finally realized why I wasn't catching fish-DUH

[ertauber]

While fishing this week off of the lighthouse the drift was really fast in the wind and tide. My buddy in the rear of the boat was catching trout very regularly and I wasn't. Both using same shrimp, etc. Sitting back to analyze the situation the fog in my head cleared and I realized something. He was casting his shrimp out to the side of the boat and when it drifted behind the boat, he reeled it in and recast. Realization was that the boat was drifting over the fish in 4-5 ft of water scaring them out away from the boat directly to his bait.
Which just shows you that even though I have been fishing 60 years I don't know everything but I sure did learn!

[DixieReb]

I noticed several years ago that I caught more fish under a cork when I threw it out the side and let it drift to either the back or front of the boat, depending on which way I was drifting. Your friend definitely was on to something!

[SS-342]

I noticed several years ago that I caught more fish under a cork when I threw it out the side and let it drift to either the back or front of the boat, depending on which way I was drifting. Your friend definitely was on to something!

Interesting conversation!

Ya'll don't know my Mate/wife. She does it all wrong and still catches trout! Up close to the boat, on either side, back of the drift, with loose line almost around the boat and the list goes on and on. If I could only get her to do it RIGHT!

At times I've tried to fish like her but that isn't fun, I know better but still get "whipped" more than I want.

[Bonecracker]

Yall are all wrong! My mother-in-law used to out fish all of us, dragging her cork behind the boat doing nothing but an occasional pop! Just not right!!!

[timeout]

I have noticed the same thing while drifting at Lanark

[JIm Smith]

There is a special school that all women go to that men don't know about that teaches them things like this

[wevans]

When fishing alone, I often put a line out back with a cork and let it drag along with the boat and cast with my others to the sides and front Often times, that pole dragging out the back will out-fish me

[Salty Gator]

While fishing this week off of the lighthouse the drift was really fast in the wind and tide. My buddy in the rear of the boat was catching trout very regularly and I wasn't. Both using same shrimp, etc. Sitting back to analyze the situation the fog in my head cleared and I realized something. He was casting his shrimp out to the side of the boat and when it drifted behind the boat, he reeled it in and recast. Realization was that the boat was drifting over the fish in 4-5 ft of water scaring them out away from the boat directly to his bait.
Which just shows you that even though I have been fishing 60 years I don't know everything but I sure did learn!

Interesting observation, but I don't think spooked fish eat. Once they are spooked, they are gone. I bet your fishing buddy was holding his mouth right. I also regularly catch fish by drifting a bait behind the boat, and caught nice keeper cobia in 4 ft last year. But I'm pretty sure that fish didn't swim from under the boat.

[leonreno]

On windy days, when you cast in front of the boat, as you reel in, the boat moves too the bait more than the bait to the boat. In other words, your working the boat to the bait and the bait stays in one location. If you cast to the side or back, as the boat moves forward it will drag the bait forward, thus covering more ground (and fish) than the one cast in front. That's my theory.