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John N. Felsher's Bass Fishing Adventures
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When pressure gets to bass and they hunker down in the depths,
anglers may need to “spoon-feed” them.
“Most people like to throw at the bank or some object they can see,”
said Roger Stegall, a professional bass angler and guide. “They are not
comfortable throwing in the open out in the middle of the lake, but there are
objects in deep water that hold bass. There are stumps, humps, brush
piles, logs and lots of other stuff out there. People can’t see them because
they are underwater, but they can find them with electronics.”
In many areas, 95 percent of the anglers concentrate on five percent
of the water near the shorelines. As anglers beat the banks, stumps and
weedy coves, many deep holes remain virtually untouched. Even in a
highly pressured lake, bass may grow old in deep water without ever seeing
a lure.
In deep water, few angling methods put more fish into the boat than
vertical jigging with a slab spoon. Simply, position a boat over a good spot
and drop a spoon to the bottom. Small, heavy and compact, a jigging
spoon sinks quickly. After it hits bottom, jig it up and down a few times.
“A jigging spoon is probably a bait that is more overlooked by bass
fishermen than any other bait,” Stegall said. “It’s about the most effective
bait for fishing deep water. I’ve actually caught largemouth bass on a
jigging spoon in 55 feet of water.”
An angler dropping a 1/4- to 3/4-ounce chrome jigging spoon into a
hole might entice almost anything that swims in North America. Depending
upon the location of the lake, anglers may catch largemouths, smallmouths,
spotted bass, yellow bass, white bass, crappie, bream, stripers, hybrid
stripers, sometimes even catfish and other species, all from the same spot.
A fluttering chrome spoon attracts so many different fish species
because it closely resembles a dying shad or shiner, and almost everything
eats shad or shiners! The sun reflecting off the facets mimics the flash of
baitfish scales. Frequently, fish smack jigging spoons on the fall, believing
they inhaled a crippled shad.
“Fish often spit up shad about the same size as a spoon,” said Joe
Joslin, a professional bass angler. “The natural dying and falling of the
shad closely resembles a spoon falling and fluttering down.”
Most of the time, people simply drop a spoon to the bottom. After the
spoon hits bottom, the line goes slack. Then, people reel up the slack, lift
their rods a foot or two and let the spoon plunge back to the bottom. When
it hits the bottom, it sends out vibrations that fish can feel.
That technique works, but bass don’t always sit right on the bottom.
Sometimes, they hover off the bottom. Even in deep water, fish near the
bottom often look skyward because they can see prey silhouetted against
the bright surface better than they can see something crawling on the dark
bottom. Cranking the reel handle two or three times to lift a spoon a few
feet off the bottom keeps it fluttering in the strike zone indefinitely.
Frequently, bass suspend high in the water column, but still well below
the surface, making them extremely difficult to catch. To catch suspending
bass, anglers must first reach that depth. Some depth finders can actually
detect the spoon jigging up and down in the water so people can watch as it
descends to the proper depth. Then, if lucky, they can watch as fish
approach the lure.
To reach precise depths with imprecise equipment, some people mark
their lines in 10-foot intervals and count the marks as the lure sinks.
Others let sinking line slowly slip through their fingers while keeping their
lines tight to “fish” their spoons all the way down. They count until
something bites. Then, they drop the spoon back at the same rate and
stop at the magic number. People can also cast or troll spoons with great
effect, especially when bass chase schools of shad near the surface.
“Most people think they can only fish jigging spoons vertically under
the boat,” Stegall explained. “However, people can fish them by casting
and jerking them back to the boat. Cast them out and let them flutter
down. I like a 3/4-ounce jigging spoon. I put a split ring on the front and tie
a barrel swivel with a snap on the line so the bait won’t twist the line as
much. I work the spoon all the way back to the boat.”
anglers may need to “spoon-feed” them.
“Most people like to throw at the bank or some object they can see,”
said Roger Stegall, a professional bass angler and guide. “They are not
comfortable throwing in the open out in the middle of the lake, but there are
objects in deep water that hold bass. There are stumps, humps, brush
piles, logs and lots of other stuff out there. People can’t see them because
they are underwater, but they can find them with electronics.”
In many areas, 95 percent of the anglers concentrate on five percent
of the water near the shorelines. As anglers beat the banks, stumps and
weedy coves, many deep holes remain virtually untouched. Even in a
highly pressured lake, bass may grow old in deep water without ever seeing
a lure.
In deep water, few angling methods put more fish into the boat than
vertical jigging with a slab spoon. Simply, position a boat over a good spot
and drop a spoon to the bottom. Small, heavy and compact, a jigging
spoon sinks quickly. After it hits bottom, jig it up and down a few times.
“A jigging spoon is probably a bait that is more overlooked by bass
fishermen than any other bait,” Stegall said. “It’s about the most effective
bait for fishing deep water. I’ve actually caught largemouth bass on a
jigging spoon in 55 feet of water.”
An angler dropping a 1/4- to 3/4-ounce chrome jigging spoon into a
hole might entice almost anything that swims in North America. Depending
upon the location of the lake, anglers may catch largemouths, smallmouths,
spotted bass, yellow bass, white bass, crappie, bream, stripers, hybrid
stripers, sometimes even catfish and other species, all from the same spot.
A fluttering chrome spoon attracts so many different fish species
because it closely resembles a dying shad or shiner, and almost everything
eats shad or shiners! The sun reflecting off the facets mimics the flash of
baitfish scales. Frequently, fish smack jigging spoons on the fall, believing
they inhaled a crippled shad.
“Fish often spit up shad about the same size as a spoon,” said Joe
Joslin, a professional bass angler. “The natural dying and falling of the
shad closely resembles a spoon falling and fluttering down.”
Most of the time, people simply drop a spoon to the bottom. After the
spoon hits bottom, the line goes slack. Then, people reel up the slack, lift
their rods a foot or two and let the spoon plunge back to the bottom. When
it hits the bottom, it sends out vibrations that fish can feel.
That technique works, but bass don’t always sit right on the bottom.
Sometimes, they hover off the bottom. Even in deep water, fish near the
bottom often look skyward because they can see prey silhouetted against
the bright surface better than they can see something crawling on the dark
bottom. Cranking the reel handle two or three times to lift a spoon a few
feet off the bottom keeps it fluttering in the strike zone indefinitely.
Frequently, bass suspend high in the water column, but still well below
the surface, making them extremely difficult to catch. To catch suspending
bass, anglers must first reach that depth. Some depth finders can actually
detect the spoon jigging up and down in the water so people can watch as it
descends to the proper depth. Then, if lucky, they can watch as fish
approach the lure.
To reach precise depths with imprecise equipment, some people mark
their lines in 10-foot intervals and count the marks as the lure sinks.
Others let sinking line slowly slip through their fingers while keeping their
lines tight to “fish” their spoons all the way down. They count until
something bites. Then, they drop the spoon back at the same rate and
stop at the magic number. People can also cast or troll spoons with great
effect, especially when bass chase schools of shad near the surface.
“Most people think they can only fish jigging spoons vertically under
the boat,” Stegall explained. “However, people can fish them by casting
and jerking them back to the boat. Cast them out and let them flutter
down. I like a 3/4-ounce jigging spoon. I put a split ring on the front and tie
a barrel swivel with a snap on the line so the bait won’t twist the line as
much. I work the spoon all the way back to the boat.”
In summer heat, anglers may try
to spoon-feed big largemouths
to spoon-feed big largemouths
TOP: Gary Harlan
shows off a bass he
caught on a
chrome jigging
spoon while
fishing at
Pickwick Lake
near Iuka, Miss.
RIGHT: Fishing
vertically with
chrome jigging
spoons works very
well for catching
largemouth bass
in extremely deep
water.
shows off a bass he
caught on a
chrome jigging
spoon while
fishing at
Pickwick Lake
near Iuka, Miss.
RIGHT: Fishing
vertically with
chrome jigging
spoons works very
well for catching
largemouth bass
in extremely deep
water.
