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Shallow baits, deep water

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How often do you find shallow baits like fast paced super flukes, shallow to mid cranks (up to 6 ft.) and swimming retrieves (high in the water colum)/spinnerbaits, or even topwaters effective in water 10 feet, or maybe even deeper. Im sure the bass can see the lure against the sky 10 feet above its head, and dont bass feed above themselves anyways?

  • Super User

First off 10' of water is shallow

Second every summer I catch schooling bass on Pop-R's, Spinner Baits, & Rat-L-Traps in 30' of water.

Go to Lake Erie and toss a big spinnerbait with about a #7 willowleaf, waking it on the surface and watch a big smallie come zooming up out of 20' of water to bash it :D

  • Author

I know generally speaking that 10' is fairly shallow water. But its a lot deeper than 4', which might be as deep as my bait is running. Also, most lakes (about 90%) have a max depth in the 20 foot range, and an average depth around 5'. Except for a few large lakes i can think of.

  • Super User

The biggest fish I have ever caught in freshwater was in water more than 300' deep! I was fishing a LC Pointer 128 for walley at night at Bull Shoals. Now that fish happen to be a gar, but the point is, relatively shallow lures will work in VERY deep water.

One of my favorite patterns is to rip a pointer back to the boat as fast as I can in the fall, working bluff banks or open water for spotted bass. This technique produced my PB spot, which weighed over 5 lbs.

  • Super User

I've had fish blow up on a topwater swimbait over 30 feet of water. All fish marked on the graph that trip were tight to the bottom.

I think we all have stories of deep fish rising to hit shallow running lures, but my experience is that that is the exception not the rule.  The best way to catch fish is to put your lure right in front of them.

If they are deep, do down and get em.

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