I agree with every approach mentioned! Try new things until you find what works. I usually start with the minnow swimming slightly up if fishing shallow, so it looks like it is trying to get to the top, or, if fishing near the bottom, tip it down, so it looks like he is trying to hide in the mud, or near the sand, rocks, or weeds. One thing no one talked about... Anyone ever tried a "quick strike" rig for northerns?
I make my own rigs, they are just two sections of leader material, attached to a single swivel, about 8 inches to a foot long. If you don't have the stuff I have for doing this, you can use two leaders attached to a Eyelet or swivel, but it gets bulky. On the end of that place two circle hooks, and put one in the nose of a large sucker or chub (creek chub--like 8 inch if you can get them) and the other hook just behind the dorsal fin. Put the whole thing on a big slip sinker and pick your depth. The advantage to this is you can start reeling almost immediately when Mr. Norsky takes the bait. If you have watched Northerns eat, you know they grab things head on, or by the middle of the body most of the time.
I use this when I am fishing larger northerns, suspended or in deep waters.
One thing to remember, don't "set" the hook. Circle hooks do that for you, any attempt to "set" them just yanks the hook right out of the fishes mouth. wadem |