I'm confused...

[EGbassing]

I've always heard that bass go deep in the summer, but I just watched a Hank Parker video where he was saying that oxygenated water rises to the surface in the summer, and because of that, so do the bass. He also said that bass stay above the thermocline in the summer. What does that mean? About 2 months ago, I started fishing a lot of shallow cover with jigs/t-rigs, and it's worked really well up until about a week ago. I've fished shallow cover every day for the past week now and gotten skunked every time. Are they in deeper water? It's a fairly large pond, with the deepest water being about 7 feet or so. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

 

[geo g]

I could not agree more with what hank said especially in Florida

[EGbassing]

1 minute ago, geo g said:

I could not agree more with what hank said especially in Florida

Interesting. Would fishing shallow water be more effective, or fishing near the surface above deep water, or something else?

[thinkingredneck]

Some stay shallow all summer, but sometimes I don't find them either.

[Brew City Bass]

Okay, so the thermocline is a line at the bottom of the lake where the oxygen basically is non-existent. Right now in my lakes, it's about 30ft. This is where the bass will usually hover around for me. They'll almost never be below it. 

When people say bass go "deep" they don't mean to the absolute bottom of the lake. Sometimes in shallow lakes that is true, but in lakes that are 50+ feet, they will hang close to wherever they feed. This means wherever that grass flat meets a drop off, they'll be hanging out on some piece of structure that's on the drop off. I like to fish steep declines and drop offs with cranks or jigs. You're really looking for a reaction strike here. If you find a school of fish deeper, a flutter spoon can really get them fired up. Otherwise, I like to knock crankbaits off whatever is down there to trigger a strike. 

Carolina rigs, heavy T rigs, cranks, heavy swimbaits will all work for deeper fish. It's all about finding them, and then casting at the angle that'd trigger a strike. Sometimes I'll fish a ledge or point for 30 minutes before one decides to strike. 

[BrianinMD]

Depends on the body of water, some have good cover and shade from matted grass and pads while some don't. Fish will be where the desolved oxygen and food is. 

[EGbassing]

6 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

Okay, so the thermocline is a line at the bottom of the lake where the oxygen basically is non-existent. Right now in my lakes, it's about 30ft. This is where the bass will usually hover around for me. They'll almost never be below it. 

When people say bass go "deep" they don't mean to the absolute bottom of the lake. Sometimes in shallow lakes that is true, but in lakes that are 50+ feet, they will hang close to wherever they feed. This means wherever that grass flat meets a drop off, they'll be hanging out on some piece of structure that's on the drop off. I like to fish steep declines and drop offs with cranks or jigs. You're really looking for a reaction strike here. If you find a school of fish deeper, a flutter spoon can really get them fired up. Otherwise, I like to knock crankbaits off whatever is down there to trigger a strike. 

Carolina rigs, heavy T rigs, cranks, heavy swimbaits will all work for deeper fish. It's all about finding them, and then casting at the angle that'd trigger a strike. Sometimes I'll fish a ledge or point for 30 minutes before one decides to strike. 

Thanks. Is there a way to find where the thermocline is without a fishfinder? I'm fishing from the bank, so...

[WRB]

Green aquatic plants create dissolved oxygen (DO) during sunlight via photothynsis and consume DO at night. Wind creates DO via wave action, only other sources would be running water like a stream or river or man made areation system.

DO may rise but also dissipates fast when water gets over 90 degrees, bass can't survive, under 3 mg/L.

Your shallow pond bass should be under green grass mats when the water gets warmer becuase it's cooler and better oxygenated. Deeper man made impoundments arecactotally different eccosystem.

There maybe several thermo layers of water, the thermocline is the upper layer where water temps drop about 4 degrees within a few feet, not the middle or bottom layer.

Tom

[Brew City Bass]

Just now, EGbassing said:

Thanks. Is there a way to find where the thermocline is without a fishfinder? I'm fishing from the bank, so...

I don't personally know of a way to do that without having one unless you were to ask someone who has fished the lake recently that has sonar. 

You could get a portable sonar like the Deeper, that may show the thermocline. 

If you're fishing from the shore, it's flat out gonna be hard to get deep unless you fish something like a quarry. Before I bought a boat all I did was bankfish and I had the same issue when it got hot as hell out. Fish moved deeper and out of range. When that happened, I'd take a senko, wacky rig it on a jig head and BOMB a cast way out deep and just pray it was where some fish were. I got hung up a lot, but it caught some fish here and there. 

I always had my best luck shore fishing at night. The bass came up shallower to feed. 

[EGbassing]

Just now, Brew City Bass said:

I don't personally know of a way to do that without having one unless you were to ask someone who has fished the lake recently that has sonar. 

You could get a portable sonar like the Deeper, that may show the thermocline. 

If you're fishing from the shore, it's flat out gonna be hard to get deep unless you fish something like a quarry. Before I bought a boat all I did was bankfish and I had the same issue when it got hot as hell out. Fish moved deeper and out of range. When that happened, I'd take a senko, wacky rig it on a jig head and BOMB a cast way out deep and just pray it was where some fish were. I got hung up a lot, but it caught some fish here and there. 

I always had my best luck shore fishing at night. The bass came up shallower to feed. 

Alright. Thanks. 

[Arcs&sparks]

13 minutes ago, Brew City Bass said:

 

Okay, so the thermocline is a line at the bottom of the lake where the oxygen basically is non-existent. 

 

This might be true of the OPs ponds, but definitely not true of all lakes

[Brew City Bass]

2 minutes ago, Arcs&sparks said:

This might be true of the OPs ponds, but definitely not true of all lakes

You're very right, every lake is way different. 

[WRB]

Can you swim? 7 foot deep pond shouldn't be too difficult to feel the water temperature changes. If not get a digital pool thermometer and submerge it to read the water temps at various depths.

Tom

[EGbassing]

1 minute ago, WRB said:

Can you swim? 7 foot deep pond shouldn't be too difficult to feel the water temperature changes.

Tom

Yup. Didn't think of that. It's not the kind of pond you'd want to spend a lot of time in, but it should be fine for a couple minutes.

[Deleted account]

If you are fishing a pond that is only 7 feet deep, a thermocline, if one even forms won't be an issue. The fish will bury themselves in grass or relate to cover. The feeding windows get shorter in the summer, so when you fish becomes even more important. If fishing from shore, find the places where they go when inactive and punch or pitch to them. Good overcast days can be good, and it may make them wander around a bit more. Fishing good, reading bad....

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Fished a big pond today, with depths up to 30-40ft deep with grass on bottom. Extremely clear water. Just wading out launching the boat shallows was extremely hot water, so I figured deep cool water would be the trick.

 

Not my normal but I was determined to figure them out, turned out 1/2ounce drop shot with black trick worm about 2ft up was the solution. My first time dropshotting so 10+ bass was a good trip for me. Largest went close to 4lbs. 

 

I think it all depends on the lake/pond/river. Keep trying different tactics till one pays off

[scaleface]

If the pond your fishing is only 7 foot deep , then the bass are not going to be deeper than that . Fish  it all .  Hanks talking about bigger bodies of water 

[EGbassing]

1 minute ago, scaleface said:

If the pond your fishing is only 7 foot deep , then the bass are not going to be deeper than that . Fish  it all .  Hanks talking about bigger bodies of water 

Alright. Will the be all the way on the bottom in that deep water in my case, or somewhere else in the water column?

[Somd Fx4]

Today, my wife and I spent 2.5 hours on our kayaks fishing. We didn't catch anything. I didn't have my whole tackle bag with me but I threw everything I had. Popper, t-rig, swing head, squarebill, ned rig, and shakey head. The water was pretty clear and sunny skies. My garmin said water was between 85-89 degrees. The deepest I saw was 20ft. Very frustrating.

[Angry John]

Fish use the best available option.  In a pond with little to no cover or weeds to hide in they will suspend. In the water that is most comfortable.  If it's shallow that may be just off the bottom.  If weeds are available they will burry themselves in weeds to stay cool.  If they can find a structure like a tree that generates shade, they may choose to hide shallow under the tree.  Combined effects are more likely to hold fish, a deep hole under a shade tree with some branches in the water would be very good.

[Team9nine]

You're overthinking this. It's a 7' deep pond...there is no "deep" water. The surface and top couple feet will have the most oxygen because it mixes with the wind and gets the most sunlight (photosynthesis). Don't worry about a thermocline in this situation, either. It's a simple process of elimination. Start in the shallows and around any cover with a variety of presentations. If you don't get bit, they either aren't there or they are but aren't biting. Fish a little deeper; maybe off the ends of the cover that reaches out the furthest; any weedline edges if there are such things. Expect slower action on sunny calm days and better activity on cloudy breezy days. Maybe fish in the evening or at night. Fish move around in a pond regularly, so after a couple hours, don't hesitate to go back through the shallows and see if anything has moved in or become active. Sometimes a simple wind change is enough to stimulate the bite. I've been fishing similar ponds all year. Some days I catch 3, some days I catch 30. Unless you know something is out in the deeper sections, it's usually a waste of time to just randomly cast into these holes, except in winter. The active fish will be moving or near the bank.

[Koz]

Interesting topic as it applies to shallow, man made lagoons. I do a lot of fishing where my father lives in Sun City Hilton Head where there are 300+ lagoons of all sizes. The largest is about 1/4 mile long by 0.15 miles wide while others you can cast across the width and the length is 2 or 3 casts. Boats and kayaks are not allowed in these lagoons.

 

There's very little cover and no structure in these lagoons for the bass to gather, but I imagine there are some low spots where the bass tend to gather in the heat. The trick is finding them.

 

What makes all of this interesting is that large clusters of these lagoons are connected by the stormwater system and the bass in fact do move from lagoon to lagoon. For example, my dad has a very small lagoon out back of his place and I've pulled 4 and 5 pounders out of there. With a pair of polarized glasses you can see the fish. But on some days you won't even see a bass in there.

 

Fishing has been hit and miss lately, but for the time being I'm going focus more on fishing the larger lagoons. If I could get my iBobber to work I'd start mapping the bottom of some of these, but alas it loses connection when it's more than 10 or 15 feet away.

 

If history is any indication, even though it's hot out the fishing usually picks up again in July, even in the shallower depths.

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, EGbassing said:

Alright. Will the be all the way on the bottom in that deep water in my case, or somewhere else in the water column?

WhatTeam9  wrote . 

[geo g]

7 hours ago, geo g said:

I could not agree more with what hank said especially in Florida

Our Florida lakes are shallow and full weeds, water temps in summer are in the 90’s.  Bottom third is low of o2, and the weeds give off o2.  They will sit close to thick weeds for shade, shelter, better o2, and ambush baitfish.  Summer in Florida they will stay close to thick green weeds, close to current points, and follow bait fish.

[BuzzHudson19c]

7 hours ago, BrianinMD said:

Depends on the body of water, some have good cover and shade from matted grass and pads while some don't. Fish will be where the desolved oxygen and food is. 

^^^This^^^

 

I've caught some big bass in the middle of summer in very shallow water. Especially frogging.