Deep Structure Bassin
By Steve Karsseboom

As a tournament bass angler do you ever catch yourself saying things like, "I am going back to the basics" when you are struggling? And did you notice that the back to the basics theory never seems to work. Here is one scenario that I have seen many times. First lets say you are a shallow water angler on a fairly clear water lake. Early spring into early summer you will find most of the bass in 6 feet of water or less and you can see most of your bites. But then it happens, the weeds grow thick, the water warms and a lot of those fish were caught or just disappeared. In most cases after that happens the first thing you hear is I am going back to the basics and the next thing you see is that angler fishing the deep structure.

The problem with that is deep fishing is any thing but basic, infact this may be one of the hardest techneaks to not only learn but also to gain the confidence in what you are doing. So I came up with some basic tips to deep-water fishing.

First what is deep water? Deep water for bass is the area from just inside of the outside weed edge to a structure out adjacent to the weed edge.

Now not all weed edges are created equally. If you think about back to the basics you will know that bass need ambush spots to feed. In shallow water you can usually see those ambush spots. Like a log, dock, rock or weeds. In deep water you can't see those structures so you must rely on your electronics in your boat and learn how to read them and have confidence in what you are seeing on that screen. The things I first look for are the biggest and weediest points or flats on the lake. Those spots will hold the most bait fish, Cray fish and in turn the most fish through out the season.

Now you must find the structure on that point or flat that will make for a good ambush area like a small weed finger or rock point that is sticking out of the main point or flat. Look for pockets that go in to the point or flat those are usually caused by a dense pile of rocks.

Largemouth bass will school real tight on these spots when they are feeding and if you get onto one of these spots hang on and be patient because if they are home taking 3 to 6 bass is not uncommon but don't camp there either. About 20 minuets will tell you if there are any fish on that spot. Remember that is their feeding area and they should be active. Other active areas could be a rock pile adjacent to the point or flat.

These spots turn on when the Crayfish become real active. When the bass are inactive or in a neutral pattern they will spread out on the adjacent structures or inside the weeds on the main point. That is when you need a heavy jig to get through the weeds and fish as slow as you can. The tackle I like to use for the active bass includes Carolinarigs, jigs and crank baits. Use small more natural looking baits like worms, lizards and plastic crayfish and lighter line like 8 to 10 LB mono line. The bass on the out side of the structure don't hit by reaction but because they're hungry so you have to fool them. If you take these tips and learn how to read your electronics, spend some time on the water experimenting you will increase the number of fish and be a more diverse bass angler in the future.