Offshore Bassin ??

[Brian Needham]

Offshore your quality & quantity will go up

I might be from Arkansas but I think the above quoted text answers the question of what you will catch offshore.

My personal best came off an underwater point that had a sharp drop to 12fow then to 18-20fowthe that spot was a couple hundred yards from the nearest bank.

I am new to offshore fishing too as I started last year .... seems like everytime I do, I catch one bigger than 4#

I hope this helps

[TxGator]

Dude, Im thinking ya got something messed up. You asked:

 

Here's the better question to this whole thread:

Have the majority of the offshore fish you guy's have caught been larger than the fish near the bank?

He answered:

 

For every bass you catch near the bank there is 5 behind you waiting to be caught!

Offshore your quality & quantity will go up

 

You must not have understood his answer:

 

^ That doesn't answer my question, though. Care to answer my initial question based on your experience?

 

He clarified further:

 

What part of "quaility & quaintity will go up" don't you understand?

Quaility: size
Quaintity: number

 

You copped an attititude:

 

When I ask a direct question, I expect a direct answer, not a quote that is left up to interpretation. I like to deal in absolutes as much as possible.

Is that clear enougu for you?

 

Catt was trying to help, and if you have read his posts you will start to understand that he knows what hes talking about. We are extremly lucky to have folks on here that are willing to share their knowledge and experience with us.

 

G

[roadwarrior]

Well, as a matter-of-fact, yes. Catt has DOCUMENTED accounts of every fishing trip he

has ever been on dating back to the mid 1970's. He shares his experience with members

on this forum without reservation. Not coincidently this wealth of knowledge matches almost

perfectly with some of our other most seasoned veterns. To name a few: RoLo, WRB, Big O,

Fish Chris and Dwight Hottle.

[Brian Needham]

Does everybody here with first-hand experience agree that you will catch more/bigger fish offshore as opposed to inshore?

 

Catt, Roadwarrior, and myself have all answered that question.......and it is a BIG YES.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

My biggest fish, both green and  brown, have been caught offshore in +/- 15' of water.

As a more general reply, structure is key for smallmouth and cover combined with

structure for largemouth. On rivers the current trumps everything else.

As for current & smallmouth, I look for spots with current then target the breaks within the current. These spots are typically more productive than "frog water" in my experience. Do you agree?

[roadwarrior]

Yes, absolutely. Slack water is for lazy geen fish!

[roadwarrior]

WOW!

 

I just noticed Catt's Toledo Bend thread is up to 228 pages!

 

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/41658-so-yall-want-to-learn-toledo-bend/page-228#entry1527156

[Brian Needham]

with fish stedily moving out on the TN River chain......... I need to start re reading that thread to get squared away and brushed up!

[roadwarrior]

Here's the deal or at least my thoughts:

 

You need to mark several way points, humps, drops and holes, especially those that

collect clam shells and debris (baitfish calls for IMMEDIATE attention!) Each spot may

hold fish at one time or another, but not necessarily when you are there. So, fish a spot

for 15 minutes or so and move to another, then another and then back to them all again. 

Last summer we (two boats and four fishermen)  caught 45 bass in about an hour and a

half, then they quit biting or moved away.

[Brian Needham]

thats been my experience too, when I find something on my hummingbird I will make about 10 cast to what I think is the sweetspot.... if not bit by then, I will make a few random cast, no bites, then I move.

 

they are usually turned on or they arent, if they arent then you know it is a timing spot and I will check it later...... I am still waiting to pull up on a spot and catch 20+ pounds on 5 cast, I havent done that yet, but I still got at least a summers worth of idleing to do too.

[roadwarrior]

Well, another observation is that they are either on or not. If it's on EVERY

fish is a candidate. On the otherhand, sometimes you will find a school suspending

and you can't buy a bite!

[Todd2]

Do you guys spend a lot of time on suspended fish that you mark? Or do you mainly look for fish on or near the bottom?

[Catt]

Just so I'm clear, anything that Catt says should be taken as FACT? Is that what you're telling me?

Does everybody here with first-hand experience agree that you will catch more/bigger fish offshore as opposed to inshore?

Catt

Rolo

WRB

Big O

Fish Chris

Dwight Hottie

Brain Needham

DVT

Raul

TxGator

That's 10 that say yes!

Can you understand that?

Am I always right?

Nope but I apparently got you beat!

[WRB]

Don't want to get into a ticking contest about marker buoys vs GPS sonar way point icons, both work.

I used buoys for decades and still get 1 handy, just don't use it often anymore since I have upped my skill level using GPS markers and my sonar. Watch the Elites fish off shore on big bodies of water like Erie, no buoys!

Takes time to learn boat control in the wind and if a buoy helps you to keep on a small isolated spot, use them!

The biggest bass in deep structured lakes rarely move up into shallow shoreline water outside of the spawn and even then don't stay very long before moving back out into deeper water where they prefer to be.

Anglers are always amazed how many big bass they see during the spawn and never see or catch them the rest of the year. These big girls didn't go hide in the mud, they move off shore where there is sanctuary and abundant prey. At night some big bass move up near shore to feed, not necessarily shallow and one reason night can be great bass fishing.

Another misconception is all off shore water is deep, there are underwater structures that are not deep and tall trees in deeper water that the tops are not deep that hold big populations of bass that shore pounders never catch.

Tom

[Brian Needham]

Do you guys spend a lot of time on suspended fish that you mark? Or do you mainly look for fish on or near the bottom?

no time spent on supspended fish unless I have to, meaning I cant find anything better.

looking for fish within a foot of the bottom, or bait or both..... what I mean is if the spot has all the ingredients I am going to fish it because even on sidescan and the best electronis not every fish will show up all the time.

[Brian Needham]

bouy and GPS.... both work, both have their place.

GPS with the heading sensor does make it easy for me to line up on a spot, but I still like a buoy to see my relation point to what I am looking at.

[jhoffman]

I definitely use both. Sometimes on the smaller lakes I can sorta get the idea by looking for three stationary objects to line up with on shore.

[papajoe222]

WRB mentioned Buck Perry who was crowned 'The father of structure fishing' by a local publication.  HIs findings and teachings became both the reason and the methods I used for bass fishing. I was so taken by his findings that I, to this day,  choose where to begin my search for fish based solely on an areas relation to structure (never to be confused with cover in my mind).  Sadly, Buck rarely mentioned the importantce of forage and forage movements in his teachings, but often times that part of the equation is just as, if not more, important in determining fish location and movements. 

Too bad the electronics we have available today weren't available forty years ago. Can you imagine how much more knowledge would be available to us today?

[Catt]

In my years of teaching, coaching, mentoring anglers I've noticed it is easier for the angler to learn offshore fishing if they have a back ground in saltwater or they have fished the great lakes.

What Buck Perry taught us about offshore fishing saltwater & great lakes anglers already knew...structure.

In almost every body of there is a portion of the bass population that stays within a certain distance of the shore line. There is a certain portion of the population that stays offshore. And there is a portion of the population that moves between the two.

It is the opinion of many biologist & knowledgeable angles that the offshore portion of the population is the largest...I agree!

[Brian Needham]

that is excellent Catt!

 

and it speaks to a loose theory I have been thinknig about as I progress my own fishing and offshore.

 

tell me where I am wrong

Speaking in rounded number here so everyone can follow

 

20% of the fish always stay shallow

20% of the fish always stay deep

which leaves 60% of the fish to move up in the spring then back out in the summer and winter..... so if this is true then at some point 80% of the fish are shallow up spawning

BUT, after the spawn that would also make 80% of the fish out deep, POST Spawn and through out the summer.

 

so knowing this, post spawn and summer why would any fisherman ever beat the banks if the name of the game was catching fish?

[Todd2]

20% of the fish always stay shallow

20% of the fish always stay deep

which leaves 60% of the fish to move up in the spring then back out in the summer and winter.....

Where are these numbers from? Are we talking deep water reservoirs? If 20% never come shallow, how do they spawn?

[Brian Needham]

Where are these numbers from? Are we talking deep water reservoirs? If 20% never come shallow, how do they spawn?

 

reread the ENTIRE post.

 

who says every fish spawn every year?

and who says they all spawn in 2 fow?

 

not every fish spawns every year and some spawn deep.

 

if you read my entire post, you will see I said "speaking in round numbers so everyone can follow"

[Todd2]

I read the whole post...just curious where the numbers come from. Rounded or not. There are a lot of variables that I won't even pretend to know...forage base, ph, etc. I just do see how you can come up with any estimates like that without tracking studies. Studies I've seen suggest that bass move relatively shallow to feed at night and occasionally during the day; but spend most daylight hours suspended over deeper water.

[WRB]

Off shore spawning occurs in big reservoirs bass can be creative when it comes to spawning sites.

The majority of bass behave what we call normal bass behavior, some do their own thing.

Fishing Clear lake several years ago I found a row of telephone poles about 2 miles off shore, some were above water others were underwater, the poles are about 30' tall. Bass were spawning on the flat tops of the underwater poles. DVL has a off shore hump (underwater island at full pool) that was 25' on the top and bass where spawning there, the water was crystal clear and you could see the beds!

Don't always assume you know all about bass behavior.

Tom

[Brian Needham]

 

and it speaks to a loose theory I have been thinknig about as I progress my own fishing and offshore.

 

tell me where I am wrong

Speaking in rounded number here so everyone can follow

 

 

I guess the bolded text is not in plain english like I thought it was.......

 

yes, they are made up, rounded numbers, as I thought I cleary stated.

BUT I will be surprised if the numbers are not close to accurate.......as I have heard many many experience offshore guys say if you are beating the banks you are only fishing for 10-20% of the fish.