I gotta learn

[RHuff]

to catch fish offshore better.. That’s all their is to it.. When the shallow bite isn’t there.. I’m beat.

[papajoe222]

The good news is that you can learn a lot about fishing off shore structure right here at Bassresource. 
tell us a little about your favorite body of water and your abilities as an angler in general. The more you can divulge, the easier it will be to help you get started. 

[RHuff]

 

 All lakes I fish are around 2,000 acres and smaller. Some only 200. I am a very strong with a spinnerbait, SB/Medium Crankbaits, and flipping/pitching jigs around shoreline cover, grassy areas. I have recently gotten better at bluff walls, chuck rock. Even though I can catch fish in 80 ft water, I still consider that bank fishing. I need to learn to fish ledges, humps, and underwater points better in order to take my fishing to a better level. Example, I fished Stonewall Jackson Lake for 12 hrs on Wednesday. It was sunny, low 90s, and periods of a light breeze. Water was stained and hot. high 80s in the fields of standing timber and mid 80s up near the dam. All of my bites came off or near a bluff wall either cranking the walls or on spinnerbaits fishing stumps located just off of a wall. 7 fish for the day all between 1-2lbs. Not gonna cut it. I need to figure out how to turn a 5 fish/8lb bag into a 5 fish/14lb bag.. As we all do. Just frustrated.

 

[fishballer06]

Stonewall Jackson is a tough lake. It's so deep that it can make things very difficult, especially if you can't spend hours graphing around. 

 

Don't be afraid to try a Damiki Rig around those underwater trees. 

[PhishLI]

Check out FishTheMoment on youtube. He's not a YT yahoo. His focus is primarily offshore fishing. Lots of data and graphing info.

[jbsoonerfan]

22 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

Check out FishTheMoment on youtube. He's not a YT yahoo. His focus is primarily offshore fishing. Lots of data and graphing info.

I know a lot of people don't like Jonny for whatever reason, but I find his information to be very helpful. 

[RHuff]

I have watched all of his videos since he began his channel. He does great work. It just hasn’t clicked for me yet..

[jbsoonerfan]

6 minutes ago, RHuff said:

I have watched all of his videos since he began his channel. He does great work. It just hasn’t clicked for me yet..

I agree for the most part. I am not real good at offshore deep water fishing. I can still catch them off shore if I can find some shallow water like a flat or hump, but like you, I struggle to catch them on ledges and underwater points if the water is deep at all. 

[TnRiver46]

I rarely catch the limits of bass you are seeking but I love fishing away from the bank. Then again it sounds like the creek arms of our lakes are bigger than your entire bodies of water so you have limited options/choices. Also we have reservoirs with steep drops that are easy to find. One tournament angler that I watch on YouTube fishes natural lakes up north and he stays offshore most of the time. He mentions rock spines and weed edges in every single video so I assume those are key areas on natural lakes. I would try to find the steepest drop you can offshore and work it thoroughly with a feel bait like a Carolina rig. My best days offshore are when I can find a random log on a steep drop off 

[Catt]

To this dumb Cajun fishing deep or offshore is no different than fishing shallow or near the bank.

 

The issue is getting a mental picture of the "deep" structure.

 

Shallow water we visually see things that clue us in on where the bass should be. The same clues are there deep/offshore ya just gotta picture it in your head.

 

Structure 

I don't care if it's winter, spring, summer, or fall. I don't care if it's morning, noon, or night. I don't care if it's bank shallow or the creek bottom. 

 

Find the structure...fish the available cover ?

[WRB]

I am not a dumb Cajon just a old man with fading memories.

When you learn to fish reading old topo maps and hunting looking at topo maps the terrain under water looks the same as above. After awhile you see the structure where ever it's located, above the water along the shoreline or over your shoulder off shore. Structure doesn't change underwater.

Deep is relative you only need to fish as deep as the bass are located and then depth is everything.

Tom

[RHuff]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

I am not a dumb Cajon just a old man with fading memories.

When you learn to fish reading old topo maps and hunting looking at topo maps the terrain under water looks the same as above. After awhile you see the structure where ever it's located, above the water along the shoreline or over your shoulder off shore. Structure doesn't change underwater.

Deep is relative you only need to fish as deep as the bass are located and then depth is everything.

Tom

How do you determine how deep to fish? I trust your input.

[WRB]

You determine the life zone. There is a depth in every lake where the majority of the baitfish and predator fish are at. Bass are acclaimated to a specific depth zone and can suspend at the depth weightless by use of their airbladder. The bass seek a temperature of water with good (DO) dissolved oxygen levels where they are comfortable that offers abundant prey and sanctuary.

I use my sonar to locate the depth bass and prey are in. In the summer lakes stratify into layers of themperature zones, the thermocline is the 1st layer below the surface where the water temperature is cooler quickly within a few feet. Thermoclines can be 10' to 40' or anywhere inbetween. Bass and baitfish hold near or just above the thermocline. Deeper water below the thermocline usually has low DO levels and bass usually stay above it, no reason to fish any deeper.

You can see the thermocline using your sonar because the cooler water is more dense and shows up a paralell line or fuzzy zone a few feet thick. Baitfish are easy to see on sonar and predator fish like bass with big airbladders are also displayed.

I survey the marina area before leaving to determine the life zone, it helps me decide where to fish, how depth and what lures should be effective.

Tom

[Todd2]

48 minutes ago, WRB said:

There is a depth in every lake where the majority of the baitfish and predator fish are at.

Like Mr Bill Dance once said..if you only ask one question at the ramp, ask what depth did you catch them?

[RHuff]

19 hours ago, WRB said:

You determine the life zone. There is a depth in every lake where the majority of the baitfish and predator fish are at. Bass are acclaimated to a specific depth zone and can suspend at the depth weightless by use of their airbladder. The bass seek a temperature of water with good (DO) dissolved oxygen levels where they are comfortable that offers abundant prey and sanctuary.

I use my sonar to locate the depth bass and prey are in. In the summer lakes stratify into layers of themperature zones, the thermocline is the 1st layer below the surface where the water temperature is cooler quickly within a few feet. Thermoclines can be 10' to 40' or anywhere inbetween. Bass and baitfish hold near or just above the thermocline. Deeper water below the thermocline usually has low DO levels and bass usually stay above it, no reason to fish any deeper.

You can see the thermocline using your sonar because the cooler water is more dense and shows up a paralell line or fuzzy zone a few feet thick. Baitfish are easy to see on sonar and predator fish like bass with big airbladders are also displayed.

I survey the marina area before leaving to determine the life zone, it helps me decide where to fish, how depth and what lures should be effective.

Tom

 

 If I am fishing my local lake in an area that is say... 20 feet deep. Sometimes I will see the water clear on the sonar down to around 8 feet then from 8-15 feet will be sorta blurry or have faint vertical lines or something and on down towards the bottom. Is the 8-15 feet zone the area your referring the thermocline? So I should concentrate on fishing right above that? So in this case 4-8 feet?  

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, RHuff said:

 

 If I am fishing my local lake in an area that is say... 20 feet deep. Sometimes I will see the water clear on the sonar down to around 8 feet then from 8-15 feet will be sorta blurry or have faint vertical lines or something and on down towards the bottom. Is the 8-15 feet zone the area your referring the thermocline? So I should concentrate on fishing right above that? So in this case 4-8 feet?  

The vertical lines near the bottom are more than likely grass stems if I had to guess. A thermocline should show as more of a horizontal line, I find them by swimming! Haha

[WRB]

28 minutes ago, RHuff said:

 

 If I am fishing my local lake in an area that is say... 20 feet deep. Sometimes I will see the water clear on the sonar down to around 8 feet then from 8-15 feet will be sorta blurry or have faint vertical lines or something and on down towards the bottom. Is the 8-15 feet zone the area your referring the thermocline? So I should concentrate on fishing right above that? So in this case 4-8 feet?  

You need to set the sonar on manual and adjust the gain higher, auto depth is OK.

Thermocline is horizontal to the water surface and from your discription may be at 8'.

8' thermocline is shallow and bass could be anywhere from 1' to 8'.

Tom

[lo n slo]

this image isn’t exactly like what i’m now seeing on my Garmin, but it is very typical of a visible thermocline. ours usually develops around 15-17’ this time of year when swt’s hold steady in the mid 80’s (and higher), and persists throughout the remainder of the summer/mid fall. thus, ALL of my brush piles are in the 15’ range, depending on current water levels.

 

i love off shore fishing and it’s what i do much of the time. i prefer it over beating the banks, but there are certain seasons (and bodies of water) when the banks are best. 

[RHuff]

I see the difference now. I did not realize that I needed to set the gain higher. Would the gain be contrast? My garmins have contrast and brightness. Or do they have gain too and I just did not realize it? 

[lo n slo]

5 hours ago, RHuff said:

I see the difference now. I did not realize that I needed to set the gain higher. Would the gain be contrast? My garmins have contrast and brightness. Or do they have gain too and I just did not realize it? 

 

[padon]

turn the gain or sensitivity up high,get out over some deep water 40 or 50 feet. doesnt matter wether there are fish there or not your looking for that thermocline. that band of fuzziness on your depth finder. once you know that you can look for that life zone shallower like tom said.good thing is if the thermocline is say 18 to 20 feet you dont have to worry about fishing deeper than that. also if there is submerged grass there are almost alwas some fish on the deep grass edge of shallow points or bars etc.

[RHuff]

4 hours ago, lo n slo said:

 

 

 

 See I had no idea this even existed. I thought contrast and brightness was all that were there. No freakin wonder lol 

[lo n slo]

i have the manual link saved on my phone ?

[Herbert Lorenzo]

On 7/18/2020 at 11:08 PM, PhishLI said:

Check out FishTheMoment on youtube. He's not a YT yahoo. His focus is primarily offshore fishing. Lots of data and graphing info.

Great advice. One of the best instruction tools on you tube .