Crank The Thermocline?

[Comfortably Numb]

Ok so bass are suspended at the 12' thermocline over deep water (50') They are inactive. Anyone had success throwing a 12' crank through the schools? I have thrown everything in the box at them with no luck.

[BobP]

What I often do in that circumstance is go toward the bank where 12' first hits dirt and look for cover/structure at that depth, then throw bottom baits.

[aavery2]

I have had better luck with a Kastmaster spoon jigged through the fish than trying to catch suspended fish on a crankbait. If you can find suspended bass that are relating to schools of bait fish, these seem to be easier to get to bite. At any rate, once they start suspending on the T-cline be prepared to work for them.

[Jrob78]

If you could figure out how to make those fish bite consistently you could make a lot of money as a tournament fisherman.  

[gobig]

Can you say swimbait.

[Comfortably Numb]

My lake is in Virginia. 85* surface temp. NO weeds. Very little cover, especially at the 12' depth. You can catch a dink or two shallow and under docks.

 

Bass will feed early, bustin very small shad at the surface. Usually from 7-9 am. When they turn off its very difficult to catch any the rest of the day.

 

Fish have been getting smaller since shad were somehow introduced in the lake 6 or so years ago. All they think about now is shad. They dont seem to be interested in a good meal like bluegill or perch. They expend alot of energy chasing insignificant 2" shad.

 

Even night fishing isnt great. Not just me having trouble catching them.

[gobig]

What type of lake? When you say 50ft of water is that in the middle of the lake or near the shore? Is there any cover or structure near by? Are they inactive or are they chasing shad?

[Raul]

How do you know the suspended fish are bass ? seeing suspended fish on the depthfinder doesn´t mean they are bass.

[WRB]

Inactive bass are inactive for a reason.

Expecting an inactive bass to react and chase down a crankbait is asking for too much from these bass.

The 1/8 oz dart head jig with a 4 1/2" curl tail finesse worm is your best bet using spinning tackle and 6 lb FC line.

Tom

[Comfortably Numb]

Nearly all the bass in the lake suspend like that. They feed a couple hours in the morning and thats about it. Lake has no weeds and not alot of structure in key depth. They added structure about 10 years ago but at 20' which is useless in summer.

 

There is a deeper drop off side by the main creek channel. Other side is more tapered. Used to catch them in the creek channel but not since shad were added. They just dont relate to any structure anymore. 

 

Buddies fish the weekly tourney last night from 6-9 and caught on keeper. 11# won (10 fish).

 

Other lakes in the area are similar. Catching any bass is tough. 

 

Just so disapointing. Up in jersey we had weedy shallow lakes which were much easier.

 

Here is a map of the 350 acre lake if interested.

http://lmbassanglers.comlu.com/map.htm

[gobig]

Sorry I didn't see your post above mine that answered a few of my questions. If you have ever watched bass heard shad and blow through them you would know those insignificant shad are no so insignificant. They generally have a mouth full. There are several ways you can attack suspended fish. One way is a swimbait. If you have enough drawing power to pull the suspended fish in to cover or structure often times you can get them to commit . Glide baits are huge when it comes to this. Another way is a float-n-fly. You can set the desired depth and put it right on the fish and let it sit there. You can also swim the fly at the right depth. You would be amazed how effective this bait is. Its not just a winter time bait. Flutter spoons and dropshot work well on suspended fish also. This is generally a vertical presentation. You can use your depth finder like a video game. Fishing a crank bait super fast can work well on summer suspenders also.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Not much experience with them, but it sounds like a situation to be throwing a spybait.

[TNBassin']

They are in 50 foot of water and are suspending only 12ft deep? Man you're lucky. Our fish here suspend in 30+ foot of water. We gotta long line 6xds and break out the flutter spoons to have a chance. Crash a crank bait through them enough and they will bite. Here we will sometimes use a 3/4oz red eye shad and just let it flutter right through them on my buddy's graph. Because of the action those red eye have it's almost like jigging a spoon. So many options, but none are locks.