Northern Vs Southern Largemouth Bass Movement During The Summer

[B@ssCrzy]

Read a post on another forum about how largemouth bass in northern lakes are less willing to go deep during the summer due to the clear lakes and presence of northern pike and musky, and because they don't like to just sit suspended out in the lake.  The poster commented that even during the dog days of summer you should be fishing in the shallow weeds or reeds?  Do you find this to be true?  Do most largemouth in northern lakes stay in shallow and in cover over the summer?  Where I live, when summer comes, it means they go to deep cover and structure once the water temps go high.  The lake that I go to for vacation is a big clear lake with deepest part being 70',  has a sand bottom, very little sparse vegetation deep and mainly void of any cover, but also has some good coves with emergent weed growth and lily pads in the 5' range.  It has a lot of smallmouth which do go deep, and I have never had much luck with the largemouth so trying to figure them out this year.  Thoughts?

[Missouribassman95]

I have read, that in bodies of water where bass are not the top predator, they will remain shallower than bass in a lake where they are the top predator. I don't think it would matter what strain they are.

[slonezp]

Define deep? I think offshore structure would have to play a big role as well. I think the assumption that toothy critters are the cause is completely false. We catch musky and pike in the same depths as bass. I've caught musky in a foot of water on senkos. Fish tend to be where the food is. If you have areas where bait school in deeper water, there are most certainly predators near. If bluegills are holding in 8fow during the summer, there will most certainly be predators around. Many of the northern lakes do not have the huge shad populations you will find in the south and bluegill and crawfish are the target food. 15fow is deep for bass on my home water with a max depth of 35ft and no deep structure Take Lake Geneva in WI for instance. Max depth is 140ft and during the summer catching suspended fish is common. The lake has reefs, flats, rocky drop offs, and in addition to panfish, ciscoes are the main forage. This is part of the reason Geneva holds a decent lake trout population.