Well, we started out by trolling three rods and establishing a 10 foot break line all the way around the lake . We do this with the Gps leaving waypoints at 10 feet by zig zagging into 9 and out to 11 dropping markers at 10. This give us a perimeter to stay inside of. We already had most of the lake marked out from the last time we fished there so we finished marking it out and found by doing that there were no fish on the breaks. So our next tactic was to cast some of the better weed banks and points. Absolutely no follows or action of any kind so we moved out to main basins and looked on our locator for fish and found tons of Forage in 13 to 17 feet. The was nothing over the deepest holes so we targeted those mid depth flats and used out trails to show us where we had already been. There is a mid lake hump that is devoid of weeds that two of the fish were relating to coming up to 9 feet surrounded by 15 feet. The fish were in the troughs between this hump and the big under water point out in front of the swimming beach and west. This point has always produced fish for us in the past. One fish was east of the hump , one northwest and one south east but all within a couple hundred feet of that hump. 14 /15 feet was the depth that all three fish were using. I pounded the waters all around that Hump and every other area of 15 feet where the graph showed us lots of forage. Once we found them it became a game of what color did they want. Blue frog was it. Mike

By establishing a perimeter of waypoints one can troll or cast an area and not worry about weeding up lures and getting snagged on trees and other edge problems. Knowing exactly where you are is so important. Six rods running clean on water containing lots of forage and big fish hooks. W e also tried some jigging and open water casting in 15 feet trying to trigger some of the bigger fish we marked. I use my Gps and locator more than the average guy. They are vital tools in #1 showing me where I am, #2 where I am heading,#3 where I have already been. I leave fish icons where I mark what I believe to be a big fish and return to that general area many times during the day pounding that water so to speak.

So in short we look with our tools to locate areas that are holding bait and big fish and concentrate our efforts fishing those areas. We wasted 5 hours on unproductive water as it was. If I were to have fished it again the next day I would have trolled from daylight till dark with 6 rods staying in 13 to 17 feet. That is how we have multiple fish days. If Michelle and I were both 10 years younger we might have casted those flats with long drifts trolling upwind and drifting back casting mid depth cranks, bulldawgs and Jigs but today with our aching joints ,bad wrists and desire to catch 50 inch class fish we employ our tools and trolling tactics to maximize our time on the water and this increases our chances of boating a fish of a lifetime. Whether you cast or troll or like us both you have to Find them and work them. Mike and Michelle

One other point for Steve. It is real hard for a caster to pull himself away from the weed lines. I know because Michelle had to start reminding me that we were not moving any fish and she finally just sat down and said < Mike we are wasting our time. The fish are not here and we need to find them. I love catching fish casting and Ill choose that method any time its working but when its not you either have to troll or go home. Steve , all you need is 4 trolling lures for Hudson. Blue frog, Olive frog, White belly perch and orange belly perch. Those 4 colors have put over 80 fish in my boat on Hudson all the way back to 1998. Two shakespere catfish rods with Okuma 30DX reels spooled with 30 pound mono and 60 pound wire leaders. If nothing else trolling from one spot to the next ( with your casting rod) keeps your lures in the game. Mel Oliver caught more fish in Lake Hudson than anyone else I have ever met. Mel loved casting but he always trolled to his next spot. He just tossed a crane out behind his boat and motored to his next spot. He got his biggest fish there trolling in 17 feet. Your fish have transitioned to deeper water to escape the extreme temps near shore and whether you cast for them or troll for them you will have to transition with them or wait until fall or another type of cooling trend when they come back. Remember what Buck Perry said, the fish are either shallow deep or somewhere inbetween and they eat almost every day. Mike