Deep bass

[Reid Carter]

Do bass move to deep water in muddy water. The visibility in this lake is barely an inch which makes the bass difficult to catch and it's a private lake loaded with Giants. Saturday when I went a man caught an 18lb largemouth out of it off the bank and I was wondering if bass will move deep in summer time with the low visibility. I've heard they only move deep in clear water just wanting to know where to hunt those Giants 

By the way there is a ton of deep water structure

[Choporoz]

That would be a state record in all but, what?  California, Texas and Georgia? Don't mean to offend, but that sounds like a fish story.  What else can you tell us about the lake?  Size,surface temps, geography, location, depths, natural or man-made???   Bass can and do move to depths regardless of clarity.  How deep is 'deep water structure'?

[FishHard247]

My PB on 08/24/2015 was after a 2 day rainstorm and my family was out of town and I had nothing to do. I pulled up and almost left but I was bored so I let it rip. She was under a laydown in 6 feet of water. My sinker hit the laydown and I saw her come up to investigate. I threw in once more and she killed it. I was fishing a black Zoom trick worm with black sinker and 30 pound braid. 8 pounds. Ill fish mud anytime!

[Ohio Yakker]

18 pounds!! I can't even imagine a bass that big. But I don't have much experience with dirty, and deep water. Of the muddy water I have fished they have all been shallow. But from my experiences and what I've heard bass cling tight to cover in muddy water, so I would give whatever structure you can find a few casts.

Hopefully he put the fish back so you can catch it again!! Good luck on catching the fish of a lifetime

[scaleface]

I'm not saying there are no bass deep with visibility at   just one inch of water but if there are , I'm not fishing for them . With that muddy of water I'm sticking shallow .

[Brayberry]

18 lb largemouth, kinda sounds fishy to me, just saying

[Smokinal]

Lots of thoughts running through my mind. First off, are you from the bank or boat? If you are stranded to the bank then you have no choice. I'd find shoreline cover, be stealthy both walking and with your presentation. Big girls should be shallow right now anyway.

If you have a boat, I would fish this lake/pond year round and at all different depths depending on water temp/time of year. If there was 1 giant, there's others, and during the summer, I would bet most would go deep. I also think the clarity may get better the deeper you go.

As for now,  I too would be shallow with a chatterbait, big squarebill (BIG, like the KVD 8.0), big swimbait or a jig.

And no one has asked, but we are all thinking it; was the fish weighed on a scale or was the 18 an estimate?

[soflabasser]

Bass tend to stay close to cover when the water visibility is less than 1 feet. Try fishing heavy cover in less than 12 feet of water in that lake.

[Fish the Mitt]

Muddy water means lack of visibility - for you and the bass. However, unlike a bass, you don't have a lateral line. 

When water is dirty, they'll depend on this lateral line. However, they'll also stick closer to cover due to the limited visibility. Like someone above mentioned, hit that structure. Also, my opinion, fish moving deeper or shallower is less about water clarity and more about various other things. I wouldn't focus solely on going to the deepest spots of this body of water. Focus on structure and focus on lures that don't require visibility. Colors that stand out in dirty water (bright or dark - no natural) and things that make noise, vibrate, wobble, rattle, etc... water displacement and noise is your friend in the choco milk!!!

Also,18lbs?! What state?

[Reid Carter]

It's in Mississippi it's man made about 40 acres stocked with Florida F-1 hybrid bass. State record here is 18.4 and he weighed it on a scale he didn't call the game and wildlife I was there when he caught it. There has been a 16 and several 12's caught there in the past year 

Deepest it gets is 25 feet but there is a ton of downed trees in 14 foot of water all through the lake 

[Bluebasser86]

Lots of our lakes are muddy and they pretty much stay less than 10' deep most of the year. You typically have to hit them on the nose with the bait so it greatly increases your chances of finding fish if you stick to skinny water. 

[Brayberry]

Do you have a picture of the 18 lber? I'd love to see it.  I know if I caught anything even remotely near 18 lbs, I'd have a entire memory card full of pictures of this fish, literally like 2000 pictures

[Raul]

You guys are a tough crowd. Let´s be nice and say the 18 lber story is a load of BS but we do not deny the possibility of a really big fish caught in muddy water.

For me it´s quite simple, unless the depth finders shows me fish in the depths tha I could positively identify as bass I will remain " shallow " ( 15 ft max ) and bomb the hell out of them with noisy, shiny, big water displacing baits.

[lo n slo]

yep

big thumper spinner bait, black/gold blade

big ol black worm, maybe some chartreuse on the tail

mega strike and stout line. 

i've even seen noisey top waters (chuggers) work on High Rock Lake, early and late, and that place can turn into a mud hole

target anything you see and any brush you can feel. those fat girls dont pass up many meals. catch one for me.

[parkerg31]

I have fished a lot of tournaments in lakes all over Alabama, and from my experience fishing muddy water lakes, a lot of my fish come shallow, as well as many other competitors. My reasoning for this is that in muddy water the bass want cover to relate on so they can ambush prey in those low light conditions. They don't feel comfortable roaming as much... With that being said even though there is cover to relate to deep, the muddy water plus depth makes hunting very difficult due to the low light at those depths. Last year I fished in my High School state championship at Lake Eufaula. On the first day half the field went deep and the other half shallow, with both doing well. That night and second morning a massive windstorm moved through stirring up the already stained water making visibility minimal. At the final weigh in the second day, all top ten boats caught fish shallow in heavy cover because of that muddied up water. Someone even pulled an 8lber out that day. Of course this all can depend nobody can predict fish but that is my 2 cents. 

[WRB]

12 hours ago, Reid Carter said:

It's in Mississippi it's man made about 40 acres stocked with Florida F-1 hybrid bass. State record here is 18.4 and he weighed it on a scale he didn't call the game and wildlife I was there when he caught it. There has been a 16 and several 12's caught there in the past year 

Deepest it gets is 25 feet but there is a ton of downed trees in 14 foot of water all through the lake 

The current Mississippi record LMB was caught in 1992 and is 18.15 lbs. 

Tom

[eyedabassman]

Get the jigs out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flippin and pitch-in time!!!!!   SHAKE THAT JIG !

[buzzed bait]

what was the guy throwing when he caught it?  i hate to just copycat folks sometimes, but for an 18lber........  

[eyedabassman]

5 hours ago, buzzed bait said:

what was the guy throwing when he caught it?  i hate to just copycat folks sometimes, but for an 18lber........  

Wright place,Wright time,wright structure! Big bass get caught on many lures,there is no magic lures. I am not trying to be a punk. If I was to bet and if that 18 er was caught I would say = jig, or big swimbait.

[avidone1]

My home lake has a few deep holes, and oh yeah, this is florida so deep is a relative term.  anyway because the opportunity to fish a big lipped dd crankbait are so few and far between that's what I love to hit em with.   I love feeling that rod throbbing so hard I have to hold on tight with both hands, and that's before I hook a fish!

[CarolinaBoy4Life]

Usually muddy water is going to be a shallow water bite for me. They relate to any shoreline or shallow structure and are basically right on it. Pitching and flipping come into play for me. A noisy flashy bait also draws attention in low light or visible situations. I'm sure they can be caught deep but it would be a lot harder typically vs shallow.