How Anglers Score at Depths of 25-Plus Feet

Feature Story by MATT WILLIAMS

LISTEN: (7 minutes, 23 seconds)

 

THERE ARE MANY, MANY WAYS to catch a bass and plenty of things to consider when crafting a good game plan to go about it. Right near the top of the goodie list is water depth. What works best in skinny water probably won’t work near as well in water that’s way over your head, and vice versa.

As the title suggests, this one is about targeting fish that are ultra-deep, say 25 feet deep or more. No use in mincing words. Let’s get right to the meat and look at some good ways to go after those denizens of the deep:

DROPSHOT RIG: The finesse technique originated in Japan, but the California guys are responsible for popularizing the dropshot in the U.S in the early 1990s. Today, anglers are using it to catch bass shallow or deep on lakes all over the country.

Building a dropshot rig is simple. Spinning gear in combination with 8-10 pound line is heavily preferred.

The first order of business is to affix a No. 1 or No. 2 straight shank hook to the main line using a Palomar knot, leaving a tag of line about 12-24 inches for attaching a clip on tear or ball-shaped dropshot weight, 3/16 to 1/2 ounce depending the depth of water. The weight attatches to the loose end of the tag. Small worms and other finesse plastics rule.

The beauty of the dropshot is it gets to bottom quickly and will often catch fish when other methods fail. It can be dragged blindly or worked vertically to target open water fish marked with a depth finder. You can even “deadstick” it in the face of suspended fish that might be hounding pods of shad.

CAROLINA RIG: One thing that makes the Carolina-rig so effective is the bait is not restricted by weight. Instead, the weight is staged a couple of feet ahead of the hook using a swivel/keeper and a leader of varied length to divide the two.

The plastic remains unrestricted as the weight is dragged across bottom. It also allows anglers to use heavier weights (3/4 ounce or more) to improve casting and maintain better contact with the bottom in deep water.

Fishing it is easy. Just drag the weight across the bottom using sideward sweeps of the rod. Often times you will not feel a bite until the fish tries to run off with the bait. It’s a year-round producer heavily favored for open water situations around chunk rock bottoms or areas with sparse cover.

TEXAS RIG: Consists of a hook, worm and bullet-shaped sinker of varied sizes. The slip sinker rides ahead of the hook and worm. The sinker can be held in place at the head of the worm using a bobber stop or rubber peg or allowed to slide freely.

The mechanics of the bait make it snag free, so it can be tossed around main lake structures, brush or grass. It’s best to use the lightest slip sinker you can get away with.

FOOTBALL JIG: So named because of its wide, football-shaped head, the football jig is a heavy-hitting hammer in deep water. It is widely known for its innate ability to bump, crawl, rock and roll across hard bottom structures like a 4X4. It really shines around rock, shell beds and scattered stumps. You can drag it slow, hop it or stroke it fast.

Like other styles of jigs, the football head comes in varied sizes. Weights of 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ounce work best down there. Go with the lightest jig you can get away with and still maintain good contact with the bottom. 

STRUCTURE JIG: Structure style jigs like Strike King’s Denny Brauer structure jig are a much better choice around timber or brush piles. The “Cobra Head” and weed guard angle reduce hang-ups in thick, woody cover while the wide footprint of the head helps increase your feel of the bottom. 

EXTRA DEEP CRANKING: There was a time when hitting depths beyond 20 feet with a crankbait was a chore, but not anymore. Several companies are building big lipped baits that will penetrate 25-feet plus on a long cast. Strike King’s 10XD, Mann’s 30 Plus and the 6th Sense Crush 500DD are among the list of hard baits advertised to hit the mark.

A big crank is a great choice for firing up big bass holding around isolated stumps, brush, rock and other hard bottom structures. It works best in combination with a long, forgiving rod and a reel with a low gear ratio.

ALABAMA RIG: At first glance, the A-rig resembles the “umbrella rig” used for trolling for stripers for years. The difference is the A-rig is built for casting. It has a plastic head with five wires that protrude from the bottom at downward angles. Each wire has a snap swivel for holding jig heads and small swim baits that simulate a small school of fleeing bait fish.

A-rigs are deadly on deep water bass, especially when used in combination with forward-facing sonar. The trick is to cast past the fish, allow it to sink to the desired depth and use a slow, steady retrieve. It’s not uncommon to catch multiple fish on the same cast with the A-rig.

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Sidebar: Understanding Barotrauma

BASS ARE TOUGH CUSTOMERS, but they aren’t near as tough as they might look.

One of the perils of catching fish out of deep water is it can cause “barotrauma” — a scientific term for an overinflated air bladder. It often occurs in fish that are reeled in quickly from deep water.

A bass’ air bladder gradually deflates as it swims shallow and inflates when it goes deep. This allows the fish to maintain neutral buoyancy as it changes depths.

A fish caught from deep water that is released immediately can usually regain neutral buoyancy on its own. Conversely, a deep caught fish that is placed in a livewell may exhaust itself trying to adjust.   In severe cases, barotrauma will leave an exhausted fish floating on the surface, on its side, where it will die unless some of the excess air is removed from the internal air bladder using a specialized hypodermic needle. Fish handling experts refer to the process as “fizzing.”

 In 2010, former Texas Parks and Wildlife Department fisheries biologist Randy Myers of San Antonio led an extensive study on the fizzing of tournament caught bass and fish that were collected using electrofishing at Lake Amistad.

The goal was to determine if fizzing results in greater survival in fish suffering from barotrauma, and whether it is best to fizz fish through the mouth or side. Myers said that side fizzing resulted in the survival of 14 percent more fish than mouth fizzing.

The department produced a high quality video “Treating Barotrauma in Largemouth Bass” that shows in detail how fizzing should be carried out. You can see it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEeQrsHcwf8.

—Matt Williams

—story by MATT WILLIAMS

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