This past winter I invested in a fishfinder, and while it has been awesome in terms of finding structure and schools of fish relating to said structure, I've struggled in terms of consistently staying on fish and getting patterns going, especially in waters deeper than 30ft. While I am very confident in my shallow water skills, I would love to figure out that deep bite that seems to get people giants every year. How deep do you all max out on your fishing trips?

If I can’t stand up and have my head be above water, it’s deeper than I like to fish.

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

If I can’t stand up and have my head be above water, it’s deeper than I like to fish.

That’s about right for me too !

 

I’ll obviously fish deeper if I have too, but rather not. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Around 20 feet.  There are some established weediness that develop here in the summer and the deeper portion of them are out that deep.

 

Smallmouth often congregate in water that deep during midsummer but I don't target them during this time period.

I love deep structure fishing, but most of the waters I fish, the bass are pretty much year round in good numbers out to about 18 ft., with 8'-18' accounting for most of the fishing I do. That said, I regularly fished out to 30 ft. or so back in IN in the fall/winter on a few lakes, and have gone deeper at times, into 35'-40', but prefer not to due to barotrauma concerns.

Mostly smaller waters, so 10 or deeper is deep for me.

How deep is the lure or the bottom of the water? Deepest I’ve successfully fished a lure is probably 70-80 feet, deepest water I’ve fished is just short of 400 feet 

Fish from a kayak in normally less than 10 ft.

 

If I had some electronics I'm sure that would change.

20-22’ is usually the max. I fish clear water so outer weedlines can be around that depth. In the summer my big fish generally come from 12-18’, but there are times when I have to go a little deeper to find em. 

19 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

How deep is the lure or the bottom of the water? Deepest I’ve successfully fished a lure is probably 70-80 feet, deepest water I’ve fished is just short of 400 feet 

A lot of the ponds near me are kettle hole types, or are deeper manmade lakes that often bottom out at 40+ feet. Deepest I have successfully fished a lure was probably around 25 feet, but I did get one trout out in the middle around 60 feet but that was a suspended fish.

The deepest I usually go is about 12 to 15 ft, but I'm not afraid to go deeper if they're biting.

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

If I can’t stand up and have my head be above water, it’s deeper than I like to fish.

See before my fish finder that was me every time I went out. I love anything shallow especially in stained or dark water, but some really interesting lakes that I want to fish are so deep and clear that I feel like anything shallower than 6 feet is a no go unless I actively see them chasing food.

18 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

20-22’ is usually the max. I fish clear water so outer weedlines can be around that depth. In the summer my big fish generally come from 12-18’, but there are times when I have to go a little deeper to find em. 

This is the depth range I want to get good at, this summer will be a great opportunity to learn. I get a little antsy with bottom contact baits getting snagged in all the brush and rock piles, but everyone knows that's where the big ones hide...

  I usually stay 20' or shallower for LM. For Spotted bass I'll regularly fish out to 45'. Of course in the dead of Winter, I fish for both as deep as 70' while Spoon fishing.

I have caught fresh water fish as deep as 120 feet. Largemouth bass down to 25 feet. Smallmouth bass down to 40 feet. It all depends on water temps, water clarity & time of year, prespawn or post spawn. 

The shallower the better. I'm a bank beater from way back. Deepest I usually go is 16-20 feet but I try to stay in 10 feet or less if I can help it. 

15 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

See before my fish finder that was me every time I went out. I love anything shallow especially in stained or dark water, but some really interesting lakes that I want to fish are so deep and clear that I feel like anything shallower than 6 feet is a no go unless I actively see them chasing food.

This is the depth range I want to get good at, this summer will be a great opportunity to learn. I get a little antsy with bottom contact baits getting snagged in all the brush and rock piles, but everyone knows that's where the big ones hide...

I have a graph with downimaging and side scan, but I’d still rather fish shallow. Even on clear lakes, I’ll try my hardest to find those often ignored shallow fish.

18 minutes ago, AverageAngler said:

This is the depth range I want to get good at, this summer will be a great opportunity to learn. I get a little antsy with bottom contact baits getting snagged in all the brush and rock piles, but everyone knows that's where the big ones hide...

Try a 1oz spinnerbait! Let it sink all the way to the bottom, and then retrieve it as slow as possible, just enough to make the blades turn. 

Most of the time I don't fish deeper than around 20 feet or so.

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

If I can’t stand up and have my head be above water, it’s deeper than I like to fish.

So you're about 7'6" Clayton?

 

Like Gim, I pretty much keep to 20' and under - and for me it's usually 10' or under.

10 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have a graph with downimaging and side scan, but I’d still rather fish shallow. Even on clear lakes, I’ll try my hardest to find those often ignored shallow fish.

You right, I think I'm watching too many fishing youtubers and their livescope sniping fish suspended out deep and I think I can replicate that blind casting. If it ain't broke don't fix it right.

 

7 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Try a 1oz spinnerbait! Let it sink all the way to the bottom, and then retrieve it as slow as possible, just enough to make the blades turn. 

Will do! I had some success with a 1/2 oz spinnerbait during the prespawn, but that was around 6-10 feet of water.

The year I qualified for the All American most of the time my boater wanted to position us about 20ft from a shear wall and hop jigs down its face, but we were sitting over 60 something fow!

 

I couldn’t believe it.
Talk about being out of my element!’

 

With about an hour left he had 2 I think and of course I had none. 
When we finally left he said we’re gonna finish up around the dock. 

I almost hugged him! 😀

 

I ended up with 3 
I didn’t qualify or cash of course but it was an education I never want to have again. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

I’d probably say the deepest I’ve ever really tried to fish for bass is 12 feet or so. But I’d say I’m comfortable in 8 feet or less with cover and such. At that point I know how to catch them. Honestly if I tried to fish as deep as some of yall do I wouldn’t know how to catch them 

A little deeper each year.  This winter I spent a lot of time targeting LMB 26-30 feet deep.  Mid-summer, I have generally fished for bass in less than 25'.  In coming weeks, I expect I will find them in the same spots they were in back in January, so I'm going deeper.  I caught my biggest fish yesterday at 20' already.  This is a tough time, because they are everywhere and anywhere at the moment.  This is my third year on this lake, so I have a lot more knowledge (confidence) about deeper  target areas than past summers.  I used to ignore any marked fish over 25', but now I will be more likely to fish for them.  

It's all over the place regarding depth.

We have clear water and some days I'm catching on a drop-shot in 20 ft of water consistently.

I don't think I've targeted bass in water deeper than 25 ft.

Max depth ❓ 25

 

I generally fish small water rivers. Most fish are probably from 3-10 feet. Most probably in the 5-8 range. Hooray for wading.