Move around to catch lakers

A lot of anglers will just setup still lines with minnows and wait for the trout to bite. Well. They will be waiting a long time. Yes, you might get a few, but on most lakes it's far and few between. Some lakes the trout will hit all day long on anything (I have been to some of these lakes) and other lakes the trout are slower and more finicky. In my opinion a sonar is a must. Some trout will hit if you jig on the bottom, but a lot of trout won't strike until provoked and you have them chase your lure. I went out a few days ago and left my sonar at home....I forgot it. It killed me. It's like forgetting your kid at the shopping mall. I knew at that moment I wasn't getting loads of fish because how was I going to know if a trout was even around my hole, let alone get it to strike my lure on the up pull?

When I spot a trout on the bottom, I will start to bring my lure up very rapidly. Not just a bit, I mean I will start reeling it up like I am bringing my line out of the water. This usually initiates a swim up and strike. I call it the cat and mouse chase. I have brought trout from 70 ft up to 15 ft before it struck my jig. I have also had trout come after it several times.

I like to move around a lot. I drill a hole jig it for about 5 min and if nothing shows up on the sonar then I move. If trout are around, you will see them on your sonar within minutes of jigging. Sometimes we drill a hole, drop the transducer down and there is one suspended right below me. This happened yesterday. Suspended at 30ft. Dropped my tube down to him and bam. You gotta love it.

I think I have gotten under 5 fish on still lines ever. All have been jigging.