My first forum here so take it easy on me lol

[JSP28]

Ok so I need some advice. I fish a very deep mountain lake clear mostly and over the past 4 years I can catch some good quality fish here and there but in tournaments I have been getting hammered because I can’t fish deep finesse like these other guys do. I have 10 baitcasting setups and one spinning reel that stays at home so go figure…. These spotted bass are usually in the 35 to 70 foot range from spring to winter. I have a boat 2 Lowrance elite graphs and an Ultrex so I have to the equipment to be successful but I really only am when these fish come up shallow. Somebody rip me a new one and change my life ??? My Lord I live 15 minutes away from this lake and I fish it as much as any of them I’m tired of losing with the way I want to catch these fish ! 

[GaryH]

I guess the first question I would ask is do you know how to read and interpret your graphs? Next would be are you familiar with finesse fishing? Drop shot,Ned rig, wacky etc etc. I would also start bringing you spinning setup along rigged for finesse.

And I forgot welcome aboard….

[scaleface]

Sounds like you are being hard headed . You already know the problem  and fishing deep is not that difficult . If you want to do well in tourneys , sounds like you have to adapt. If youre just fishing the way you like and are happy with that then keep on keeping on .

[T-Billy]

2 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Sounds like you are being hard headed . You already know the problem  and fishing deep is not that difficult . If you want to do well in tourneys , sounds like you have to adapt. If youre just fishing the way you like and are happy with that then keep on keeping on .

BINGO!!! We have a winner!!! ?

[BoatSquirrel]

Cant force feed em man- we have all tried and failed. GaryH is right.  The lake you fish lends itself to light line finesse fishing and so you are faced with the opportunity to learn new techniques or continue to donate your entry money. I never would have thought, but catching fish on new techniques has become a very rewarding aspect of fishing for me in past years. There is ZERO shame in catching 50 fish in an afternoon of fishing on a spinning rod!  

[PressuredFishing]

46 minutes ago, JSP28 said:

Ok so I need some advice. I fish a very deep mountain lake clear mostly and over the past 4 years I can catch some good quality fish here and there but in tournaments I have been getting hammered because I can’t fish deep finesse like these other guys do. I have 10 baitcasting setups and one spinning reel that stays at home so go figure…. These spotted bass are usually in the 35 to 70 foot range from spring to winter. I have a boat 2 Lowrance elite graphs and an Ultrex so I have to the equipment to be successful but I really only am when these fish come up shallow. Somebody rip me a new one and change my life ??? My Lord I live 15 minutes away from this lake and I fish it as much as any of them I’m tired of losing with the way I want to catch these fish ! 

Fishing heavily pressured clear lakes all my life, you can catch them three ways

 

Finesse (tried and true)

 

Power (silent non rattling baits with natural colors going mock 5 through the water during peak bite times)

 

Big (swimbaits of all shapes and sizes will do better in my experience in clearer water compared to murky water. Even if you don't catch fish use it as a probe to watch followers, throw in with something else when you see them

 

[TOXIC]

Better devote that 1 spinning rod to a dropshot and get good at it.  ?

[TnRiver46]

Mountain lake with spots……. Are you in Georgia or NC? Spots love shakey heads, paddle tails, and topwater 

[WRB]

Spotted bass are very aggressive feeders preferring bait fish 3”-4” and crawdads 3”, they will occasionally eat larger Prey if the Spots 4 lbs or the lake has Blueback Herring.

Soft plastics lime green /chartreuse worms and Cinnamon brown/ chartreuse craws work everywhere.

If you don’t like using spinning tackle, change your bait casting to 3 power/Medium fast rods and line to 8 lb Sniper FC or 6 lb Copolymer Maxima Ultra Green. 1/4-3/8 oz spider jigs and 1/4 oz drop shot w/ size 1 drop shot nose or wacky hooked.

Tom

 

[JSP28]

8 hours ago, GaryH said:

I guess the first question I would ask is do you know how to read and interpret your graphs? Next would be are you familiar with finesse fishing? Drop shot,Ned rig, wacky etc etc. I would also start bringing you spinning setup along rigged for finesse.

And I forgot welcome aboard….

The biggest problem with the graphs I have is knowing if the fish I am seeing is actually bass. The fish at this lake suspend only deep water most of the time unless they generate water and provide current ( usually stops at tournament time) and then you can catch fish on long points but when the current stops they suspend in deep water. I am familiar with those tactics I’ve just always powerfished. So I’m basically power fishing at least 20 feet above where the fish are holding ….at least. 

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Mountain lake with spots……. Are you in Georgia or NC? Spots love shakey heads, paddle tails, and topwater 

Carters Lake…..and TOPWATER is honestly the only way (besides jigs) that I feel confident in catching them. So I strike out a lot….

7 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Fishing heavily pressured clear lakes all my life, you can catch them three ways

 

Finesse (tried and true)

 

Power (silent non rattling baits with natural colors going mock 5 through the water during peak bite times)

 

Big (swimbaits of all shapes and sizes will do better in my experience in clearer water compared to murky water. Even if you don't catch fish use it as a probe to watch followers, throw in with something else when you see them

 

 

7 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Fishing heavily pressured clear lakes all my life, you can catch them three ways

 

Finesse (tried and true)

 

Power (silent non rattling baits with natural colors going mock 5 through the water during peak bite times)

 

Big (swimbaits of all shapes and sizes will do better in my experience in clearer water compared to murky water. Even if you don't catch fish use it as a probe to watch followers, throw in with something else when you see them

 

I’ve never caught a fish on a swim bait, guys that do use them catch them on little bitty ones on light tackle. We have mostly little small alewives as forage. 2 inches long and they stay deep and they are ALL OVER the lake so thick in places you can walk across them. I can usually catch a few when they feed on the surface but this year there has been so much bait fish hardly ever came shallow and why not ? They have so much more bait deep they don’t have to roam around much. The hybrids and the striped bass keep the bait down deep too. 

[TnRiver46]

25 minutes ago, JSP28 said:

The biggest problem with the graphs I have is knowing if the fish I am seeing is actually bass. The fish at this lake suspend only deep water most of the time unless they generate water and provide current ( usually stops at tournament time) and then you can catch fish on long points but when the current stops they suspend in deep water. I am familiar with those tactics I’ve just always powerfished. So I’m basically power fishing at least 20 feet above where the fish are holding ….at least. 

Carters Lake…..and TOPWATER is honestly the only way (besides jigs) that I feel confident in catching them. So I strike out a lot….

 

I’ve never caught a fish on a swim bait, guys that do use them catch them on little bitty ones on light tackle. We have mostly little small alewives as forage. 2 inches long and they stay deep and they are ALL OVER the lake so thick in places you can walk across them. I can usually catch a few when they feed on the surface but this year there has been so much bait fish hardly ever came shallow and why not ? They have so much more bait deep they don’t have to roam around much. The hybrids and the striped bass keep the bait down deep too. 

Getcha keitech 2.8 on a round ball head and let it go waaaaay down there to em. Or if you’re like me and cheap, use the sassy shad 

[PressuredFishing]

3 hours ago, JSP28 said:

The biggest problem with the graphs I have is knowing if the fish I am seeing is actually bass. The fish at this lake suspend only deep water most of the time unless they generate water and provide current ( usually stops at tournament time) and then you can catch fish on long points but when the current stops they suspend in deep water. I am familiar with those tactics I’ve just always powerfished. So I’m basically power fishing at least 20 feet above where the fish are holding ….at least. 

Carters Lake…..and TOPWATER is honestly the only way (besides jigs) that I feel confident in catching them. So I strike out a lot….

 

I’ve never caught a fish on a swim bait, guys that do use them catch them on little bitty ones on light tackle. We have mostly little small alewives as forage. 2 inches long and they stay deep and they are ALL OVER the lake so thick in places you can walk across them. I can usually catch a few when they feed on the surface but this year there has been so much bait fish hardly ever came shallow and why not ? They have so much more bait deep they don’t have to roam around much. The hybrids and the striped bass keep the bait down deep too. 

If you have a boat try a small 2-4 inch flutter spoon, to get down to bass, a small keitech, or underspin. Something with flash to stand out from the thousands in the crowd

[papajoe222]

I was just going to recommend vertically jigging a spoon, especially this time of year and through the colder months.  If you have a transducer mounted to your TM, you can actually watch it drop down to the fish. 

As for interpreting your sonar, if the echos you receive are from baitfish, look for deeper echos. Those are likely bass. If there are no deeper echos, treat what you see as being bass until proven wrong.

[CrashVector]

On 10/17/2021 at 4:38 PM, JSP28 said:

The biggest problem with the graphs I have is knowing if the fish I am seeing is actually bass. The fish at this lake suspend only deep water most of the time unless they generate water and provide current ( usually stops at tournament time) and then you can catch fish on long points but when the current stops they suspend in deep water. I am familiar with those tactics I’ve just always powerfished. So I’m basically power fishing at least 20 feet above where the fish are holding ….at least. 

Carters Lake…..and TOPWATER is honestly the only way (besides jigs) that I feel confident in catching them. So I strike out a lot….

 

I’ve never caught a fish on a swim bait, guys that do use them catch them on little bitty ones on light tackle. We have mostly little small alewives as forage. 2 inches long and they stay deep and they are ALL OVER the lake so thick in places you can walk across them. I can usually catch a few when they feed on the surface but this year there has been so much bait fish hardly ever came shallow and why not ? They have so much more bait deep they don’t have to roam around much. The hybrids and the striped bass keep the bait down deep too. 

 

 

Finesse fishing is practically all I do for bass.  There's really no difference in shallow vs deep finesse fishing besides the weights.

 

You can successfully use finesse techniques on a baitcaster if you're fishing that deep bc you need heavier weights anyhow.

 

I'd toss out, let it hit the bottom, then twitch, reel up a bit, and let the lure "pendulum swing" back towards you.  This can easily be don't on a baitcaster using a bed rig, shakey head, etc.