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Old 01-17-07, 12:20 AM   #1
islandflyfisher
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Default Deep Drops

I recently purchased a depth finder. (It is in the mail hopefully.) There is a lake near my house that has always produced decent numbers, espcially peacocks, but not much in the way of size. I know that there are some big fish in there. The two biggest bass I have ever seen were in there. I was hooked up to one of them for a while, and it straightened the hooks on my crankbait. I believe that they were both double digit fish. I see some fish busting smaller baits in the middle of the lake, but they are mostly smaller. I hooked up with a fish blind casting a crankbait there once and about 50-100 2 lb fish followed up from under him.

Should I be looking for bigger fish to be in these "megaschools", or in other deep water areas. I was thinking that fishing drop offs anywhere between 10 and 40 feet deep might do it. I have ordered 4, 6, and 9 inch swm baits. How would you guys fish for these bass? What would you guys drop on the drop offs?
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Old 01-17-07, 12:26 AM   #2
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Sounds like you already have a pretty good idea whare they are. If you are going to fish dropoffs I'd highly recommend getting some marker buoys. Drop them along the edge of the dropoffs so you can see where to throw your bait.
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Old 01-17-07, 01:10 AM   #3
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I would use something to get below the school like a jigging spoon or a deep diving crankbait. If the smaller fish have the bait rounded up on top alot of times the bigger fish will hang out underneath picking up scraps and wounded baitfish.
As for the drop offs youve got a pretty good Idea with the swim baits just be sure and count down the depth and work diffrent areas in the water column until you find the fish. To get an idea of how deep you are fishing drop whatever bait you are fishing next to your transducer and watch it sink on the graph counting down how long it takes for the bait to reach a certain depth. After you know how fast your bait sinks you should be able to concentrate on whatever depth your marking fish.
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Old 01-17-07, 01:46 AM   #4
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One other thing is I don't use the depthfinder to find fish-I use it to find the structure/cover. Find that and you'll find the fish.
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Old 01-17-07, 03:26 PM   #5
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JRW is dead on about the bigger bass lying below the school and Rebasser is correct in his use of the depthfinder as a structure indicator rather than fish finder. I've devoted the last several years to nothing but double digit fish. In my part of the country (south arkansas) the larger fish spend 90% of their life in 10'-12' near deeper water (relative to your lake). Also, if i'm catching fish less than 5 pounds, i'll move about 5 feet deeper. Normally, where i catch small fish, i wont' catch big ones. Smaller fish are faster and larger fish just don't want to compete. That's why they sit below the school and catch wounded bait. That's also why fishing slower even in summer can catch huge fish. I usually anchor in a promising area for no less than 2 hours. Fan casting repeatedly. This is very very boring! lol But it produces very well for me.

On fishing below the school. If you can find how far off the bottom the bigger fish are, you can often catch them on c-rig using a zoom fluke or a 3X type shad from Strike King.
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Old 01-17-07, 04:27 PM   #6
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Island you have one problem here, most FL lakes are giant shallow cereal bowls.
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Old 01-17-07, 05:13 PM   #7
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Thanks everybody. It is really hard to find the "megaschool" in the lake. I have only ever seen it once. Like Rebasser said, I won't be using the depth finder to look for fish (unless the school swims under my boat), but for structure and cover.

What do you mean by marker buoys Rebasser? Could I get a bunch of line, rap it around a closed bottle, and tie a sinker to the end for that, or am I way off.

Chris, yes most FL lakes are shaped like that, that is why I think that if I can find one or two deep spots, I will find the big bass. They have to be somewhere.
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Old 01-17-07, 05:20 PM   #8
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that sounds like an economical marker to me....they have fancy one's that are orange and have a led weight on the end of the line...you throw it out and it unspools itself in place....but your's will do fine...i say whatever it takes my friend.....go get em.....and post pics.....!!!!!
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Old 01-17-07, 06:40 PM   #9
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The thing about the marker bouys that you buy is they stay in the same place because they only let out so much line. If you just rap line around a bottle it may drift because it isn't taught. They are pretty cheap:

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...=TOP_SEARCH_GO

Let us know how those swimbaits produce for you. From what I have read fishing them on the drop offs is a producer.

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Old 01-17-07, 07:24 PM   #10
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I use stax potato chip cans filled with expanding foam and then glue the top back on.I use braid with a 6 oz. sinker, but as Jolly says once the weight is on bottom, you have to half hitch the line , or it will drift a bit on you. The reason I use them is because no one steals them , but I had better than a dozen boughten one stolen over the past few years.Most of them are from stopping to eat somewhere, or at a gas station.The stax cans are bright colored and show up very well. P N J
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Old 01-17-07, 07:35 PM   #11
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I am still a little unclear on their use. Are they for permanently marking a spot, or just for when I am fishing.
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Old 01-17-07, 09:17 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by islandflyfisher View Post
I am still a little unclear on their use. Are they for permanently marking a spot, or just for when I am fishing.
Throw it out when you get there, and retrieve it when you leave.

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Old 01-17-07, 11:22 PM   #13
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Thanks. That makes sense.
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Old 01-18-07, 01:22 AM   #14
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IFF, that would work, but I'd still recommend buying some. Like Jolly said, they are pretty cheap. Plus, most are extremely bright colors. I never really thought about the color until the first time I used them. If there is even a little chop on the surface they can be tough to see, and the bright colors make a big difference.
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Old 01-18-07, 07:10 PM   #15
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I was asking that just incase I got out before I got to BPS. If I do go before I get to BPS, I will spray paint it ( if I can find a bright color). Thanks for the tip. When I go, should I buy a few, or will one or two be enough?
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Old 01-18-07, 07:27 PM   #16
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I have always used florescence chartreuse and pink for deep drop jig fishing, orange works up here too
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Old 01-18-07, 10:27 PM   #17
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IFF, if you do make your own a suggestion: Use a clear plastic bottle like a water bottle, some day-glo spray paint and spray it inside rather than outside the bottle. That way it won't wash off. Now that I think about it a coke bottle might work better-wrap the line around the narrower section.
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Old 01-19-07, 09:54 AM   #18
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How about glueing or tying two bottles together? That would make them more like the store baught ones. It couldn't spin and let out line that way. You can also half-hitch the line around the bottle's neck (on that little lip right under the cap)
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Old 01-19-07, 10:49 AM   #19
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Once you see on the graph the dropoff area you want to fish, throw on marker out, then go along the drop and throw another marker out, then go back and fish that line you've just created between the markers..zigzagging the boat to to the bottom often helps to realize whats under you, while viewing the graph..just don't forget to pick them up when you're done on those "run and gun dayz" rofl
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Old 01-19-07, 04:09 PM   #20
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Thanks for the help eeryone!
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