I've caught them 30-40 fow in the summer but on my lake I've heard of much deeper. Anyone else?

30' - 35'... because that's as deep as I'll fish for them.

 

 

oe

It's important to specify between 'water depth' and 'fish depth'.

For example, if you catch smallies 20-ft below the surface in 100 ft of water,

the fish are 20 feet deep.

 

Roger

Caught fish off bottom in 52 feet of water in the middle of the summer with blue skies and high sun over ultraclear water. The fish were so willing to chase and follow hooked fish right to the boat it was crazy.

Ours don't ever seem to get much deeper than 20' and are consistently in less than 10' even during the heat of the summer. 

We fish a deep (over 120' in some places) hill-land reservoir for smallies. Right now, in the middle of summer heat, we're finding them around the 30' - 35' depths adjacent to steep drop offs. Rarely do I deliberately search out smallies deeper. Reason being is that I'd a devote CPR fisherman and releasing fish, taken from water deeper than 45', presents a serious survival problem for that fish. We get enough quality fish in the 30' range to keep us there.

 

One from yesterday:

 

Consistently between 20'-25' in my home waters, but some guys report getting them deeper.

25 to 30 regularly sometimes 40

I fish from shore so 20ft at the most.

15 - 25

The only time I got into smallmouths on a reservoir real good was at Bull Shoals while it was in flood stage . Caught fish for five consecutive days at 30 to 35 foot .  

20 - 30 ft and rarely deeper than 35 ~ 

 

A-Jay

For the guys that are fishing 20' and deeper, how does these depths compare to the thermocline? I'm assuming you guys are fishing below it?

I went in the spring and there was no thermocline that I can remember. I was fishing what was the shore line before the water rose . 

Consistently in the 50's. There are some spots in the 60-70 range I'd like to check out sometime.

It's all seasonal.  My go-to smallie flat in the fall is between 28-36 ft.  If they're not there, they're on the adjacent flat in 42-48 ft.  I've caught them in 60ft, but not consistantly.

My favorite smallie lake has a maximum depth of 40ft. and during the summer, 22-24ft. seems to me the magic depth. They love to suspend about 25yrds. off the drop, but occasionally I find them right on the lip.

For me it's about 40 feet.  I haven't searched much deeper, but I hear of others catching them in around 60 feet of water.  I'm sure they can be caught even deeper but the risk of barotrauma is almost a certainty in fish taken from those depths.  

There's a spot I stick them with topwaters at dusk that's 90+ feet deep. I assume they're on a ledge, and attacking the bait in open water.

I wouldn't call it consistent but a buddy of mine was fishing our local lake for Lake Trout recently and caught several smallies in 80 FOW on downriggers.