Do you know how to catch bass in deep water? I sure do not! (8/8/10)



Dude! Grab the wheel!!!!

Have you ever wondered what it looks like to do sixty miles per hour in a bass boat? Well this picture is of Average Joe Fisherman Tim as we are cruising at sixty miles per hour in about four feet of water! I think the picture sums it up nicely, don’t you?

The day started off like any other Saturday. I was out and about with my family when I received a call from Average Joe Fisherman Tim telling me that he had a hot tip about a location where we were sure to slay the bass. Well, not really slay as all of the Average Joe Fishermen practice catch and release.

Three hours to catch one fish and your smiling?

Never one to turn down an invitation to go fishing I asked “When and where?” While I was on the phone with Tim, I was giving my wife that “Can I go fishing PLEEEEEEASE?” look. Once I had the "ok" from the boss, I was off. After about an hour drive I met Tim at a local marina only to find that a walleye tournament was finishing up. After a little delay, caused by the tournament, we were rocketing across a very large body of water. Tim was watching the depth finder like a bald eagle watches for prey. At precisely thirteen feet of water Tim killed the motor. We excitedly grabbed our fishing poles, jumped up on the fishing platforms and immediately realized that we have no idea how to fish a large body of water! Especially when we are three miles from shore and cannot see the structure we are fishing. We threw everything we had in our tackle boxes at the fish. Soft plastics, pig and jigs, spinner baits, crank baits, you name it, we threw it. Guess what we got for our efforts? Nothing, nada, zip! Just another day in the life of an Average Joe Fisherman I suppose.

After all of our attempts proved to be futile we packed up and headed closer to shore. Guess what we saw there? Carp. Not a single bass until Average Joe Fisherman Tim pulled one out of some reeds. I am still not sure if that fish was really there or if Tim pulled it out of the live well, hooked it to his spinner and tossed it overboard while I wasn’t looking! Pretending all the while like he knew there was at least one bass in the area we were fishing. Tim, if you are reading this, I would not put it passed you!

Ugly, ugly, ugly!

As the evening began to wind down I managed to miss a strike on a top water lure. It surprised me so much that I believe, after trying to set the hook, I might have been reeling backwards for a moment. Yup, that’s how I roll! As if getting a fish to bite isn’t hard enough, let’s reel backwards! Needless to say, I did not boat that fish.

Tim had a little excitement while fishing a top water lure. A large fish swirled below the lure and was looking intently at it. Tim gave it a little twitch and the water exploded. The fight was on! After a glorious battle Tim came eye to eye with a large… wait for it… dog fish! Man those things are ugly!

Finally, on our way back through the marina where we launched from, I caught a largemouth bass! Well I’ll be, the sun even shines on a dog’s behind some days! But, since I am an Average Joe Fisherman, you should know that the bass was not large enough to be considered a “keeper.” Oh well, I outsmarted that fish. It might have taken me over three hours of fishing to do it and it might have been small, but I won! Mission accomplished!

Have you ever successfully fished bass in deep water? If so, how?