Gregg Lake shore fishing

[Burbot Sherbet]

Hey all!
I’ve been at Gregg lake in William Switzer Park for a couple days and getting consistently skunked in my shorefishing. Tried for whites and walleye mostly but would be happy to get a bite of any kind. Any tips for types of location, lures, bait or drinks to consume while I catch no fish would be appreciated! I’ll be here for a few more days and will be trying my luck again early tomorrow; I’ve got my spinning rod as well as fly gear and waders with me and all the usual tackle. PThanks!

[Bushleague]

Hey all!
I’ve been at Gregg lake in William Switzer Park for a couple days and getting consistently skunked in my shorefishing. Tried for whites and walleye mostly but would be happy to get a bite of any kind. Any tips for types of location, lures, bait or drinks to consume while I catch no fish would be appreciated! I’ll be here for a few more days and will be trying my luck again early tomorrow; I’ve got my spinning rod as well as fly gear and waders with me and all the usual tackle. PThanks!

Alright, I'll do my best. IMO the biggest factor in shorefishing is covering lots of water, so the first thing I do is try and pick a lake where there is a fair bit of shoreline that I can walk along and cast. From what I can see Gregg doesn't fit this description, but do the best you can.

When I first get to the lake I stand back and make a few casts, you'd be surprised how many fish you can catch out of knee deep water so long as you don't scare them. This morning I caught several walleye and a small pike out of less than 24" of water, before I even got my feet wet.

Then I wade in about knee deep, and make about 5-10 casts in a fan shape, including straight sideways along the shore, keep the casts along the shore shorter to keep your hook from snagging on the bottom. The longer your casts the deeper the lure will run.

Once I've covered my immediate area, I fish my way down the shore, making about 3-5 casts fanning in the direction I'm fishing, once again don't forget to cover the shallows that you are about to wade through. Some days the casts parallel to the shore account for the majority of my fish. The last cast I throw straight out as far as I can, and wade down the shore as I retrieve... repeat this enough times and eventually you will put your lure in front of a fish.

As for lures, from shore I use mostly spoons and jigs, spinners to a lesser extent. Often I will fish a jig or light spoon heading one way, then on my way back I will use a heavyer spoon and just long bomb casts to deeper water as I wade. One excellent shallow water weapon I've found is a 1/2 oz Williams spoon, replace the treble with a 3/0 single hook and thread a 3" MR Twister on to the hook. This offering can be worked fairly slowly in shallow water and has caught me a whole pile of pike and walleye. Plain silver with a white twister tail seems to be the most consistent for me.

When I look down a kilometer or so of rocky shoreline, I know for a fact that there are at least a few decent fish within casting range, they are in shallow because they are feeding, and if I can cover enough water I stand a good chance of catching them.

[Burbot Sherbet]

Thanks for the sound advice! A methodical approach definitely wins out. In this case it was simply a matter of timing the bite, which seems to differ quite a bit from lake to lake and species to species as well as depend on the time of year I guess.