Deep Fishing 101

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Luigi & his son were with me today on another body of water. It was nice to have a change of scenery and fish solely for big smallies! They had wanted to learn about current breaks and how the fish relate to different depths. They were definitely going to learn!

We met up around 7:30 and headed on the water to check some deep areas. I idled over a few of them and settled on one that looked good. Drop shotting was going to be the presentation of choice and it didn’t take long before they were reaping the rewards. Rob managed to hit the first bass and it was a good one too. Seeing as how they were coming up from deep water I didn’t want to waste time taking pics. A very quick release was made as soon as the hook was removed and it bolted right back to the bottom unharmed. This day was already successful with his first deep water fish coming aboard, but I was only getting started!

We made several drifts over specific areas and I showed them that boat control was the most important factor in getting bit. A vertical presentation was used and keeping the line straight down was very important. Basically, dragging is snagging and we never lost a single rig all day! Luigi even managed his personal best smallie by doing this today, with two monsters. Rob landed many good fish as well but already had a giant smallmouth under his belt that would be difficult to match.

I moved around some during the morning, switching depth zones as well as locations and staying on current breaks all the time. Every area we fished held bass but the size was dependant on the depth we were in. Patterns were developing and I now knew what was needed to find the big ones!

As the day progressed, I jumped to a shallower pattern to see if there were still some big ones there too. First spot we hit produced a monster for Rob but it seemed to be the only one. Several more areas later without a single fish, I was beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort. We were seeing some good ones cruising around and that made me think that it was just a matter of time before we hit one. Sure enough, Rob set into what turned out to be the largest one of the day. It was a real pumpkin and had the length to go with it as well. Several pics later it was back swimming to be caught another day!

It was mid afternoon now and they had to be on the road by 4:00, so I decided to take them back to the deep to see if we could end with a few more good ones. It was definitely a good choice as both Luigi & his son managed to land more huge smallies. They had many chances but only monopolized on about half of the hits they had. Luigi lost several that seemed hooked but did land the one that counted in the end. He brought to net his second giant of the day and likely beat his personal best from earlier this morning! A very quick pic was taken and the fish was released unharmed, bolting straight back down to the bottom. We remained here a little longer and landed a few more fish before pulling the plug and heading back.

They had experienced exactly what they wanted to learn and now had a better understanding of how to fish deep water and current breaks. I’m sure that from now on they won’t be afraid to try fishing deep everywhere they go. By understanding how to read the water, they should always have good fishing from now on. My greatest reward will be if they contact me again, telling me that it produced on their own waters. This was definitely a great day of fishing and an educational one as well. It was also nice to have a change of scenery, with giant smallies as a bonus!