It was a Saturday afternoon of fishing on Lake Martin. The main lake was a literal froth from boat traffic, but it had been a while since I had wetted a line on the home lake, and I was determined to catch a few fish. I fired up the Mercury Pro XS, lowered the nose of my Phoenix 921 and ran about 30 miles per hour, just letting it cut through the waves. I hadn’t really decided yet where I wanted to go. Should I run out to deeper water offshore or go off the grid to somewhere more isolated? Either approach had potential.

Although I have visited this topic before, it’s one that anglers need to consider more these days. When fishing all seasons like many anglers do, it’s easy to get discouraged by the waves and by other boaters on the lake during the busy season, which seems to extend a little longer each year. Anglers’ minds are conditioned to think that when everything is disturbed, like it is on a summer Saturday, the fish aren’t going to bite. This may be true at other times of year and during other seasons, but I’ve seen a change in how the fish respond to boat traffic in recent years.