How to fish deep water

[Jyuey]

Looking for some advice on deep water fishing as I've never had any luck(15 feet or deeper). All kinds of fishing conditions; Cover, open water, rocky bottoms, drop offs, sand bars, etc... and what kind of rigs, lures, and technique you'll use for either situations. TIA!

[Big Orange Basser]

A lot to cover here....my suggestion is to go back thru the threads in this section and pull out what your interested in. For example, there are several going right now on C-Rigs. Good info in there. Look for some Ledge Fishing topics. It's all here, you just need to do some digging.

I will say this is a fun way to fish and the payoff can be Huge!! It does take patience....

Good Luck!!

[Big Orange Basser]

Look at the DAve Stewart article above (Sticky Posts) on ledge fishing. Super article!

[Randy T]

Confidence and patience.

[Jyuey]

Thanks guys!

[TableRock55]

Decent electronics and commitment.

[Mitchydean]

How long should you stay on a spot. Say a rock pile in 14'?

[Big Orange Basser]

Depends on size of rock pile and the confidence you have that the fish use this spot during the day to ambush bait. I have camped on a spot all tournament knowing they would come and when they did the payoff would be significant. Another thing I do when deeper structure, I may come back to a spot 2-3 times during a tournament (for the reasons mentioned). Eventually they will be there, the trick for you is to figure out when. Some spots are better at daybreak and others provide an opportunity throughout the day. As mentioned above......patience. Once you hit "that" school of fish and live thru 15-30 minutes of craziness, you'll understand why some of us live offshore.

Good Luck!!

[Bassbme]

If you're fishing for largemouth I'd stay longer than if I were fishing for smallmouth. With smallmouth, you usually find out pretty quickly if they're biting. Like Big Orange said, check a different times of the day. Fish will start using spots at different times of the day as conditions change.

I have one spot on a particular lake that is so so early in the day, but really heats up once the pleasure boat traffic gets going. I think a lot of guys make the mistake of leaving or not fishing a spot when the pleasure boaters come out. And I can understand that if it's actually dangerous to stay out there with them.Yeah it can be annoying ...... but they can really put fish on a specific spot. And if the water has some color and it's not really shallow, say 10' or less, it's not going to spook the fish. They're used it, and it can actually be like ringing the dinner bell.

[krindgen]

I think the real key is learning to work with your electronics. Which may mean outfit yourself with some good electronics first. I last year made the switch from fishing shallow, tidal water, with nothing more than flashers, to a new rig with graphs. Take advantage of the electronics to limit the amount of time spent just looking on the water. It's a different mindset fishing the "imaginary" objects on your graph as opposed to a visible dock. I'd also fish a bottom bouncing bait or a DD crank, something that allows you to maintain contact with what your fishing. That will at least help you to maintain your concentration.

[d'Wayne]

How long should you stay on a spot. Say a rock pile in 14'?

Depends on weather and whether I'm seeing any activity on the graph. No visible bait fish activity, I'm not staying long

[Mitchydean]

Thanks guy. Sounds good I'll try it out.

here is a couple off shore spots I have found both around 15'
http://imgur.com/a/vXKPH

[TableRock55]

I think any time you want to learn a new tactic, new bait, deep rather than shallow, etc., you should gear up for that approach only and leave everything else at home. That way you stick with it. Make sure the conditions match your goal as well.