So, the bass in our local lake just aren't biting. I have talked to a bunch of guys and read some forums and everyone seems to be having that trouble right now. They are suspended in about 7-9 feet of water. Some water depths of 10ft, some water depths of 18 feet. but the bass are always in the 7-9 foot area. What baits should I try? Today we tried crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, soft plastics, and spinnerbaits. Almost got shut out, just can barely get them to bite. Any suggestions?

The Rig

Drop shot if they are suspended at 7-9 feet in 10-15 ft. of water. Try a wacky worm too.

A-rig, drop shot, or a fluke on a swarming hornet fishhead spin.

wacky style worms work great with a small nail weight in the head. try downsizing if using senkos. if the depth of your lake ranges from 10-20 feet, drop shot should also work really well. isolate points and inlets

The rig or a mid sized swimbait would be where I would be looking.

NGaHB

How about a suspended jerkbait with a split shot up ahead?

Keep chucking the cranks until the fish turn on. You might have to fish all day until the fish turn on or you might get lucky and get to the lake right at dinner time.

i haven't gotten into the A-rig stuff yet. But, I will try the swim baits, and drop shots. Don't know why I didn't think of those.

3-4" grub on a lead head. when it hits the water count to 1 and retrieve, next cast count to 2, the following cast 3, etc. use this technique until you find out how they want it. a slow steady retrieve works best for me.

Can you meter a thermocline? My guess it's near the 18' depth.

Suspended bass are resting bass or inactive bass, you are better off spending your time locating bait fish and fishing isolated structure and cover at the depth the bass are located.

If you want to try to get the suspended bass to bite, try 5" curl tail finesse worm (Roboworms the color of the bait fish) on a 1/8 oz dart head with 6# FC and slowly work it through the bass.

Tom

You can also have a good shot at triggering suspended, in-active bass by using a slip bobber set-up and wacky rigged Senko. There's a link to this discussion here in the smallmouth bass section.

You can also have a good shot at triggering suspended, in-active bass by using a slip bobber set-up and wacky rigged Senko. There's a link to this discussion here in the smallmouth bass section.

Yup, a "Float & Fly" is a good way to stay in their faces longer than moving baits can. If only a foot or two off bottom a drop shot with a long leader can do likewise.

My favorite is the float and fly, drop shot with a Bass Pro drop shot worm/minnow, and a the "old faithful" jigging spoon. A big metal jigging spoon with treble hook will usually trigger a strike if you drop it right on them and start jigging it. If you're around a lot of cover, trade out the treble for a single hook. I prefer treble, because they usually swipe at it as opposed to engulfing it. If you can bump it off of something and make it move erratically for that split second, that's when the strike will come.