The sight line and below the sight line

[bigbill]

I'm going to try to explain about using the sight line to our advantage, I'm a shore fisherman, just a nut who's crazy about fishing. My advantage is I'm in no rush to fish I try different stuff I read about. I'm going to explain this the best I can. I fish of man made dams with road beds and low bridges were I have the same visibility you have from a boat maybe more to watch my lures action.

 

lets say I have two feet of depth of visibilty in the water.  Two feet and up is line of sight were I can watch my lures action. Now below two feet is below the sight line that's out of sight of our vision we can't see the lure below two feet.

 

i find during an active bass bite the bass will come up above in the two feet of sight to strike your shallow or surface lure. Now below the two feet out of sight they can be shy or sluggish to come up to strike. I slow the bait down so it runs deeper.

 

Example,  Within the two feet of sight we see the spinnerbaits in full view. Now we slow the spinnerbaits down so it runs below the two feet of our vision, it's out of sight but in the basses strike zone, like in there face. They won't strike in the first two feet but they will strike when our bait runs deeper. Get it?

 

i hope I said it correctly.

 

 

[Bulletman20XD]

Not sure where your going with this but I will try and break down a bass' strike zone.

 

Bass LOVE edges. Does not matter if the edge is vertical or horizontal. Weeds, trees, rocks, drops, mud lines, thermoclines etc... In small shallow lakes, and ponds, the strike zone basically disappears for many reasons. First and foremost would be competition from other fish. Secondly forage availability. Thirdly would be the number of fish in a given body of water. This being similar to competition. Hence the reason why you can fish a small cove on a large lake and catch a few fish. Fish a small pond and catch a boat load of fish. And finally water depth and clarity.

 

I can assure you that fish will bite in zero visibility. Albeit narrow, the strike zone is reduced greatly. They then rely upon their lateral line to detect forage as it comes into that zone.

 

Now, from day to day and even hour by hour a fishes strike zone may change for many reasons. Sunlight, barometric pressure, the depth forage fish may be running etc...

 

What this comes down to is a fishes strike zone changes. As you are fishing you have to figure out what they are doing and adjust as necessary. Fishing a pond or small lake from the bank is extremely different than fishing a large lake from a boat.

[deep]

3 hours ago, bigbill said:

Example,  Within the two feet of sight we see the spinnerbaits in full view. Now we slow the spinnerbaits down so it runs below the two feet of our vision, it's out of sight but in the basses strike zone, like in there face. They won't strike in the first two feet but they will strike when our bait runs deeper. Get it?

 

 

 

Clear as mud!

 

A couple hours back, I almost ran into Lizard Man. Would you believe it?

But then I remembered your post, and stayed below his sight line and managed to get away.

[roadwarrior]

11 hours ago, deep said:

Clear as mud!

  

The fish may be holding at any depth on a given day. Generally the most important factors are

cover, structure and the presence of baitfish.

 

[Deleted account]

[Response deleted due to fear of another Mod time out]

 

How do I change my board name to Stepford wife angler?...

[bigbill]

Another point is we can have different water conditions in the water column horizontally. On top it could look clear or slightly stained but as we go deeper it gets darker. A chartreuse colored bait can be your best choice when no action is happening. I notice this in the smaller places I fish at.