CHANGING HOW I FISH
I was very happy and excited to get in a summer of fishing around home in 2021. I’ve been on the water as much as ever, fishing some tournaments on the weekends, guiding a few days here and there during the week and putting in a lot of time learning the new Humminbird Mega Live technology that I have installed on my boat. It is forward facing sonar, similar to what Garmin and Lowrance have had available for the past couple of years, but with some added features. It’s been a lot of fun to play with and it has helped me catch dozens of fish that never would have even seen my bait previously.
MEGA LIVE
To put it simply, Humminbird Mega Live has changed the way I fish in only a couple of months. The forward-facing sonar technology allows you to look ahead of the boat to see changes in depth, cover like wood, weeds or boulders and of course, any fish that could be swimming around.
I can now pull up to a spot, drop my trolling motor, do a quick scan and see if there are fish around. If there aren’t we keep moving, if there are, we have to figure out how to catch them.
Obviously, this technology works best in deeper water because you can see the entire water column, see where the fish are and put your bait right in front of them. In the 15-35 foot range where I do a lot of my bass and walleye fishing, it shines. I like the forward position of the transducer, set manually on the 40-degree angle.
In addition to looking out in front of the boat, the Mega Live transducer does a great job showing what is beneath your boat as well.
Mega Live also works in shallower water. I’ve caught a bunch of fish in six and eight feet with it. If you’re fishing a moving bait like a crankbait or jerkbait and want to watch it, you can change the transducer angle to 60 degrees to look a little stronger out in front of the boat. We are able to cater the technology to the techniques that we’re using.
Every day in the boat I catch myself saying “I never would have caught that fish or known it was there, without seeing it on Mega Live”. It really opens the door to a lot more fish to be caught out there if you want to utilize this new sonar technology. For fall fishing, when many species start to group up in deeper water, it’s mandatory equipment in my opinion. After using it for the past few months, I would compare it to using a flasher for ice fishing. Without it, you are simply not going to catch as many fish and probably not going to have as much fun.
ARE YOU DROP SHOTTING YET?
If you have located some fish with your sonar and know they are down there, you must figure out how to catch them. In the fall, most smallmouth and walleye (and other species) are keyed in on baitfish like cisco, smelt or shiners. This is a change from the summer when they are more focused on crayfish. That means I’m likely to use some sort of baitfish imitating bait.
LURE CHOICES
I use a soft plastic jerk shad rigged up on a jig head, an umbrella rig, and a big flutter spoon a lot. They all put a bunch of big smallmouths and walleyes in the boat for me each fall. When the bite gets tough, maybe because of fishing pressure, maybe because of weather changes, some finesse is required.
A drop-shot rig has been a staple for bass anglers for years, but it was never a big part of my arsenal around Northwest Ontario until recently. I just tended to use baits rigged on a jig head more often. But my eyes were opened after I gave the drop-shot rig a chance and now it’s always on the deck of my boat throughout the summer and fall.
THE SET UP
If you’re not familiar with a drop-shot rig, it is a small hook tied to the line with a weight beneath it. The weight gets your bait to the bottom where it can dance around in the fish’s face. I like to put my hook 18”-24” above the weight. If you are seeing fish higher off the bottom you can make your leader between the hook and the weight longer. I tied my hook on with a Palomar knot and just leave a tag end as long as I want the leader to be. This rig is equally deadly on smallmouths and walleyes and has accounted for a bunch of fish for me over the past month, especially when used in conjunction with the Mega Live sonar.
When I see fish on the sonar, I simply pitch my drop-shot to them and usually hooking up is easy. My go-to bait has been the Z-Man Finesse ShadZ, a slender four-inch minnow bait. You want to use a small hook to give the bait a natural look on this finesse rig. My top choice is a #1 Gamakatsu Split/Drop Shot hook. It’s readily available and it’s a hook that has landed a lot of big fish for me. I like to simply nose hook the Finesse ShadZ with that hook.
For water under 20 feet I use a ¼ ounce weight and for deeper than 20 I go with a 3/8.
ROD AND REEL SETUP FOR DROPSHOTTING
Because of the small hook you need a soft rod to avoid tearing it out during the fight. G. Loomis makes a drop-shot specific rod in all of their line-ups but I have been using the new NRX+ model. It is the Porsche of fishing rods, built with the finest components to make it super light and extremely sensitive. The 822 DSR model is the dream rod for this technique. For line I’m going with 8 lb Power Pro braid and an 8 lb Seaguar fluorocarbon leader.
LESS IS MEANS MORE SUCCESS
Avoiding the temptation to constantly shake and bounce the rod tip while you’re fishing a drop-shot rig will help you catch more fish. Simply hold the rod generally still, pulling the weight along the bottom if you want to move it. The weight bouncing along will impart a lot more action into the bait than you think. When fishing under the boat, a gentle shake can sometime trigger strikes.
With the sonar you can watch how fish react to the bait, then adjust accordingly. Sometimes it’s moving the bait differently and sometimes you need to try a different colour or completely different bait. The Mega Live sonar helps you narrow down the bait a lot quicker though when you can see how fish react to your bait, good or bad. If something is not right with it so you have to be open minded and try something different. When you figure that part out, you’re going to have a good day on the water.
USE YOUR SONAR TO ADVANTAGE
Whatever sonar technology you have on your boat, even if it’s traditional 2D sonar, make a point to use it to your advantage a little more this fall. Be patient and look around until you find some fish before you actually put your baits in the water. In general, more fish are deeper in the fall than earlier in the season so if you feel like your electronics game isn’t as strong as it should be, get out there and get better at it. It’s prime time!