Why Fish "Deep" in Summer

[Craigums]

There will always be bass shallow, that is a cold hard fact. So why do people fish "deep" in the Summer? Is it because the Biggest fish move deep? Are the deep fish less pressured? Are there more numbers of fish deep? Or is it just another option if the shallow fish aren't going?

Thoughts/Opinions?

[bonebaby0]

Here are a few of my reasons to fish "deep" in the summer ....

1. Schooled up fish ... never ran into a school of 4 Ib fish in the pads/reeds

2. Less pressured fish ... this is almost always the case

3. Makes you more versatile ... some lakes do not kick out much in shallow

4. Deep fish are less bothered by weather (storms, wind, etc)

I have learned through tournament fishing that the top most consistent

fisherman almost always find them "deep". Anyone can win shallow, however

it does seem like only a select few can beat you "deep".

[RumRiverRat]

Yes there will always br bass shallow.

Under docks, in slop and laydowns.

The largest concentrations of fish will be out in deeper water on rocks or weedlines.

Deep is relative. The lake I fished this morning the deep weedline is 8 to 12 feet.

With the slick calm conditions and being on the water at 330am I still fished the deep weedline but with topwaters.

The fish were suspended about halfway down in the weedline and would demolish a Sammy, Spook or Prop Bait.

I figured out they were suspended once it got light and started fishing a Hollow Belly Swimbait.

Would cast it out and count it down and retrieve. Repeated this until I got bites. Then repeatedly worked the bait in the same depth.

The fish were definitely looking up this morning. If the bait ran too deep I would not get bites.

I am a shallow water junk fisherman, but fishing deep is something I am getting better at and need to do more of.

[MN BassFisher]

.

1. Schooled up fish ... never ran into a school of 4 Ib fish in the pads/reeds

2. Less pressured fish ... this is almost always the case

3. Makes you more versatile ... some lakes do not kick out much in shallow

These 3!

[RK]

Some good answers already. I'll add a couple thoughts...

- It's a riot. There are few things I enjoy more than a fish thumping a jig on a deep weedline. You also get to actually enjoy the fight too, rather than swinging a fish in or winching them through the slop.

- Once they're set up in a mid-summer pattern, deep fish are more reliable. They're still affected by weather, etc., but they move less, are fairly predictable location-wise, and you can usually figure out a way to get them to bite. A good example: last week a friend, his 13 yo son and I were on a lake where there'd been a club tournament the night before. Knew a guy in it, and he said almost all the boats had fished shallow and done well. Cold front moved in over night and the shallows were absolutely lifeless. We found fish on the deep weedline though, and in one spot, on an inside turn at the mouth of a slop bay, caught 30-35 fish in 45 minutes without moving the boat. We had multiple triples, and my friend's son went 6 casts in a row at one point. It was nuts. Also atypical for sure, but an example of what can happen when you find them bunched up on a deep edge.

- A lot of the time when you find fish on deep edges, it is in bunches. Like, 5 fish in 6 casts bunches. Once you find them, they often stay put unless conditions change. Find a few groups, and you can cycle between them all day long and catch fish pretty steadily. Before you know it, you've got a pile of fish in the boat and a serious case of bass thumb.

- I do think I catch more big fish deep. That may be a function of how much time I spend doing it though.

- You have many, many more presentation options for deep fish. There are only so many things you can toss at them in shallow heavy cover. Deep, it's everything from drop shot to jig worm to jigs of all kinds, cranks, T-rig, C-rig...on and on. The range of buttons you can push is a lot wider. I think that's an advantage.

- I also think you have more tools for finding them deep. Electronics are a lot more useful in 14 FOW than they are in 4. You can cut down the search time a lot with them.

- As others have said, deep fish are often overlooked. Frankly, a lot of MN bass fishermen watch too much bass fishing on TV.

- As RRR said, 'deep' is relative. Some lakes an 8' weedline is the deep edge. On some of the lakes I fish up north, I spend most of my day with my boat in 22 to 25 feet of water.

Honestly, I spend most of early summer waiting for fish to move out deep. July-October is really my favorite time of year. Love the deep edge bite.

[leech~~]

I really don't try for them, but have pulled some nice ones out of 40 feet during the summer deep diving for Walleye's.

[thatoneguy]

Quote:

1. Schooled up fish ... never ran into a school of 4 Ib fish in the pads/reeds

Come up north and you will

[tolle141]

It's a different game in deeper water, but it's a ton of fun. Like you pointed out, there are almost always fish up shallow. THATS WHERE EVERYONE TARGETS THEM! Fish on those deep weedlines see very little pressure, and many are super tankers. I love tubing deep weedlines (15-22 feet).

[Hester]

Smallies, thats why!

[perry p]

Thanks, gentlemen, for a very informative post! Food for thought..I live in Wright County, The City of Howard Lake just celebrated their summer festival, partly with a fishing contest. The winning bass was caught in deep water by a person fishing for walleyes.

[Craigums]

For you tournament fisherman, How often do you come across your "kicker" fishing deep?

[bassfshin24]

For summer tend to get all my good fish deep and I have more confidence that a I'll get a kicker fish deep. Last summer I had a tourney on N/S Center and had 13-14lbs in first 20 minute throwing a deep crank on rocks. Ended up with 15lbs even. I didn't get a kicker but had confidence all day that there was a good chance if I stayed deep I would. Big fish or the tourney was 4.75 which was caught in deep rocks. Big bag of tourney was 18.5 on deep rocks

[Deitz Dittrich]

Craigums- I often get my kicker fish deep. But it really depends on the lake.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

For you tournament fisherman, How often do you come across your "kicker" fishing deep?

Almost always, but I also spend more time deep because I believe that's where you have a better chance to hit the jackpot. Id much rather find a good deep water bite prefishing and sit on that one deep spot all day, live or die on that one good spot, as opposed to getting in a shallow water boat parade on docks. Of course having multiple good deep spots to hop around to is always beneficial.

I struggle more early season tournaments because I prefer fishing deep and try to force it too early but historically once the deep bite gets going my partner and I hold our own well.

To be honest, nothing I hate more than getting beat by teams fishing senkos under docks. Obviously it works often but here I am putting in all this work when all I had to do was show up and skip some docks.

[JP Z]

See that is my main problem, I'm a great shallow water dock guy but when I have to fish deep I struggle........a lot. Just something about throwing a 15'+ Crankbait that does not appeal to me.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

See that is my main problem, I'm a great shallow water dock guy but when I have to fish deep I struggle........a lot. Just something about throwing a 15'+ Crankbait that does not appeal to me.

Its hard to get confident fishing deep but you just have to do it. Its tough you have to pay attention to so many variable that you cant physically see. Fishing a dock, you see it, you cast to it, you know your in the strike zone. Fishing deep you need to pay attention to where you casted, when the strike came, was it in the weeds or had you just pulled out of them? You need to watch you sonar/gps and pay attention to boat depth/position so you can duplicate casts. Having a buoy, not to mark the spot, but solely as a reference to your location when you do get bit is huge (even if you have a good GPS). Also, remember all your bites, catch one or miss one, always duplicate the cast you'll get bit again often.

[RK]

See that is my main problem, I'm a great shallow water dock guy but when I have to fish deep I struggle........a lot. Just something about throwing a 15'+ Crankbait that does not appeal to me.

And I can fish deep all day, but loathe fishing docks.

To each their own

[JP Z]

Ha! I think it's more that I hate the pain cranking those deep divers does to me

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Ha! I think it's more that I hate the pain cranking those deep divers does to me

jigs, T-rigs, drop shots, jig worms, carolina rigs, etc.

[cruiseforever]

I fish more shallow water than deep water. The lakes that I fish I see more people fishing deep.

[grab the net]

Shallow fish will beat deep fish if you don't have share em, but it is a blast to fire up up a deep school and catch em cast after cast. Deep fish won't normally come up for a frog and there is nothing better than getting em on a frog.

[Search Function]

Shallow fish will beat deep fish if you don't have share em, but it is a blast to fire up up a deep school and catch em cast after cast. Deep fish won't normally come up for a frog and there is nothing better than getting em on a frog.

For a Frog I don't know because I've never tried fishing them deep, but as for a spook, popper, prop bait, or buzz bait, you get the right conditions and deep fish will come up for them and the strikes can be just as spectacular as you'll ever get on a frog. And they can be big fish, too.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Love fishing the deep weed line. My side imaging unit and my ipilot motor are a great help by helping me stay in contact with it.

[KickNBass]

I think these days on pressured waters, the deep fish are just as pressured as shallow, maybe even more so. With the maps and electronics we have these days, picking out most of the good deep spots is pretty easy on popular lakes and the harder to find deep spots don't last very long, especially if you fish them in a tournament and also when you don't...

Nothing captures the attention of a bass guy like seeing another bass boat on a deep spot you've never fished before. You see a bass boat pounding the shoreline and you pay it no mind. You see him out in the middle of no where and all of a sudden you're thinking, what's he fishing out there?

[RK]

Nothing captures the attention of a bass guy like seeing another bass boat on a deep spot you've never fished before. You see a bass boat pounding the shoreline and you pay it no mind. You see him out in the middle of no where and all of a sudden you're thinking, what's he fishing out there?

That's why it's sometimes nice to fish out of a deep-V with a walk-thru. I'll be on a weedline wailing on fish with a jigworm or drop-shot, and bass boats buzz by me and think "Hrmph...walleye fisherman..."

JPZ - The right rod/reel combo is a big help with the deep cranks. I fish 'em a lot and I'd hate it without the right set-up.