??? for Dietz or anyone in the know.

[poncho]

I'm taking my vacation a little later this June than normal, I won't be making it up to the lake ( Ten Mile, Cass) until the 16th of June.

Normally I am up there the 1st full week of June and the bass are in shallow. I'm thinking this year I will need to change my tactics a bit, they may not be in full summer patterns, but may be getting there, and, the post spawn blues may be in full swing.

I read a recent study on Ten Mile recently and they said they found weed growth down to almost 40 feet, Ten Mile is gin clear and I believe this to be true. My question is, do I get out and fish out on that line or do I start out shallow and work my way out as I go? I've read the book " knowing bass " and the guy that wrote that book says that bass won't reside below the thermocline in most cases, I would have to imagine that 40 feet is WAY below the thremocline.

so what do you experts think, start shallow ( which is all I have ever done on Ten Mile) and work my way out to deeper water? I know I can still catch bass in shallow, there are some that are always in the pads, but it would be nice to hook into a few pigs while I'm there. Also, I was going to hit the deeper bullrush beds as well, good choice?

Thanks in advance!

[RK]

Hi Poncho -

Ten Mile is a neat body of water... Can be a tough nut though, especially if you don't have either some wind or cloud cover...

I didn't fish bass on Ten Mile a lot when I was in that neck of the woods (there are better bass lakes in the area for sure) but when I did, we usually looked for some of the cabbage beds in 12-14' of water and fished jigworms, or fished the rushes. Cast a spinnerbait, and pitch a texas rigged worm or jig and pig to the thicker clumps. There'd be no reason, especially early in the season, to look real deep - any deeper than outside the weedline anyhow.

If you're mobile and have a boat you can trailer, it'd be worth a day trip to some of the other area lakes, like Portage, Horseshoe, Silver, Moccasin, Ox Yoke, Long/May... Lotsa good bass water within a half hour of Ten Mile...

good luck.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Deitz Dittrich]

June 16th is still pretty early in the season. Yes the bass should be post spawn.. but if I had to guess, it will be pas the time when it will be tough fishing. You may even end up with better fishing than normal... I still feel the fish will be shallow that time of the year. You may see a few fish start to move to deeper spots, but I would still concentrate my efforts shallow first.

I have never fished a water that had weeds in 40 feet of water?.. I know they catch bass in as much as 80 feet or more in Arizona and such. So its possible. You are correct in that bass do not like to be below the thermocline, and for themost part do not. HOWEVER, plant life does not survive well or at all below the thermocline either. So if you have weeds in 40 feet, the thermocline is below that. To be honest, June 16th.. there may not be a thermocline yet. Or maybe just the starts of one.

Concentrate on the shallower weeds and I bet you will be fine. I would still consider deeper rushes to be shallow weeds.

[TNFL]

Mornings and evenings should still produce fish in the shallows. I have a friend with a cabin up north on a clear lake and we catch bass shallow all year until 10 am and then from about 6 pm to dark. We usually drink beer and play wiffle ball during the day!

[poncho]

thanks for your replies guys. Years ago my grandfather spent the entire month of June up on Ten Mile and always had good bass fishing, I just wish he was still around so I could pick his brain, you don't think of asking things like I am today when you are just a kid, I didn't know how deep we were back then, but I do remember where we were on the lake, so I should be fine.

You guys have given me some much needed confidence for my upcoming trip! I'm taking my Mom back up there for the first time since 1985 and I want to show her a great time on the water, she went up there as a kid and when she was married, and then divorce stopped her from returning ( why, I have no idea, as much as she loves it up there!). I'm not promising anything to her, but I have a good reason to feel good about things, thanks to you guys.

My plan now is to start fishing the lake, just like I would the first week of June and then move out accordingly, I'll post the results around the 23rd of June. God that seems like an eternity away!

RK, I agree, there are some great bass fishing lakes around Ten Mile, I have fished a bunch of them, and I will keep them in mind if it gets tough on my home lake.

Thanks again fellas!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Best of luck-- please take pictures!!! Would love to see your mom having a great time on her trip!.. No matter what.. time spent with parents is time well spent!