Finding the deep SM?

[jbmaine]

Hi all,

This year I am determined to have better luck, develop better skill in catching deep SM. I finally have the time, boat, TM, electronics, to do it. However I could use some *** on finding all these fish.

I fish a very good SM lake around 1000 acres big. I know it's full of SM, I see hundreds of them during the spawn. Now that the spawn is just about over, they are starting their move to deeper water. I have read, watched all kinds of info. on deep water SM, and know to try for them on drop-offs , shelfs, humps, etc. The issue I have is this lake is full of them. I idle along, watching the fish finder for hundreds of yards, and there are areas where the bottom never stays still.

Its like watching a roller coaster.

So, with so many places for them to hide out, what's the best way to find them?

I'm thinking I just need to keep moving until the fish finder shows fish, then stop and try to catch them. I'm wondering that with so much bottom contour, they don't gang up, and seeing just one fish here and there, is going to be the norm.

 Any other thoughts on how to approach this?

                                              Thanks

                                                      Jim

[A-Jay]

Finding smallies in the 'summer' can be challenging - it is for me. 

They seem to move all over the place - here today, gone tomorrow.  

Such opportunistic feeders that are very willing to travel quite a ways. 

My limited success with summer smallies comes from two basic thoughts.

First - where they are during low light (early & late) seems different from where they hang out once the sun gets up a bit.  So my approach early & late is to fish the shallower areas on or near the spots you listed above (drop-offs , shelves, humps, etc.)  Especially areas that have an decent food source - for me that's almost always perch & / or crayfish.  One of my favorite & top producing areas on most every SMB lake I fish, is "Inside Turns."  Once I can identify what depth they are using, following a contour line and hitting the inside turn of Points, drop-offs, humps & saddle areas - and especially 'funnels" (where the bottom structure is such that the fish can 'run the lane' in the deep water, and shoot up shallow at any point along it to eat).   

 Now as you mentioned 'there are so many areas' on any lake that can be potential bass fishing areas. Where does one start ?   This is where the second part of my very basic plan comes into play. 

 A starting point - By going to where you know the SMB spawned (where the beds are) and expanding from there, one can often locate a few.  Simply expand your search from shallow to deep until you connect.  Remembering that early & late they could be pretty shallow and move out as the day continues.  Where & how far is the hard part.  

 I usually don't use my electronics here to find fish,  although it happens more now with the 360 imaging, more often I'm looking for bait & cover.  Rocks & bottom composition transition areas can be good.   And even if & when I find them, I have all but given up on trying to catch 'suspending' fish.  Super tough.  Every once in a while I can get a few to go, but can be & has been a frustrating deal. 

 

Early & late I'm using topwater & moving baits (depending on the wind) and once I start to look "deeper" I am almost always throwing a drop shot.  But a drop shot can be a 'search bait' just use a small nose hooked swimbait, fluke, craw or a small curly tail worm or whatever you have confidence.  Something that will not twist your line and that you can fish deep and bump along the bottom.  Cast it out - work it back - repeat.  This process ALWAYS includes a ton of 'eliminating water'.  No way around it.  What I have found is that the old adage "10% of the lake holds 90% of the fish" is more or less A Fact !  

Hope that helps and don't despair - there's a reason it's a rare event that a big smallie is posted up in the middle of July & early August . . . 

Good Luck

A-Jay

 

[jbmaine]

Thanks A-Jay, as always excellent advice and info. I think one of the hardest things for me on this lake is there is abundant food everywhere, good structure everywhere. I have never caught a thin fish there at all, and they spawn all over the lake. 

It sounds like I just need to follow your guide lines and put the time in.

                                                     Thanks again

                                                               Jim

 

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, jbmaine said:

Thanks A-Jay, as always excellent advice and info. I think one of the hardest things for me on this lake is there is abundant food everywhere, good structure everywhere. I have never caught a thin fish there at all, and they spawn all over the lake. 

It sounds like I just need to follow your guide lines and put the time in.

                                                     Thanks again

                                                               Jim

 

I'll be right over . . . 

A-Jay

[OkobojiEagle]

Where they share water, lots of smallmouth are caught fishing for walleye.  Search walleye drifting and trolling techniques and you'll find good ways to boat smallies from deep water.  After you find them choose whatever bass technique you prefer.  I don't fish smallmouth deeper than 20' because I don't want to stress them and I'm fortunate enough to have waters that I don't have to.

 

(You didn't hear this from me, but smallies love big leeches and chubs... I'd encourage you to only use them when searching as you'll deep hook far too many.)

 

oe

[jbmaine]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I'll be right over . . . 

A-Jay

The coffee's on, see you in a bit

[1simplemann]

Has your lake's water fluctuated in the last 20 yrs? Here's what I did. My lake is not mapped. I looked at older GE maps that had lower water levels. By doing that not only did I find humps that I didn't know existed but I also found rock piles that I didn't know existed. Not all produce but some are pure gold. In late summer or early fall, I have whacked them pretty good in 30' water. Numbers and size! It's a timing thing. I was on the lake last week end and it was a ghost town out deep which is what I expected but I had to keep them honest and check anyway. Everything was 8' or less.

[Turkey sandwich]

On 6/2/2018 at 3:53 PM, A-Jay said:

 

 A starting point - By going to where you know the SMB spawned (where the beds are) and expanding from there, one can often locate a few.  Simply expand your search from shallow to deep until you connect.  Remembering that early & late they could be pretty shallow and move out as the day continues.  Where & how far is the hard part.  

 I usually don't use my electronics here to find fish,  although it happens more now with the 360 imaging, more often I'm looking for bait & cover.  Rocks & bottom composition transition areas can be good.   And even if & when I find them, I have all but given up on trying to catch 'suspending' fish.  Super tough.  Every once in a while I can get a few to go, but can be & has been a frustrating deal. 

 

Right now, this is exactly where I would start.  Everything A-Jay mentioned is really, really good, but if you remember one thing from this thread, remember this.  If you can find smallmouth, getting them to bite isn't generally that hard, with the exception of the post spawn and bad conditions.  

 

Once you follow them back out of the creek arms look for the primary structure changes.  Points that extend well into the main lake are great places to start.  They're better when they have cover.  Even better?  Is there current blowing over the point?  Once they recover from the spawn, they're going to start actively feeding anywhere they can.  Those spots are better if they can ambush prey caught in the current.  

 

I'll also second that it can be a big time killer fishing for suspended fish.  They generally aren't the ones you want to target unless they're feeding up during lowlight hours and a jerk bait or walking bait can be your best friend.  

[Boomstick]

When I fish deep, it's usually from a canoe in a small lake. So I will target the areas of the lake where there are drop offs and the water starts to get deeper. If you can see rocks through the water (or in a fish finder) there's a good chance there's a smallie alongside it.

 

In a larger lake, it's much more difficult than this of course.

[rejesterd]

Big points near open/deep water and other transitions like ledges, where rock meets sand, rock pile in the middle of nowhere.. etc.  Smallmouth roam all the time, so just play the odds.. the odds of finding a group of good-sized smallmouth with your electronics is a lot lower than the odds of simply running into a good group when using search baits.  I troll a lot with a crankbait in the summer, then dropshot if I get a good one.  I can definitely find groups of them with the sonar, but 9 times out of 10, it's a group of small fish that are getting pushed out of a better feeding area by 3-4 larger ones. 

[Further North]

I Know this isn't gonna be what you want to read...but...summer smallmouth, to me, means rivers.  Relatively shallow ones, where wading, canoes, drift boats, or maybe john boats are going to be best...

 

....but I'm not sure what you've got near you.

[jbmaine]

4 hours ago, Further North said:

I Know this isn't gonna be what you want to read...but...summer smallmouth, to me, means rivers.  Relatively shallow ones, where wading, canoes, drift boats, or maybe john boats are going to be best...

 

....but I'm not sure what you've got near you.

I love river fishing but have nothing but ponds, lakes around me, anywhere from 40 - 100 ft. deep.

[tkunk]

Wind helps a ton. When it's windy, you really only need to check wind-blown structure, so it considerably reduces the area you need to search. The lake I fish is very big, so I seldom fish for smallies in summer unless it's windy.

 

Also, it's important to remember that smallies are smallies: They can be in 40 fow one day, and the next day they'll be in weed beds in 5 fow. Don't get stuck on the idea that they're deep because that's where some book or pro says they're supposed to be during a certain time of year. Look everywhere (except the non-windy side of structure).

[Further North]

2 hours ago, jbmaine said:

I love river fishing but have nothing but ponds, lakes around me, anywhere from 40 - 100 ft. deep.

Dude...I feel for you...