will83

This is probably one of my most preferred methods, but has taken me some time as well as frustration watching my boater catch fish after fish after fish.....http://rahfish.com/how-tos/tackle-tips/going-deep-with-small-swimbaits-what-you-need-to-know/. Use as light of a weight as possible, something you will hear time and time again from the pros and it makes a huge difference. I have been able to successfully fish deep water 30 + with an 1/8 jig head, the hard part is recognizing the bottom as well as a bite;most of the time its a light tick or pull, very hard to detect when you are just starting. Forget the heavy jigs, go light as possible, start with 1/2 oz and work your way down to 3/8 if you can; my favorite is the keitech model 2 footbal jig. I guarantee you will out fish most guys if you can really get dialed in getting use to lighter weights in deep water. I know tungsten is expensive but its definitely worth it come tournament time for detecting subtle bites as well as the bottom structure. My tackle is is a light to med light, extra fast tip is essential, with 6-8 lb test for spinning gear on this technique. For deep water jigs I prefer braid, usually with a 20 lb flouro leader on a medium heavy rod with a fast tip. This technique, around ledges, rip rap, anywhere you can drag a jig has honestly doubled my catch rate.

When Im not out in fishing with friends and take mt canoe out, I have to fish much slower; which has actually worked to my benefit. It forced me to fish much slower and at the same time build confidence catching fish behind people. Anchored up, I have made multiple casts, sometimes around 20 to one area before even catching one fish, usually I can pick off a few more. If you are fishing a textbook area, as mentioned a sea wall, a stump near deep water etc etc have confidence fish are there; usually they are, try different lures and angles are extremely important. If you feel you have fished an area thoroughly, let it rest and come back later.

Too bad I don't have a scale. 5.3 weighed on conesus, just to help scale the other fish in pictures. pushing 6 lbs easy, location "honey hole" Easy 5 "honey hole" Caught a bunch of other 5lbers, this year was good!! Couple more 5 lb + tanks from this year.

The Hudd grass minnow is killer; it looks like it does absolutely nothing in the water but they work wonders around grass!!!

I recently have had great success with white, particularly something with a silver or gold flake. The areas I am fishing have a lot of shad; a white senko has been killer, as well as small swim bait on an 1/8 jig head, fished very slowly on the bottom.