Fishing With Marker Buoys 101...Tip of the week

[Lee Borgersen]

                                           



                    Fishing With Marker Buoys 101 Part 1 of 2

 
There are many types of marker buoys to choose from. Just as an example I'll list a few.
 
Round head dog bone
Bow tie
Blue Fox
 
The unique wrap around weight eliminates tangled buoys. Simply unwrap the weight and throw the buoy overboard to mark underwater structure and fish. The buoy will unwind itself until weight hits the bottom. Some come in various colors. I choose to paint many of mine to fit my specific needs. I prefer the Blue Fox for best visibility under adverse conditions. Unfortunately they are no longer being made.
 
Weather patterns will dictate what colors show up best on sunny, overcast or foggy days. I paint some of my buoys for various reasons. The florescent green is easier to spot on an overcast day and the florescent orange is easier to spot from farther distances on a sunny or foggy day.
 
 I make A homemade holder and it's real handy. Keeps the markers off the floor where they are destined to get damaged and it also leaves me more room in my storage compartments. I also like having them right at my finger tips. If you decide to paint them I always recommend spraying 2 coats of white first. This allows the following coats of florescent to show up way better. Some anglers will paint markers black to limit the high visibility factor. This is considered the stealth approach to discourage other fisherman from zooming in on your secret spot.
 
If you notice in the boat photo below just to the right of the blue fox markers I have some of the small yellow bow tie markers and a dog bone. Those are for when I mark or catch fish on a specific area on a huge reef that I'm already working. I'll quickly throw a small bow tie about 10 ft. adjacent to that spot. Never drop markers directly on the spot. The reason being you may spook the fish, but most of all you'll most likely snag it with your line when making a pass near it.
 
Many of us have experienced having marker weights get stuck between rocks. The more you pull and yank the more your marker line rubs on the rocks until it frays and breaks. To help prevent this from happening I use a piece of thin plastic tubing. Thread on your line a 9" piece of tubing to where the line is to be tied to the sinker and secure it with a peg. This will prevent your snagged line from fraying during release processes.

*Note: Notice the bow tie marker holder on last photo. Square piece of Velcro on marker attaches to Velcro holder at left rear of boat for storage.
 
Stay tuned next week for part 2 of marker buoys 101.
 
 
Lee




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[Lee Borgersen]

        Tip of the week

      Choosing bottom-bouncing weights.

 

 
> Use a 1-oz bottom-bouncer for depths around 10 feet deep, a 2-oz bouncer for up to 20 feet and a 3-oz bouncer to stay 30 feet down. This is a very general rule, as bottom bouncer are extremely speed dependent.



> If you are using the correct weight, your line will never trail alongside the boat at more than a 45-degree angle when your bouncer is close to the bottom. So, if you have to let out so much line to maintain bottom contact that your bouncer is trailing back at less than 45 degrees, use a heavier bouncer.



> The key to bottom-bouncing is having the bouncer riding along anywhere from a few inches to a foot or so above the bottom.

[Cody Gruchow]

Last time I used my marker bouys it turned out bad. If your on a heavily fished walleye lake I suggest not using them. And if possible mark it on your sonar or navonics ap. ppl see those bouys and know what they mean an flock to them. Last time I walleye fished on Mille lacs we were the only bout in  the area started catching fish and threw those out where we picked up walleyed on our lindys and before we knew it there was 8 boats right on top of us

[Lee Borgersen]

Last time I used my marker bouys it turned out bad. If your on a heavily fished walleye lake I suggest not using them. And if possible mark it on your sonar or navonics ap. ppl see those bouys and know what they mean an flock to them. Last time I walleye fished on Mille lacs we were the only bout in  the area started catching fish and threw those out where we picked up walleyed on our lindys and before we knew it there was 8 boats right on top of us

A BIG 10/4 on the heavily fished lakes problem Cody. I would use the a small black marker or none at all on a busy lake. Even with no markers folks will slowly come closer and closer to your boat if they see you catching fish.

I use markers mostly in the BWCA where there is more open water and less boats. Even in remote areas there will always those that will crowd you when your catching fish. I had a guy with his two adult sons from the same resort I stay at try to push in on a small honey hole I was working.

He pulls up 1/4 block away in 60 ft. of water and I told the wife " he ain't gunna fish there". He's going to drop his electric in and slowly work his way right over here. Sure enough here they come! When he intruded within my comfort zone I headed towards him with the electric. he then swung left as did I. So he swung right and so did I. Borgie hates any conflicts and gets nervous. He then decided to head towards shore to go around from behind so I shadowed him along the shore. Now bare in mind that I was not chasing him all around the lake. I was just protecting a small perimeter area from this     .

Borgie asked me to knock it off so I backed away and he zoomed right in while running over my marker. Next thing you know he was trolling right next to my boat. That's when I flipped a nickel into his boat using my thumb. He say's "what did you do that for". I told him that I bet my wife that he's so close that I could flip a nickel into his boat.

After that his two adult sons were so embarrassed they told their father to get out of my way and they left.

[Boar]

ha sweet story, ive used marker bouys for a decoy, toss them a hundred yars drom a spot and use othe means of staying on or near my spot.
i remeber one time on the rainy river, when a douche an hored down river in front of my boat when i had one, he was close enough to catch my anchor and wouldnt move, wen the walleye pods move up rive they have a tendency to move out ofthe way of anchor obstructions so if boats are lined up like this the up river boat or boats dont see alot of fish. i started to let pringles chips float down and the gulls started going crazy right over his boat, he got craped on and left after about 20 mn of gullnfrenzy

[Cody Gruchow]

The last time I used them I was on Mille lacs and the first boat that moved in I told my buddy he will come right next to us. My buddy hooked up with a nice 24 inch walleye and as he is reeling in this guy got with in 3 feet of us and completely cuts me off and anchors down.  So I said " hey your to close you need to move" he ignores me like he couldn't hear me. My buddy says what the dude move. Again ignores us. So I do the "water justice" as I call it and Put on just a river weight an start casting right over his boat, looks at me but doesn't say anything as I continue to cast over him for about 5 minutes and he finally says something and I just ignore him. Casting again he starts yelling at me, an I say "sorry can't hear you" I continue to cast. He gets mad and pulls anchor and tears out of there an circles us a couple times at full throttle.

[snow1]

YUP,only thing worse than using a marker buoy is standing up with the landing net,its like waving a "walleye flag" hey over here we caught one! then boats from all directions horn in on ya.

[snow1]

PS~ For my metro walleye hotspots I found that a "sea gull" decoy buoy is a great tool for marking structure,that was before we had gps btw.

[DDSBYDAY]

  Even with the gps I like a clear flat sided bottle.  The Gps keeps me close but I like to have a visual reference point.  The flat sides keep it from unwinding unless the wind is really blowing.  I make them on the spot so there isn't a lot of extra line.  They are hard to see unless you are right on top of them.  Simply unhooking a fish in a breeze can make them tough to find without a gps to get you close. 

[Bobby Bass]

The only guy I know up here who fishes walleye just uses a duck decoy, works pretty well except for the one time when he used his net to retrieve his decoy and some lady on shore thought he was netting ducks and called the sheriff on him. 

[DDSBYDAY]

    That's funny.