I have a pond I am fishing from the bank, but the same issue could arise from a boat. There is a spot which runs down from the bank on a steep angle to about 6 to 8 feet. The bank on which I stand is itself another 3 feet above the water surface. From the bottom, going outward, the bottom then immediately angles up, less steeply but it is not a gradual rise. It goes up to about 2 feet. This is in a small cove and after the water gets that shallow it stays shallow for the rest of the cove.

Most of the fish are spending time in that gully. If I want to fish on the bottom with a jig, a drop shot, a texas rig, etc., etc. I cast out to the shallows and work the retrieve back through the gully. Most strikes occur there and it is no problem with anything not on the bottom. But with bottom retrieves, whether it be small hops, drags, jerks, steady and slow, whatever, I have no control over the lure once it starts to decline down that outer ridge. It goes the speed that gravity and friction dictate regardless of what I do. Unless I want to speed it up but that defeats the idea of trying to fish slowly on the bottom.

How would you fish this if you want to go low and slow?

Fishing from the bank, I would put a 6” Senko weightless and let it fall to the bottom and then just jerk it up the slope with long pauses. The bait will fall about a foot every two seconds. The jerks are small wirh a pause after 2 or 3 small jerks.

From the boat I would do the same down the slope. Throw up on the bank edge and start down. Small jerks will cause a walk the dog action on the bottom. Make sure to give slack after each jerk. This is a deadly technique in the Everglades canals. This will work with a zoom super fluke also but the fall will be slower, but the walking action wider.

Ignore the specifics of depth for a second, but what I'm reading is that you're standing roughly on the X and the far bank goes from shoreline to 'deep' very steeply (in this case to about 6-8') where a small ditch or drain would have cut against it before it was a lake. Then your side is more gradually sloped up. You want to fish a bottom bait slowly down that far bank, but once it starts over the hill it just tumbles to the bottom. About it?

Assuming yes, then yeah that's about right. If the bank is super steep and doesn't have any ledges to stop on, then that's what will happen. If it is a mud bottom then you might get something to sink into it, but that's defeating the purpose. The real question is why is it important for the lure to stop halfway down that slope? Are the fish suspending halfway down it? Are you just trying to keep the lure at a given depth on that side? Many ways to skin a cat here. A very slow sinking weightless plastic will stay in the strike zone longer as it falls and is less likely to roll when it hits the bottom. A dropshot will keep the lure up off the bottom regardless of where the weight is. You don't say if you can cast from another spot, but paralleling the bank a little more (move up and left from my red X) is another option if access is possible.

Thanks. I want to fish that far down slope slow and on the bottom because that is the area where I catch fish when they hit lures higher up in the water column. When the bite is off, I try to go light and slow on the very bottom to get hits, but I think you are confirming that it can't be done from my spot on the bank with the rigs I am using. I can't get a position that is perfectly parallel, but I can spend more effort getting as parallel as I can, and try weightless plastic. Thanks again.

I play in clear shallow water ever so often to recalibrate my eye hand coordination regarding how little input it takes to move a bait. While I'm positive weightless can and will hang in the strike zone longer, I'd also consider going the opposite route. Go up one or two levels in weights, you'll have a much better feel for when you actually move it off the bottom upping your feel for the whole situation. When my connection to a bait is good, I'm actually able to be more precise with hitting or bouncing it on semi slack line. I can generate action and a puff of debris without moving it very far. Finally, it's good to keep in mind the physics of your line creating the pendulum that can allow your presentation to surf down the break, covering far more water than you want. I also like using short/sharp 1/8 handle turns to move my presentation, basically anything other than lifting my rod tip, I wanna be pointed at the water. Finally, you can move the bait with the thumb bar released and allow slack at the end of your move, ensuring your line doesn't pull it off and down the break.

scott

Craw trailer with big claws.

Try a Deps Bull Flat (flat side up) on a light (like 1/16 oz) weighted swimbait hook.

Will slow spiral right down in there.

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by ElGuapo928
Jumped the gun and didnt finish thought