How Long to Stay at a Fishing Spot

One dilemma every angler faces is how long to stay at a fishing spot when you are not catching fish. I know that I have struggled with this conundrum myself many times throughout my fishing career.

Walleye fishing in particular, I have found myself asking this question many times.

One rule I have put in place for myself is the twenty to thirty minute rule. To put it simply, if I am not marking or catching fish for twenty to thirty minutes on a spot I will move.

I think that the biggest key to that entire thing is to look at your graph and make sure that you have evidence for being

 where you’re at and that you are actually seeing fish on your graph. As a general rule of thumb, if you aren’t marking or seeing fish, don’t stop to fish there you will only be wasting your time.

Now another time I find myself trying to answer the question of whether or not I should move fishing spots is when I’ve caught one or two fish, but I’m not really seeing much activity on my graph and any real evidence numbers of fish are holding on the spot.

I will use that same rule thirty minute rule and if I haven’t see a fish on my Humminbird graph then I will move.

Generally, these aren’t big moves it may only be a couple hundred yards, but I try to stay true to my thirty minute rule.

Now I think it’s really hard for a lot of people and myself included to not fish memories.

Fishing in areas you have caught them before, but aren’t catching them now. The biggest thing I can stress is to trust your electronics. Use your electronics to help you figure it out.

Try to use those tips the next time you’re out on the water, and do your best to not  spend too long on any one spot especially if you’re not seeing those fish on the graph.