Need clear water help for today...

[SPEEDBEAD.]

I am going to a local reservoir today that has extremely clear water. You can see the bottom of the lake in over 20 FOW, to give you an idea how clear this thing really is. The crazy thing is that I have seen some LARGE bass in here over the last two years.

I am used to fishing in stained to muddy water and I have confidence in those situations. Today, however, I feel like I am terribly outmatched by this water.

I will likely end up using topwater, making ridiculously long casts over the flats on the upper end. The problem is, I will get there around 4pm and need to kill some time before the sun starts to go down. Needless to say, I would prefer to kill time CATCHING FISH!!

Any suggestions on a short notice would be appreciated or if any more info is needed, please ask away!!!!

Wayne

[bass109]

Your lures will work in clear water , but when all else fails live bait will save the day. I only use live bait as last resort for largemouth bass. I think live bait works better in clear water.

[mattm]

You hit the nail on the head with long casts.  A lot of the stuff in you tackle box will work.  Just get a ridicously long way from the fish, and make sure your throwing very natural colors.  Plastics = watermelon, green pumpkin, pumpkin seed.  Trig and crig and probably even senkos if you have a setup that you can throw them a decent distance on.  I would leave the spinnerbaits in the box unless there is a little chop on the water or overcast and then obviously throw willow leaf blades.  I would opt for a white or translucent(sp) colored skirts.  Rattle traps in chrome black, blue or green back.  Cranks in white and shad colors.  I'm by no means an excellent fisherman, but I do fish A LOT of clear water and find that really any type of bait will work as lone as you are making long casts and throwing very natural colors.  Having told you all this i'm sure your fish will be hitting chartruse and metholiate today .  BTW, good luck.

[mattm]

Oh and I usually find that you can fish faster on most days in ultraclear water.  You don't really want the fish to have a long time to study your bait, and figure out it is not the real thing.

[RoLo]

You're wise in feeling threatened by crystal clear water, it's can be like fishing after a cold-front.

The first stumbling block is that enhanced visibility usually means "well fed" bass.

By contrast, bass in muddy water always seem to be feeding (beggers can't be choosers).

In gin clear water, imperfections in "lure action" are overtly displayed. Though many fishermen believe that bass are frightened

by the line in clear water (what about the hooks?), I believe that thinner line is more productive in clear water

because it provides more natural, unfettered lure action, particularly when working soft plastics.

When all else fails, turning to reaction lures that create an impulse strike can save the day

In crystal clear water, it's best to use cranks that are a tad smaller, conservatively colored and retrieved at a higher speed.

Good Luck

Roger

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Given the fact that these fish can see a mile, how far will they typically come to intercept a lure?

As far as the distance, from how deep and from how far side to side?

Thanks

Wayne

[Jig Man]

I fish lower end clear water all the time.  I use 10# mono or fluro leaders.  I fish a lot of jigs, tubes, and craws.  I don't get may bites with tops, buzzes, or spinnerbaits.

[grid]

I fish mostly clear water.  I have better luck with plastic worms in natural colors and smaller in size.  Doug H. e-book has a section on clear water fishing.  With larger bait bass can see the imperfections and will rule it out as food. So natural colors and down size.

[mattm]

Speedbead,

Others may come along and disagree with me, but I personally feel that the bass won't come much further to eat your bait.  I think it probably has to do with the amount of energy they have to expend for the meal.  I'm of the belief that it just depends on how actively the fish are feeding that determines the size of the strike zone just like in stained water.  If the fish are extremly active maybe they'll go a little further than in muddy water since they can see the bait.

Matt

[Raul]

Given the fact that these fish can see a mile, how far will they typically come to intercept a lure?

As far as the distance, from how deep and from how far side to side?

Thanks

Wayne

That my friend depends greatly on the guy behind the rod, my compadre can 't make a fish move two feet away to intercept a lure, my nephew ( my compadre 's son ) can make the fish come 30-40 ft with the same lure my compadre couldn 't catch a cold with, same applies to depth and to distance.

Some of the lakes I fish are steep banked to the point of being in half of the shoreline vertical walls gin clear water and I can make them rise from the depths with topwaters.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Some of the lakes I fish are steep banked to the point of being in half of the shoreline vertical walls gin clear water and I can make them rise from the depths with topwaters.

At the lower end of the lake, that is basically what I am looking at. The shoreline itself is not steep banked but ten feet into the lake is a rock ledge that drops quickly to 15 or more FOW.

[5bass]

Some of the lakes I fish are steep banked to the point of being in half of the shoreline vertical walls gin clear water and I can make them rise from the depths with topwaters.

At the lower end of the lake, that is basically what I am looking at. The shoreline itself is not steep banked but ten feet into the lake is a rock ledge that drops quickly to 15 or more FOW.

Thats where I'd be then, right along that ledge, probably with some little wimpy shaky worm or finesse jig in watermelon or green pumpkin, just bumping them along, up and down the ledge. But if I couldnt get bit with that, I'd probably bust out my deep crank rod and a LC CBD20 and start banging it around that ledge trying for that reaction strike.

[Raul]

Some of the lakes I fish are steep banked to the point of being in half of the shoreline vertical walls gin clear water and I can make them rise from the depths with topwaters.

At the lower end of the lake, that is basically what I am looking at. The shoreline itself is not steep banked but ten feet into the lake is a rock ledge that drops quickly to 15 or more FOW.

Thats where I'd be then, right along that ledge, probably with some little wimpy shaky worm or finesse jig in watermelon or green pumpkin, just bumping them along, up and down the ledge. But if I couldnt get bit with that, I'd probably bust out my deep crank rod and a LC CBD20 and start banging it around that ledge trying for that reaction strike.

5BL beat me to it, I 'd be all over that ledge and first I would try a topwater attempting to rise a few feesh before attacking the ledge itself, why the topwater ? because I 'm trying to milk the most agressive fish first in a spot that 's not close to the shoreline, then a spinnerbait and/or crankbait at about 7-8 ft above the ledge, the same reason, milk out the agressive fish first and then down to the bottom.

That ledge sounds like a cluster of rocks I know in my home lake, it 's located on a flat about 100 ft from the bank, when the lake is full the cluster is in 10 ft of water on the highest part of the cluster, about 10 ft from the cluster passes a tributary of the main river and the water drops from 12 ft to 30 ft fast, you have no idea how productive that cluster is, day in day out that particular spot always has some fish orbiting around it.