Shallow Bass

Tavery5 · 08-07-11, 02:44 PM

Yesterday morning, Kevin (Pro Reel) and myself decided to get out and do a little fishing at a local watershed. Local temperatures have been over 100 degrees everyday now for 30+ days, the water is warm, the air is hot, and you usually need to be off the water by around 9am.

Yesterday was a little different, there was a thunderstorm that had passed through the area cooling the temps and dumping a little cool water into the watershed. We decided that we would launch Kevin's smaller boat at 6am and take advantage of the cooler air and cloudy skies.

We began fishing the watershed in the deeper parts, somewhere around 8 to 9 foot of water. We tried a number of baits, swim-jigs, spinner-baits, crank-baits without much luck, so we decided that we would move and fish a little closer to the shoreline trying to find whatever isolated cover we could. I switched my setup to one rigged with a 5/16th oz tungsten weight and a Larew Salt Flickr in watermelon color and Kevin changed to a Net Baits Paca Craw in Alabama Craw color. We started throwing along the first break line and hooked up with a couple of smaller bass. A few minutes later I made a long cast that almost landed on the bank in about 1 foot or less water, and bass scattered everywhere, there must have been at least 5 in this one small area, I was able to hook up with a smaller one.

Earlier in the morning, I had told Kevin of a recent experience while fishing in a local sandpit that has water in the 20+ foot range. I was telling him about how lately that I had been catching the bass in 1 or 2 foot of water rather than in the deeper water, where one would expect to find the fish with the temps so high and prolonged. We began casting to the shallow areas of the bank and started hooking up regularly with bass in the 2lb range. We moved to a very shallow flat to try our luck, the water in this area was about 1 foot deep. We started fan casting the area and started catching fish right away. The water was so shallow the backs of the fish were exposed in some cases. I have never experienced anything like this, and by the look on Kevin's face neither had he. We ended the day catching somewhere around 30 fish, 90% of them in water that would usually be dismissed as far to shallow. It was a very fun and productive day of fishing, but was unlike anything that I have ever experienced.

I was wondering with all the areas of the country effected by high temps and lack of rain, if anyone else has experienced this or anything similar.

Kevin took a couple of pics of some of the bigger fish we caught and hopefully he will post pics and add his comments to this post.

BigBassin144 · 08-07-11, 10:33 PM

Sounds like a fun day Tony. Good to hear you guys got a break from the hot weather. Surprising the bass were up so shallow, but maybe the rain and runoff cooled the water down enough for them to get up there looking for food.

BB

Bassboss · 08-07-11, 10:51 PM

Sounds like a great day! They'll be up shallow after a cool rain were it's cooler.. they're active, and often easy to catch!

keithdog · 08-07-11, 11:21 PM

Thats a cool story and a good days fishing. I find it interresting because I just read an article recently and the author discusses heading to very shallow water durring hot temps.

carolina-rig-01 · 08-08-11, 02:10 AM

Sounds like a blast Tony. Good to hear you got some cooler weather, too bad you didn't share with us lol. We are supposed to have a cooler spell this coming week and I am heading to the lake this weekend, it's been so hot that even I didn't want to go fishing.

Again congrats on a good day!

Bubba_Bruiser · 08-08-11, 02:44 AM

Nice haul you 2! I have got to where I like fishing after a good rain. I think it pulls the fish back in the shallow to catch bugs and what not from the wash off. Maybe it churns the hot water and produces more O. I don't know. We have had a few trips this year immediately after rains where the fish were nosed up tight on the bank, and as each day progressed, they moved back out a little further. But it could just have been a stroke of luck and my own theory. But I would suggest after any rain in the summer, try dragging it off the bank.

Backwater Charlie · 08-08-11, 02:53 AM

All of my most recent fish have been in 2' - 3' of water at the absolute most. Some shallower. Most guys are going out deep and fishing big jigs/plastics or cranks, when they should be throwing weightless/slightly weighted plastics up close to the shore-line cover.

Jrob78 · 08-08-11, 01:09 PM

I would think that the shallow fish would be relating tightly to cover during the hot summer. It is very interesting that were just out in open water on a flat. Either way though, I'm glad you guys figured it out!

Tavery5 · 08-08-11, 01:25 PM

Thanks for the nice comments guys, Joe we need to start planning a fall trip. Hope Kevin posts and adds pics.

Jrob78 · 08-08-11, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tavery5

Thanks for the nice comments guys, Joe we need to start planning a fall trip. Hope Kevin posts and adds pics.

Heck yeah we do!

pro reel · 08-08-11, 02:32 PM

I will post some pics later, but for now, some clarification. There was a T storm in Wichita, we did have cloud cover, but there was no rain. No rain meant no runoff and no cooler temps at the edge of the pond. We were kicking up dust on the drive to the pond. Also, the water level is about 4 ft low at this pond. There was no shalow water cover other than an ocasional rock someone tossed in the lake. The areas that the fish were holding were so shalow that we had to lift both motors to get within casting distance. My little boat will float in 1 ft of water, we were beached many times trying to get to these areas. These fish had no deep water nearby, they were not just on a little feeding excursion. At first I thought it was an oxygen thing, but later in the morning I tried the deep water again and hooked the biggest bass of the day on a jig and tony nailed a big crappie in the the deeper water also. The electronics showed lots of things in the water that I think were hundreds of bait sized fish in the deep water, so it was not a lack of food that sent them to the extreeme shalows. I don't really have any guess as to what drove them to do this, and it wasn't isolated, every super shalow section of the lake had a group of 1 to 2 lb bass hanging out in 6 to 8 inchs of water.

08-07-11, 02:44 PM	#1
Tavery5 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,427	Shallow Bass Yesterday morning, Kevin (Pro Reel) and myself decided to get out and do a little fishing at a local watershed. Local temperatures have been over 100 degrees everyday now for 30+ days, the water is warm, the air is hot, and you usually need to be off the water by around 9am. Yesterday was a little different, there was a thunderstorm that had passed through the area cooling the temps and dumping a little cool water into the watershed. We decided that we would launch Kevin's smaller boat at 6am and take advantage of the cooler air and cloudy skies. We began fishing the watershed in the deeper parts, somewhere around 8 to 9 foot of water. We tried a number of baits, swim-jigs, spinner-baits, crank-baits without much luck, so we decided that we would move and fish a little closer to the shoreline trying to find whatever isolated cover we could. I switched my setup to one rigged with a 5/16th oz tungsten weight and a Larew Salt Flickr in watermelon color and Kevin changed to a Net Baits Paca Craw in Alabama Craw color. We started throwing along the first break line and hooked up with a couple of smaller bass. A few minutes later I made a long cast that almost landed on the bank in about 1 foot or less water, and bass scattered everywhere, there must have been at least 5 in this one small area, I was able to hook up with a smaller one. Earlier in the morning, I had told Kevin of a recent experience while fishing in a local sandpit that has water in the 20+ foot range. I was telling him about how lately that I had been catching the bass in 1 or 2 foot of water rather than in the deeper water, where one would expect to find the fish with the temps so high and prolonged. We began casting to the shallow areas of the bank and started hooking up regularly with bass in the 2lb range. We moved to a very shallow flat to try our luck, the water in this area was about 1 foot deep. We started fan casting the area and started catching fish right away. The water was so shallow the backs of the fish were exposed in some cases. I have never experienced anything like this, and by the look on Kevin's face neither had he. We ended the day catching somewhere around 30 fish, 90% of them in water that would usually be dismissed as far to shallow. It was a very fun and productive day of fishing, but was unlike anything that I have ever experienced. I was wondering with all the areas of the country effected by high temps and lack of rain, if anyone else has experienced this or anything similar. Kevin took a couple of pics of some of the bigger fish we caught and hopefully he will post pics and add his comments to this post. __________________ They call me Ishmael

08-07-11, 10:33 PM	#2
BigBassin144 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 9,463	Sounds like a fun day Tony. Good to hear you guys got a break from the hot weather. Surprising the bass were up so shallow, but maybe the rain and runoff cooled the water down enough for them to get up there looking for food. BB __________________ As of June 14, 2014 the members of the BF.com forum have moved to basschat.yuku.com!

08-07-11, 10:51 PM	#3
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Sounds like a great day! They'll be up shallow after a cool rain were it's cooler.. they're active, and often easy to catch! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

08-07-11, 11:21 PM	#4
keithdog BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: IN Posts: 8,308	Thats a cool story and a good days fishing. I find it interresting because I just read an article recently and the author discusses heading to very shallow water durring hot temps. __________________ Just one more cast, and then some!

08-08-11, 02:44 AM	#6
Bubba_Bruiser BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: South MS Posts: 3,659	Nice haul you 2! I have got to where I like fishing after a good rain. I think it pulls the fish back in the shallow to catch bugs and what not from the wash off. Maybe it churns the hot water and produces more O. I don't know. We have had a few trips this year immediately after rains where the fish were nosed up tight on the bank, and as each day progressed, they moved back out a little further. But it could just have been a stroke of luck and my own theory. But I would suggest after any rain in the summer, try dragging it off the bank. __________________ \,,,,/ ROCK ON! HRN4L!

08-08-11, 02:10 AM	#5
carolina-rig-01 BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Webb City, MO Posts: 6,387	Sounds like a blast Tony. Good to hear you got some cooler weather, too bad you didn't share with us lol. We are supposed to have a cooler spell this coming week and I am heading to the lake this weekend, it's been so hot that even I didn't want to go fishing. Again congrats on a good day!

08-08-11, 02:53 AM	#7
Backwater Charlie BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Littcarr, KY Posts: 299	All of my most recent fish have been in 2' - 3' of water at the absolute most. Some shallower. Most guys are going out deep and fishing big jigs/plastics or cranks, when they should be throwing weightless/slightly weighted plastics up close to the shore-line cover. __________________ It was THIS BIG <---------------------------->

08-08-11, 01:09 PM	#8
Jrob78 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 4,671	I would think that the shallow fish would be relating tightly to cover during the hot summer. It is very interesting that were just out in open water on a flat. Either way though, I'm glad you guys figured it out! __________________ There are 3 kinds of people in the world…those who can count and those who can’t. HRN4L

08-08-11, 01:25 PM	#9
Tavery5 BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,427	Thanks for the nice comments guys, Joe we need to start planning a fall trip. Hope Kevin posts and adds pics. __________________ They call me Ishmael

08-08-11, 02:32 PM	#11
pro reel BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Wichita Kansas Posts: 761	I will post some pics later, but for now, some clarification. There was a T storm in Wichita, we did have cloud cover, but there was no rain. No rain meant no runoff and no cooler temps at the edge of the pond. We were kicking up dust on the drive to the pond. Also, the water level is about 4 ft low at this pond. There was no shalow water cover other than an ocasional rock someone tossed in the lake. The areas that the fish were holding were so shalow that we had to lift both motors to get within casting distance. My little boat will float in 1 ft of water, we were beached many times trying to get to these areas. These fish had no deep water nearby, they were not just on a little feeding excursion. At first I thought it was an oxygen thing, but later in the morning I tried the deep water again and hooked the biggest bass of the day on a jig and tony nailed a big crappie in the the deeper water also. The electronics showed lots of things in the water that I think were hundreds of bait sized fish in the deep water, so it was not a lack of food that sent them to the extreeme shalows. I don't really have any guess as to what drove them to do this, and it wasn't isolated, every super shalow section of the lake had a group of 1 to 2 lb bass hanging out in 6 to 8 inchs of water.

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