locations that best suit their comfort zone on a day- to-day basis.
When we as anglers don’t recognize the changes that occur within their world and fail to make immediate adjustments to those changes, we tend to struggle to catch fish. We continue to do the things that worked best for us yesterday, last week, last month or last year. Most bass do not live in less than 6 ft year-round. They just tend to move there at times to feed or during the spring, when they desire to spawn. It’s real easy to catch spawning or shallow, aggressive feeding bass. Yet, when changes occur in their world, it’s that shallow 0 to 6 ft zone that is affected the most drastically. You have got to learn to understand the deeper zone that the bass here in the Delta reside most of the year to put yourself in a position of being more consistent at catching them year-round.
Here on the Delta, changes can occur hourly with the tidal changes. With the changes of the tidal flow, whether it’s on the incoming or out going, we get current flow. The direction the current is flowing has an effect on how these bass set up and position themselves to remain comfy in their environment.
A largemouth bass is just a big ole fat, lazy perch. Their body make up, does not allow them to be creatures who enjoy residing in strong current flows. They will indeed take advantage of areas right next to and out of the current that allow them to be stealthy feeders with little energy used. They are very adept at finding the best non-current position, right next to heavy flows, where they can sit and wait for the currents to bring food to them with little effort.
Weather changes also have a drastic affect on bass here. These are Florida hybrid bass, one thing is very predictable with a Florida bass - it does not like temperature drops. Temperature drops of as little as 2 to 3 degrees will shut down a bite here. A 4 to 7 degrees drop and everyone here is whining the bite sucks!
As with the currents and tides, that 0 to
SUMMER 2015
6 ft zone is the area that is most affected by the temperature drops. When bass are sitting at 6 to 10 feet, and the water is 64 degrees, if they start to move shallow and that water temps begins to decline to 63, 62, 61, they come to a halt and go right back to where they were at 64 degrees.
The same thing holds true during the spring when they make the move shallow. We see this every year from March through April. We’re smashing ‘em one day up in the shallow flats, amongst the tulles, on the rocks. We just can’t do anything wrong. Then, we get a cold NW wind roll in overnight and those fish just get pushed right back out to that deeper comfort zone and we can’t get bit.
We find ourselves asking, “What happened?” The answer is simple, something in their world changed. YOU have to change with them! Move out and fish deeper.
Hereonthe Delta, “deep” isarelativeterm.You havetodiscern inagivenarea, wherethatdepthchange occurstoadeeperarea.If you’reupfishingintheflooded lakesandpondshere, wecanbecatchingfishupshallow inthevasttulegroveswhereitmightbe2 to4ft.
Out beyond the tule edge, where you find that slight drop to 5 to 7 ft, that’s gonna be your deeper zone. Most of us get caught up fishing the visible cover of the tules up shallow and rarely position ourselves 20 to 30 feet off the tules, out where that first break occurs.
In some of these flooded areas, that break can be even more drastic like in Mildred where the drop off can be 9 to 13 feet. Outside of the spring, when fish are up shallow spawning, you will always find more fish out deeper.
Bass love hard bottom
structural
changes.
It does not
matter where
they reside.
Bass relate
to structural
changes. These
structural changes
are bass magnets.
The Delta is full
of these bass
magnets. Find
some grass at
the top of that
61