Feeding Depth--very confused

RandMan · March 30, 2011, 10:12:47 AM

Good morning everyone,

So I have a moderate understanding of where bass will be holding through the seasons ie. deeper in the winter and hot clear summer, shallow in spring and fall etc. What I am confused about is how to figure out where they will be feeding within those depths more specifically. What exactly do I mean?

Let's say you are working the shoreline in a lake or reservoir in, oh about 5-20 feet of water (I know that's a big range--there's a reason I put that.) It's a nice warm spring or summer day, and all along the shoreline there are weedbeds, rocks, and the occasional fallen tree or submerged stump. For me, those are my flashing targets to start attacking. Now my main question is, how do you determine what depth you will run a lure at? I tend to paddle up in my inflatable boat to situations like this, and next thing you know I'm throwing different baits only because I just bought them the week before and I want to see them splashing through the water instead of sitting in my tacklebox.

I know this may not be the simplest question to answer, and I have read for countless hours about "finding the pattern." I just don't have a lot of lure/strategy experience and am curious about starting points...

If bass are hanging out on the shoreline, what determines if they want to feed on the surface vs. halfway down vs. the bottom floor? Water temp? Sun? Moon phase? For example, I know that top water fishing can be a blast, but in the past I was brainwashed

into thinking that bass come to the surface to feed only in early morning and evening. I know this is not true, but how do I know the right time/conditions to chuck a topwater into the shallows, as opposed to a spinnerbait, weighted worm, non-weighted worm, suspending jerkbait, drop shot? Or say there is a submerged weedbed, do you punch through it with a jig or weighted worm, or drag something over the top of it?

Yours Truly,
Overwhelmed

senile1 · March 30, 2011, 10:29:34 AM

The only way to know is by trying lures that probe all depths. Find a structure that looks promising such as a point that runs from the shallows into deep water. Start shallow and fish thoroughly. If no fish are caught, move out into say 8 or 10 feet of water and fish the bottom, the middle part of the column of water, and near the surface at that spot. Then move out further. As you move into deeper water also remember that suspended fish tend to be more difficult to catch than fish on the bottom of the lake. So if the fish are hanging out at around 10 feet, find bottom structures that intersect with this 10 foot depth so that you will be fishing on bottom.

willthebad · March 30, 2011, 11:58:55 AM

Senile makes a great point on intersection. In your scenario if the wind were blowing I would throw a spinnerbait, or if the water was really clear and wind blown id throw a jerkbait, but that's only two scenarios in a host of possibilities. You could throw whatever, but many different anglers could probably throw what they had confidence in and catch fish once they found out a general pattern I.E. if theyre hitting shad-like profile hard or soft baits or if they want the creature profile or long profile of the worm, etc. Like senile said, you just gotta have confidence in what youre throwing first of all, and then probe the different depths until you find consistency. Once you find consistency then you can attack that consistency and catch good numbers of fish.

RandMan · March 30, 2011, 01:28:18 PM

So you are saying there will always be some trial and error--like for example you can't look up at the clouds, check the water temp, check the depth around a stump or something, and then say "this is the ultimate recipe for a shallow crankbait." What I'm guessing you are saying is to find structure or cover that looks promising, and then just start tinkering until you get consistent results; which I'm guessing is what you call a... pattern!?

coldfront · March 30, 2011, 02:08:00 PM

Quote from: RandMan on March 30, 2011, 01:28:18 PM
So you are saying there will always be some trial and error--

yes. that is exactly it. with more experience, anglers can often make quicker 'leaps' to more correct approaches, depths etc. However, the world is rife wtih stories of folks who zigged when the literature said 'zag' and came up winners...

bass as a species behave in predictable, logical ways. However, each bass in an individual...and within all bass populations there are sub-populations that may behave slightly differently.

We'd have this stuff down cold if only we those bass would learn to talk. Then we could ask them directly.

By the way, half the fun is figuring out those little green/brown rascals...

senile1 · March 30, 2011, 04:50:39 PM

You may have an idea where they should be but, as coldfront stated, the bass don't read the same material that we do. For instance, if the surface water temperature has dropped to 38 degrees I probably wouldn't start looking for fish in the shallows. I would look for them in a deep water home first, though I always need to keep an open mind and check there if I can't find anything deep. However, to discover deep water homes sometimes it helps to know where they spawn or where they feed in the shallows during the Fall. Then follow the structure and breaks that lead from that area to deeper water.

TheLastRodBender · March 30, 2011, 05:50:37 PM

It's my personal belief that the majority of fish are not actually responding out of ONLY hunger. The only real time, i feel, bass are 'feeding' and are caught, is when you target them around schooling baitfish. Think of it like that school of baitfish is a restaurant.... multiple people in a centralized location fulfilling hunger.

NOW to my point. When you catch a bass around a tree, cover, rocks, whatever you have it... i think it's more of a reaction to opportunity. Think of this as you're at work... not mentally hungry, and a guy walks by you with half a sandwich... and offers it to you. You accept because it's there. You weren't thinking to yourself... wow i'm hungry... but the opportunity arose for an easy meal. Now think about a bass.. Some of the most popular methods to productive fishing are Ambush points and wounded forage... again.... opportunity. Bass arent going around LOOKING for a wounded shad... but it's there, so they eat it. Bass post up where they are camo'd and protected from sight, so forage cannot see it, thus making them an easy target... again.. opportunity.

Anger and curiosity are the other major reasons, i feel, that bass are caught. Buzzbaits - ANGRY, lots of noise, tick em off.. they hit. Most soft plastics, i think they are reacting to curiosity. Bass dont have hands, so they need to bite and taste something in order to try and understand it.

bigjim5589 · March 30, 2011, 06:35:32 PM

Great replys! Randman, I heard an interview with Kevin Van Dam, where he stated he's been tournament fishing for 20 years, and the difference now, is he's not making the mistakes he did when he started. We all have to learn as we go & trial & error is sometimes the best way to learn. Still, even after considerable experience is gained, we often end up fishing by trial & error anyway. Even KVD still does some trial & error fishing, just not as much as someone new to the sport!

There's no right or wrong answers, learn to find the fish, present various lures in a believable manner and cover the water is the best we can do. The rest is up to the bass!

bassindude · March 30, 2011, 08:18:05 PM

Thats the 64K question. Those that are really good at doing what you are trying to understand, are making very good money doing it. The rest of us are just in training. TheLastRodBender and coldfront make some very good points. I also think very few bass are actually caught when they were in the feeding mode. As far as how to start understanding where fish are likely to be, I use the old process of elimination. Think about where they should be, then just start eliminating water. after 20 or 30 years you'll get better at it, unless you're like Mike, Ron, Shawn, and some of the others on the board that get to fish 3-4 times a week. Then It wont take nearly as long. Time spent on the water is the key. Just go fishing. Jim

catt · March 31, 2011, 04:46:06 AM

Understand what prey species is predominate in your lake and how that species relates to structure with each set of changing conditions...morning, noon, and night.

If you don't understand what the bass are feeding on you will never understand the bass.

coldfront · March 31, 2011, 08:22:26 AM

Quote from: bigjim5589 on March 30, 2011, 06:35:32 PMEven KVD still does some trial & error fishing

it's all in the way you look at it...Scientists researching everything from medicines to energy to foods...all conduct 'trial and error' experiments. Often learning more from failures (and breaking down 'why') than from successes.

KVD is not 'trial and error-ing' he's experimenting! Guarantee he's also trying to discern 'why/why not'...and, he has a plan that he's working with...he's not 'just random'...

I've adopted an approach that I'm betting many anglers use: I go into a day of fishing with a plan based on what I think the fish 'should' be doing for the time of year, day...weather/water conditions. If they're 'not'...say at the 'planned' depth, I have two options...go shallower, go deeper.

Logical progressions in terms of how to break down the situations/patterns...just make the process go faster. One trap to avoid: running those progressions as 'habits'...

catt · March 31, 2011, 09:59:54 AM

I can guarantee you that every top level Pro, guide, or anyone who is consistent at catching bass knows where the bait is located and what that bait is doing.

Ya ever wonder why it is said that 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish.

Under that word "fish" is found Alewife Herring, Blueback Herring, Gizzard Shad, Threadfin Shad, ect

No food...no bass