Medium Diving Crankbaits For Suspending Deep Water Bass

[pbizzle]

Say that you found some fish suspending 10ft off the bottom in 20ft of water, could you fish a medium diving crank to target these fish. I don't see why it wouldn't work. I ask because we found ourselves in a similar situation this fall. This was the first place that we found a good population of fish, but we fished it for 10 minutes and couldn't get a single bite. I would have tried it, but it never crossed my mind. Do y'all think it would work?

[A-Jay]

When you ask "will it work?"

 

I say there is a 2 part answer here.

 

1.  Yes - when the correct bait, tackle & presentation is used, the lure will run to a depth at or near the bass.

 

2).  Will they eat it ?  Maybe - Sometimes, Yes & No.  They all apply.  So much of the time suspending fish are inactive or at the very least in a neutral mood.  But find them when they active or perhaps turn on a school - could be lights out. 

 Sometimes having bait around helps but not always.

 

A-Jay

[roadwarrior]

For the most part suspending bass are inactive and a waste of time.

The only exception might be fishing the A-rig. A school of baitfish is

hard to ignore!

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

Sometimes a faster moving crankbait that runs through the baitfish or bass will get strikes, IF any bass are interested. A jerk bait, both hard and soft at the right depth works. Spoons and underspins or tail spins can work. Most often a 1/8 oz dart head jig and worm works good.

I haven't yet been able to turn on inactive suspended bass with the A-rig, if the bass are active and suspended, the A-rig is good..

Tom

[RoLo]

Fish that possess a swim bladder are reluctant to change depth because it requires a readjustment in buoyancy.

For this reason, bass typically move laterally without changing their depth (water depth changes, but fish depth does not).

 

Bass on a shallow flat that chase a wad of baitfish into open water will be active and suspended close to the surface.

Trouble is, bass that close to the surface will rarely enter the transducer cone, so surface activity is your

only clue to their presence. On the other hand, when bass are suspended 10 feet below the surface,

the odds are high that they left a 10-ft deep structure, and are passive, virtually uncatchable fish. 

 

Roger

[Bluebasser86]

If the water is cool I'd be fishing a deeper running jerkbait. Stroking a swimbait or swimming a grub can also be very effective in that situation. A crankbait may work but it wouldn't be my first pick unless they were suspending in the tops of trees.

[pbizzle]

So from what I can tell I should probably just look for some different fish. They suspend when they're inactive, and more trouble than they're worth.

[papajoe222]

It's difficult to distinguish suspending fish from fish that are using a certain depth for their movements. In clear water they may follow structure, but not be directly on or adjacent to it.  Your electronics may indicate fish at the 10ft. level, but won't tell you if they're stationary or on the move, so it isn't a waste of time to probe the area before moving on.  It's a better use of time, IMO, than setting a way point and returning to it to see if the fish have moved.

[Fishes in trees]

Anytime you find fish, I think that they are worth fishing for, at least for a while.  A diving crank might be my choice if the water was  somewhat stained.  As a couple of guys have suggested earlier, I think a deeper suspending jerk bait or an Alabama rig might be better choices.  If you are trying to count down an A-rig to an approximate depth, another off the wall option might be to try some sore of "flutter spoon", like a Dixie Jet or one of those larger 5" flutter spoons.

 

A finesse option might  be to countdown/swim a 3/16 oz ball head jig with a 3" to 5" grub on 8 lb or less fluorocarbon.  I have successfully used this option several time in clearer water bridge pilings on Lake Ozark and Table Rock.  So, there are a couple more suggestions to try.

[RoLo]

Anytime you find fish, I think that they are worth fishing for, at least for a while. 

 

I agree with that, but to a fault.

 

On many Canadian lakes you'll see suspended fish marking at most of your holding sites.

Fishing over every marking school would be prohibitively time-consuming. 

Although you know they're fish, you don't know whether they're walleyes, whitefish,

smallmouth, pike, salmon, largemouth, white bass, rough fish ~ ~ ~

 

Have you ever noticed that new sonar owners tend to call it a "Fish Finder",

but after a few seasons under their belt they tend to call it a 'Depth Sounder'  

 

Roger