Deep water bassin'

[5bass]

When the dog days of summer hit your favorite lake,what is your approach or method to fishing the bass' deep summer homes?Boat positioning?Favorite bait?Favorite structure and how do you fish it?What do you look for in a deep spot?

It's that time of year and lots of us could use some deep water help/tips.Lets hear what you got.

[gamblerOH]

fivebass, all you need to remember is deep rocky points with steep dropoffs and a carolina rigged sweet beaver or ugly otter, i have found some ugly otters that are made by gambler bait co (not boats ) and they are awesome. I think they may be better than sweet beavers. My fishing partner is having good luck with finesse worms rigged on a jighead in deep water worked very very slow. I dont do this well since a carolina rig is about as slow as I can stand to go.

[5bass]

I have a good game plan when it comes to deep water usually....unless my brushpiles are empty.I depend too much on my brushpiles and sometimes they just arent on them.

[gamblerOH]

I have brushpiles too ;D Its just so hard to make sure  the fish are there and then you have to make them bite. My brushpiles are productive in mid-spring and early fall, I can count on them then but this time of year its almost a waste of time. I will go and give them about 15 min. just to check them and then hit the points. I seem to find feeding fish on the points more often (shaded side in mid-morning) this time of year. No matter what you throw this is a tough time of year.

[5bass]

Believe me,I know what you mean about it being tough this time of year.Usually in the summertime my brushpiles hold them on a regular basis but at times they just wont bite or are simply not on 'em.

I place all my piles either on the ends of points or on the sides of them and always in at least 15'-20' of water.I have one point with 20 plus brushpiles on it,I call it the magic point.I used to catch alot of bass there but now it seems like the stripers are always there and the bass arent.Stripers are fun,dont get me wrong,but you cant weigh-in stripers.    

[gamblerOH]

luckily most of our lakes have small populations of stripers. The river however has a lot of them, they are a blast when you can get on'em. sounds like your brushpiles are in perfect spots for this time of year. Mine are much shallower6-10 ft. I have them for early spring and the first part of post spawn when the fish are just starting to go back out to deeper water. I need some on the deep points, I guess i'll be collecting Christmas trees again ;D

[Sweetwater]

Many anglers don't like summer fishing, but I love it. The bass stack up in reliable locations, and generally stay on the same feeding/location pattern until the water temps start dropping. I catch bigger bass during the summer.

At lake west point, the bass will be stacked up on main lake structure in water from 8-25 ft deep. Humps, roadbeds, pondams, creek channels, all will hold fish this year. The hottest structures will be the ones close to the river channel, shallow flats, and will have some form of current breaking cover.

These bass can be caught all day long.

A c-rig is one of the better ways to catch these bass. I go with either a zoom magnum lizard or 10 1/2" old monster in junebug or red shad. A jigging spoon is also a productive bait for this pattern.

At my favorite smaller body of water, a 10 acre jewel in a state park that sees few bass anglers, there are several productive locations using one bait;a watermelon seed trick worm.

Along the entire length of one long shoreline, there is a canopy of overhanging branches sometimes spanning 15 ft. over the water. The water is deep right up to the bank, running 6-8 ft. Skipping the trickworm under those branches is very productive.

Also, where this shoreline meets the dam, there are several manmade brushpiles on the bottom in 8-10 feet of water that the bass stack up on. It takes patience, but the trick worm kills em.

Again, this is a pattern that is best when the sun is high.

On a 300 acre reservoir I used to live on, docks and jig/pigs were the ticket for high sun fishing. This was also a very good nightime bass lake.

All of these examples contain very different patterns, but the basics behind them are the same.

Slower,bigger,baits.

Deeper water.

Structure or cover.

 

[Rattlinrogue]

I've been trying to become a more complete basser.I've always been a shallow water guy.For the last 3 weeks,I've been asking you guys about C-rig fishing.I want to let you know I caught 5 1-2 lb.bass off a long point this morning in 14 ft. of water.I daught them on a C-rig.I used a 6" Zoom watermelon lizard on a 3/0 red Gammy EWG hook.Thanks for your tips.My dream of fishing shallow and deep structure is beginning to happen.

[roadwarrior]

Sweetwater,

Man, that's my kinda fishing! You don't need any advice, but as I read and reread your post I kept thinking "Gitzit". Have you tried tubes? Have they not been productive for you or do you not like the technique? What you have described at West Point just sounds like the perfect scenario for fishing tubes to me.

Something else comes to mind when I picture you fishing under the overhanging trees: Fat Ika. Your bass may have never seen this lure. I bet they'd like it.

[Sweetwater]

shoot RW.... I need all the help I can get.

Actually, that's why I came here. The day I stop trying to improve as an angler is the day I quit fishing, which will be the same day I quit breathing.

I cannot claim any credit for the knowledge I've passed on here. I was fortunate enough to have learned from two very good worm fisherman, one was a ww2 vet from your neck of the woods. I owe it to them and the sport to pass on what has been passed on to me.

I appreciate the fact that you took the time to make some suggestions.

Regarding tubes.....

I love tubes. I love the way they look in the water. I've thrown them quite a bit without one fish to show for my efforts. I know tubes are a fish catching bait. I just believe the waters I fish aren't the best for tube fishing.

Lake west point is not a clear lake. I fish the larger, louder plastics there because I'd rather catch LM than spots. I bet a tube would be effective there during the spawn.

Regarding the fat ika...

I'm in the process of deciding what size/color i want to try first. They may work at the state park lake, but I've thrown almost every size/color plastic at these fish, and they want the watermelon trick worm. I'm a fairly stubborn fellow, but after 7 years, these fish have convinced me.

Again, I appreciate the advice. Gonna give some of that yozuri hybrid a try soon.

[Sweetwater]

Good job rouge.

The one thing that helped me become a better deep water bass angler was a buddy of mine that got me into hybrid fishing, which requires fishing deep structure.

After I learned to work a bait in 30 feet of water, 15 feet was a piece of cake.

[Bass_junky]

The deepest I fish is 15 ft. but i am in the northwest. Water temps seldomly reach 75 deg.max. My approach is to fish the inside weed line from first light until about 7-8 a.m. Then i switched and fish the outside weedlines in 10-15 ft water depth. What presentation to use? I wish i could say the I have one presentation that stands out, but this would not be an honest statement. On calm days I never use spinnerbaits after 9 a.m.

I'm limited on patience (which I need to improve) but i start with a tube on the deep side of weedlines, then switch to Yum Gonzo. On occasion i will throw a c-rig. I have read several articles regarding the old johnson silver spoon, I am going to try this technique, but they are not available at the local tackle shops here so I have to order.

I revert back to the thickest weed bed I can find starting at noon. I search for the pockets in these weedbeds and have had much success. It is a hassle trying to move around with my old Motorola 740 trolling motor since it is not the weedless style. I purchased a 20 ft push pole (commonly used by duck hunters) and this has helped. My rational for this approach: everyone else is fishing the deep points. Not too many will go in after the bass in the weeds. I do not catch any 6 lbs + on a steady basis but I do well on the 2-4 lb bass with this technique (pitching). I realize this also depends on the lake you are fishing. The lake I fish most often is a upland reservoir. Not much wood structure/humps in these lakes.

I do however seek out the drops & old road beds when I decide to try for smallies.  I use a tube bait with a bell sinker inside the tube for these tough bonzebacks.

[Md]

Bump.

Wow...a blast from the past!  ;D Deep water in my neck of the woods is 30-50 feet of water. I tend to drop shot most often, but sometimes I'll go with a heavy football jig or a grub.

[Tin]

20-100' with a drop-shot. My record is a smallie out of 104 with on a buoy, she was in about 80'. The last tournament on Erie, that Jackall pro won on smallies in 50-60' suspended over 100'.

[WRB]

Summer thermocline depth is extremely important in deep structured hill land or high land reservoirs. In reservoirs that have power generation dams, the thermocline can be in multiple layers and depth ranges however the top primary layer is where most of the bass and pelagic prey fish will locate.

So it's sonar time. Adjust your sonar unit so you can easily read the thermocline layer, the depth the water makes a quick temperature change is shown as a dark line or darker fuzzy zone about 2 to 4 feet thick, depending on your sonar unit and lake.

During the summer the bass will gather just above the thermocline depth and suspend waiting for prey fish like pelagic shad schools to come near structure like points and humps.

Simply survey the marina where you launch, determine the life zone, the depth of the thermocline and you will know what depth and where to start fishing.

Remember the bass will follow the bait fish towards cover during low light and at night, so there will always be some bass tight to cover and bass suspended in deeper cooler water near the thermocline. Keep in mind that wind and time of day can affect the thermocline depth, so check it several times during the day on the water, during those summer dog days.

WRB

[Crestliner2008]

I fish mainly for smallmouth. And summer is "My" time of the year. That's when I become extremely close friends with my sonar. I know many deep (25' - 35'), off-shore structures where bait balls (smelt & yellow perch) cruise around the 1' thick weed base; followed closely by "wolf packs" of big smallies.

The drop shot rules here, however, I've had success with any off bottom presentation. You can't fish tubes or jigs or blade baits on the bottom here. Too thick a matting of green. You'd be constantly gobbed up. The drop shot fits the bill nicely.

I cruise these off shore structures, searching for thick bait balls. Then I anchor up wind from the structure. These bait balls cruise back & forth over these structures, affording you adequate opportunities to catch big smallies following close behind them.

Just the way it is in my neck of the woods.

[fishingcajun]

Great topic ! All of us want-a-be deep water more rounded bass hunters long for advice like this to try on our next trip. One of these days I too will catch a bass in deep water and look forward to the day I can let all the guy's who take time out to give us advice that they are doing some good and we are listening and learning.