Fishing Deep Structure?

[papajoe222]

I consider myself first and foremost a structure fisherman, but I was confronted with deep structure recently that I had absolutely no idea how to fish. Fishing natural lakes almost exclusively deep, to me, meant maybe 25 or 30ft.. This depth of water I have fished successfully with casting methods for years.  When I was faced with water  that was 60ft.+ I was lost as to how to target creek and main river channels for example.  Casting presentations seemed futile considering the short distance my retrieve would be in the zone I wanted to target.

 

So how do you fish the really deep stuff?  I know trolling is an option as I've done it on Erie and Michigan, but are there casting presentations that can effectively cover this?

[Paul Roberts]

I haven't done it (beyond live bait, and downriggers for other species). But I'm going to guess: vertical?

 

Will be curious what others say.

 

(You probably know this, but ... be aware of bladder issues with such deep fish, esp if you're going to put them in the live well.)

[Catt]

While I have not caught bass at 60', I have caught them at 40' vertically fishing spoons, dropshots, & Texas rigs.

[A-Jay]

Many of my local lakes a quite deep, some are 80 -100ft.

 

With the exception of drop shotting smallies in the summer in 25 - 35 feet,  I have no reason to be looking any deeper than that for bass.   They may suspend over deep water, but they're not going past the thermocline (once it becomes defined).

 

A-Jay

[WRB]

Our small deep structure reservoirs are very deep, 150 to over 300 ft at the dams and get shallower where canyons or rivers enter the impoundments. Because bass have air bladders my depth is limited to about 40', however I have spooned bass out of 80' targeting targeting trout.

The big bass during the summer through fall before the thermocline breaks down stay about 35' where swimbaits, Scroungers, worms, jigs and structure spoons can effectively be presented and I use them all.

Your sonar is the best tool in your boat for structure fishing, your eyes under water, use it.

Tom

[Crestliner2008]

First and foremost is finding fish. The presentation factor is down on the list. If you find them deep, you can take them. You have to have a decent sonar on board and know how to read both structure and bait. Bait being the primary location factor. If you can find bait on deep structures, the bass will not be far away. Now, not sure what part of the country you fish, but right now, up north, the water is still cool. Fish are just beginning to move shallow for the up coming spawn. Our deep res here in MA has surface temps in the mid-50's right now, which means the fish are moving up and prepping for the spawn, which will probably take place in another week or two and last for 2 - 3 weeks or more.

 

Focusing on deep structures this time of the year is probably not a great idea. But when you do, do not forget to try blade baits and the drop shot. The blades can effectively be worked by vertical jigging, so you can precisely dissect a structure effectively. The drop shot comes into play when the fish get finicky and do not want a lot of triggering action to affect a strike.

 

Targeting flats right now would be a decent approach. Try some 3/8 oz. bucktail jigs, cast & jigged back to the boat. Sometimes they want them slow rolled. Other times and distinct on-off bottom jigging works better. Again, it all depends on water temp at the time you are fishing, the stage the fish are in and current weather conditions (colds fronts, warm fronts, etc.). Good Luck!

[Team9nine]

I agree with what has been stated above, that being the correct "casting" presentation for those depths is actually some form of vertical jigging. You could possibly get away with casting some heavy metal like a jigging spoon, blade bait or heavy jig, and then stripping line off the reel as the lure sinks to allow for some longer length of lure retrieval on a structure, but you'll sacrifice a lot of control to do so. As for trolling, that is likely wire line or downrigger territory for maximum efficiency.

 

-T9

[Snakehead Whisperer]

You sure they're not walleye?

 

I have a spot that I regularly fish for bottom hugging walleye in water that is 70-80' deep. It is all vertical jigging. Jigging spoons, jig and grub, and drop shot are the go to baits. 

 

While most of the fish that I catch there are walleye, I have caught LMB on the bottom in about 70 FOW there (as well as crappie and flathead catfish.) The bass were a blueish hue and their swim bladders were bulging through the gullet. There is no way to safely C&R a bass caught at those depths, so unless you're planning on eating these fish I'd leave them be (even then the fish caught may not meet size requirements, necessitating the release of a fish that has little to no chance of survival.) I eat the walleye and crappie that I catch here. The flatheads seem to be fine after the ascent from the depths, and are released. The bass I unfortunately fizzed and released, and I doubt that they made it far. In the future I will most likely harvest any bass caught incidentally at that depth, although it is extremely rare for me to catch them that deep.

[Brian Needham]

PapaJoe........are you talking about Wilson Lake at the roadtrip as your example?

[papajoe222]

PapaJoe........are you talking about Wilson Lake at the roadtrip as your example?

That trip sparked my query.  If not for the others, I would have been targeting the creek channels and junctions and maybe checking for suspended smallies off one of the breaks off the bluffs.  At the very least, there were some rock humps in deep water and,  given the opportunity, would I be wrong in assuming they would be using those structures and what casting presentations can effectively target them?

[Deleted account]

If fish are holding on structure in 30 ft plus, vertical jigging (or dead sticking) will be the most effective way to catch them, spoons, jigs, lipless, bladebait, a "power" dropshot (for lack of a better term), or the salt water lure not mentioned here all will work, depending on conditions and bottom composition. You could crank that deep, but why would you want to... 

[Brian Needham]

Wilson without a doubt set up different, and I struggled to really get a feel for it either in map study or the first few days I lauchned.

I called it a 80 foot deep ditch, for most of the time spent there. With only fishing two days, I felt really under the gun and didnt feel comfortable.

 

Day one, fished some ultra shallow (3-5 fow) points and such, then tried to fish some bluffs and never really liked what I saw.

 

Day two I tried to fish some coves and outside points....and still more of the same.

It was only when I went back out in the afternoon on day two did I really start thinking about it. Thinking about shallow being relative, and deep being relative...... thinking about how to relate my limited offshore Pickwick experiences to another lake.

 

I decided on the way out I was going to fish like I did at Pickwick, but I had to realize the ledge WAS the bank instead of a 1/2 mile offshore.

and sure enough, when I started to think, to use my electronics... I found a bluff that was 8-12 fow that dropped to 18-22 fow then on off into 30+.

we caught some quality fish on that drop between the 12 to 18.... then I knew 15 fow WAS dirt shallow to those fish. It really hammer home the DEPTH IS REALATIVE...... then thinkning back my other quality fish that weeneknd came out of "teen water" too.... I only caught 18 fish tthat wekend but 7 were over 4. and 6 of those were caught out of 13-18 fow.

 

being that there was a bunch of triple digit water and not so much single digit water any water in the teens was shallow it just took me a while to figure it out based on my limited experience.

Without doubt I think you could have caught fish out deeper on the rock piles/humps you spoke of, so I wouldnt think you to be wrong at all. They would probablt be excellent targets... and probably used along the migration route too.

 

as far as presentations, I dont know. I did however catch mine on a jig....... but once you get over 30 foot I would find it hard to cast, you would probably have to go verticle, BUT I dont know that , since I dont have much (any) experience fishing that deep.

I dont mind sitting in 30 casting to "teen" water..... but sitting in 80 throwing to 25 plus is daunting for most anyone, else they were taught to do so IMO.

 

It was interesting to fish the lake and see how it set up and to learn from it. The next week I went back to pickwick sought out new ledges. On new ledges, using the experience form the Roadtrip, I put fish in the boat....and that was pretty cool. SO even though we might not understood what Wilson was doing or how it fully set up, it is still something there to take back home and use going forward, something to gleam info and be better prepared for NEXT TIME!

 

I hope this ramble helps somehow.

[RoLo]

With respect to largemouth bass in natural lakes, I never invest any time in water depths greater than 20 feet.

The reason is quite simple, I've never found it necessary nor advantageous, and this is coming from an old salt

who's acclimated to fishing in water depths measured in fathoms (100 to 300 feet). 

 

On the other hand, I've caught smallmouth bass as deep as 40 ft, but those fish were no larger

than smallies I've taken from the 15 to 25-foot depth zone, which I find to be more productive on balance.

 

Roger