SHALLOW?
fishing ® deep water,
Winter 2022
By John Liechty
page 40
E
ach day on the water we are presented with an
endless number of factors that may or may not
increase our success rate for fish catches. Water temperatures, weather conditions and seasonal patterns
are a few. But one defining factor, that is affected by all
these factors is depth.
To be more exact, what depth are the bass holding in
or relating to? On many bodies of water, the depth range is
small and more manageable. However, on the Mother Lode
lakes of the West Sierras, we are faced with some extreme
depths. It is not uncommon to catch fish in 60, 70, 80 or
even 90-feet of water.
But what about catching fish out of even deeper water?
100, 200 or even more! It may sound crazy but each year,
I will look down at the sonar after hooking a fish and see
these absurd triple-digits of depth.
First thing I need to make clear is I will only fish on the
bottom to 90-feet. That’s where I draw the line. And that’s
usually in the fall and winter months. However, I will often fish shallow or relatively shallow (near the surface) over some incredibly deep water.
You may ask why would you ever do that?
Well, it’s simple, that’s where the fish are. Those days you can’t buy a bite off the shoreline usually means that the fish aren’t there.
How do you know when to start fishing some for these what seem to be impossible fish to catch? Here are some scenarios in which I will start to investigate deep.
First you must establish, why would they go deep?
Cold fronts and a change in barometric pressure will often cause fish to suspend. Falling water, which we see can also give them a sour outlook on holding near the shoreline.
Water temperature is another key factor. The thermocline can be an optimal temperature, holding a concentration of forage. And, speaking of forage, the fish