bright |
| at times when you can not buy a bite) is the number | | | | colors on dark days. Why such disparity? The reason |
| of variables that effect the bite. We all remember | | | | is this: someone had a great day fishing and made a |
| from algebra how hard it was to find x, y, and z. You | | | | mental note of some condition or lure color and |
| can not solve for z until you know x and y. I hate to | | | | attributed it to the reason they caught lots of fish. |
| put something I love, like fishing, in terms of | | | | You will never change their opinion about it. |
| something dreaded like algebra, but the equation a | | | | We are the same way about our pick-up trucks. |
| fisherman has to solve, to understand fish feeding | | | | Some swear by Ford, or Chevy, or Dodge. You |
| habits, has about 20 variables: and they change by | | | | either had a good experience with one or a bad |
| the minute! Light, time of day, air temperature, water | | | | experience with the other two, and nobody is going |
| temperature, water depth, weed coverage, bottom | | | | to change your mind. One has to be statistically more |
| composition, location, time of year, wind speed, wind | | | | reliable, but which one? I do not know, but I bet it |
| direction, water clarity, barometric pressure, forage, | | | | has changed since I made up my mind. The point is, |
| fishing pressure, spawn cycle, fish competition | | | | anecdotal evidence can be wrong. However, statistics |
| density, and moon phase (if you believe in that), are | | | | are only reliable when there are thousands of data |
| some conditions to consider. The bad news is you | | | | points. Also, the scientific method requires that only |
| can not solve this equation. Nobody knows for sure | | | | one factor be varied, and the other factors strictly |
| the complex interaction of all these variable and how | | | | controlled and kept the same. When out fishing for |
| they effect and ultimately determine when or where | | | | the day, numerous factors (remember the 20 factors |
| a fish will feed, if at all that day. There will be days | | | | mentioned earlier) are changing constantly through |
| when they should be biting but they just will not. The | | | | out the day. |
| good news is we do not have to predict when or | | | | There is one method I have used that seems to |
| where they will bite or even why they bit. | | | | eliminate changing conditions and tests only one |
| We just need to get out and fish, and when we | | | | factor at a time. That method is to present the |
| have success, try different things, and then | | | | same fish with two bait/lure choices and see which |
| document as much about the conditions as possible. | | | | one is preferred. I call it "side-by-side" testing and it |
| Never, ever, just remember "this point is a good | | | | easier to do ice fishing or trolling than it is to do |
| walleye spot", because 9 times out of 10, if | | | | casting. When testing new ice fishing plastics I fish |
| conditions are different, it will not be. It is hard to | | | | with two lines down the same hole (Wisconsin allows |
| remember "on December 20th, in 12' of water, after | | | | three lines per person) about 5" apart. I use the |
| 3 days of clear skies, the walleyes were feeding | | | | same line and same jig fished at the same depth, but |
| heavy on this point for about 1 hour before dark" so | | | | two different color or styles of the same color. After |
| try to write it down in a log book. Remembering the | | | | catching 30-40 fish this way, a preference may |
| exact date of success is important, but seasonal | | | | become apparent. 30 on red and 5 on white is a clear |
| clues are the most important thing to write down. A | | | | preference. |
| season can be a week or two ahead or behind, | | | | You can use the same technique with tip-ups or |
| depending on the weather, especially in the spring. | | | | tip-downs set one foot apart or trolling with different |
| The peak of the walleye spring run is not always | | | | colors of the same lure at the same depth about 2' |
| March 23th, for example. But I know for sure the | | | | apart. Side-by-side testing also works while bobber |
| smallmouth bass will be biting in the rivers around | | | | fishing. Are leaches working better than minnows? |
| here when the cottony aspen seeds are blowing in | | | | Find out by casting two of the exact same bobber |
| the wind. Pay more attention to the conditions than | | | | setups as close together as possible, one with a |
| to the brand or color of the lure you happened to be | | | | leach and one with a minnow. How about red hooks? |
| using that day. | | | | They are the craze right now but do they |
| The key to catching more fish is to remember only | | | | outperform silver hooks? Try some side-by-side |
| the things that are really true, and to try our best to | | | | testing and let me know the results. |