Fishing depth

Question
Hi Marc,
If the Fishfinder says the fish are at 25 feet, how can I get my lure or bait to this depth? I use spinning tackle and the available line counters aren't compatible with spinning gear. Any help would be appreciated. Kevin

Answer
Hi Kevin,

If you are bait fishing below the boat, it is pretty easy.  On a spinning reel, mark the line somewhere and backreel one revolution.  See how much line came off and now you know how much line comes off each revolution and do the math as you are lowering the bait.  

The other method is to literally mark the line in five foot intervals with a sharpie pen.  I know a lot of panfishermen that do this.  

If you have a good locator you can turn up the gain and actually see the bait or sinkers on the locator.

If you are casting and reeling, it's very difficult.  Some lures are designed to run at certain depths, but when you get past 15-20' you are forced to fish something like a jig or jigging spoon.  At that point, there is no perfect system.  You can try to see how long it takes for the lure to get to the bottom and adjust the sink-time from there.  For instance, you cast out a jig in 40' of water and it takes 40 seconds to reach the bottom.  Now you know it sinks one foot per second.  If you see fish at 25, let the jig sink 25 seconds are you will be close.

You could use a slip-bobber system, but at depths over 25 feet that gets cumbersome too.

Good fishing!