Fishing Cover? And Fishing Deep?

[Joedodge]

So Ya think bass fishing ya think lay downs, low hanging trees, weed lines and the like under water trees lily pad fields! Something im unclear on is fishing deep? I see a lot of people talk about fishing bass in deep holes in lakes! Anyone have ny insight on this?

[Smokinal]

It's funny; I used to picture the same cover you mentioned....until I started fishing offshore. Now, when I go out, I can't wait to pull up my gps, throw a bouy and cast a jig.

 

 

EDIT: To answer your question Opie, shorelines get beat up all the time, not saying you cant catch fish there but everyone sees that same cover. I like finding offshore stuff, marking it and figuring it out. The biggest advantage of fishing offshore/deeper is I have found that deeper fish are less affected by pressure changes, weather changes etc... When the shoreline bite stops, I feel I can always hit some ridges or humps and find biting fish.

[WRB]

So Ya think bass fishing ya think lay downs, low hanging trees, weed lines and the like under water trees lily pad fields! Something im unclear on is fishing deep? I see a lot of people talk about fishing bass in deep holes in lakes! Anyone have ny insight on this?

Where you fish in Florida deep is about 20' because most of the bass water is natural lakes, rivers and man made canals etc.

The rest of the country, with the exception of low laying coastal zones and northern areas with natural lakes and rivers, the lakes are man made impoundments with dams that flooded river valleys. The impoundments or reserviors can be very deep and have a lot of underwater terrain away from the shoreline that bass relate to that isn't visible.

Tom

[Fishes in trees]

To start with, deep means different things, depending on where you live.  Your electronics will tell you where the thermocline is and I generally don't fish much deeper than that, because for the most part there isn't enough dissolved oxygen below the thermocline for fish to be comfortable.   There are many exceptions to that rule.  In Table Rock Lake and other highland type reservoirs, bass are regularly targeted in 30 to 40 foot depths.   I've read about guys catching fish deeper than that,though I've never personally seen it.

 

In Truman lake, which has some highland lake features, but is more of a flooded river valley & forrest, you seldom hear of catches in 40 foot or deeper  water.    You will hear of fish suspending 20 feet down in 40 foot of water and I think that is directly related to the thermocline.

 

If there are any divers in your neighborhood, they will be able to tell you exactly where the thermocline is, they tell me that the thermocline is very obvious when you're diving.

[Mike L]

As WRB said, fishing in Florida's natural soup bowl waters, deep isn't very deep compared to almost every other area of our countty.

Mostly when we talk deep it refers to a gradual change that can best be described as a depression..but we get excited and say "Hey we just ran over a hole! Hurry up and turn around!

A 2ft change in 8ft of water is a lot.

To fish those, you don't have to change a thing.

Sometimes they'll hold fish, sometimes they don't.

I look for clearer water, laydowns, pads, mixture of different vegetation,

defined cover lines, matts etc.

"Holes" by definition don't mean much down here, and I've been fishing Central and So Florida Lakes, Rivers and canals for 36 yrs....but that's me

Mike

[Joedodge]

Awesome thanks so much everyone for the explanations deffinatly cleared it up

[RanndomUndead]

To start with, deep means different things, depending on where you live.  Your electronics will tell you where the thermocline is and I generally don't fish much deeper than that, because for the most part there isn't enough dissolved oxygen below the thermocline for fish to be comfortable.   There are many exceptions to that rule.  In Table Rock Lake and other highland type reservoirs, bass are regularly targeted in 30 to 40 foot depths.   I've read about guys catching fish deeper than that,though I've never personally seen it.

 

In Truman lake, which has some highland lake features, but is more of a flooded river valley & forrest, you seldom hear of catches in 40 foot or deeper  water.    You will hear of fish suspending 20 feet down in 40 foot of water and I think that is directly related to the thermocline.

 

If there are any divers in your neighborhood, they will be able to tell you exactly where the thermocline is, they tell me that the thermocline is very obvious when you're diving.

Yeap, The thermo is the key to anything below 1'

[WRB]

Thermoclines only develop following a cold water period where the surface water warms faster then deeper water below and that water temperature changes about 5 degrees within a few feet; 2' to 4' is above average. If the water has current and continually mixing the layers a thermocline may not develop.

Shallow water, like in Florida that is spring fed, may not develop a thermocline or shallow water with windy conditions tend to keep the layers mixed.

Again man made reservoirs that are deep, over 20' tend to have cold deeper water with warmer water layered on top, the warm water is lighter in weight or less dense than colder water. The easiest method to determine a thermocline exist, usually in the summer period, is with sonar. Adjust the gain high enough to see the colder water transition, it looks like a grey line and very few fish located below the depth.

Tom