Posted by mr jig on 2002 PM:

6-7 lb lm

A couple of days ago an unamed individual caught a lm beteen 6-7 lbs in the Capitol District.
Here is what's interesting.
The fish was caught mid-day in 18 inches of 80 f water.
Might this catch shake any conventional wisdom?
Black Texas rigged worm.
Think about it.
dick.

Posted by ADKBass on 2002 PM:

nice fish!!

was the 18 inches of water located near a steep drop-off and heavy structure? That might be the answer.

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Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

Doesn't sound too alarming. Some bass will move deep in the dog days of summer, but many others will bury themselves under the pads or slop. A t-rigged worm will most certainly work in these conditions....and mid day would be prime time.

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Posted by mr jig on 2002 PM:

300 yards from even 5 ft of water.

No drop off. No slop to bury in.
dick.

Posted by wnybassman on 2002 PM:

.....even so, nothing surprises me in this game anymore!

Posted by Bigredfishing on 2002 PM:

That wouldnt surprise me, for the mohawk river that is. nor would it surprise me for the hudson or its tribs. I personally caught 2 bass over 5 lbs from a spot just like that - except mine were the inside edge of a chesnut bed - 18 inches of water - a long way from any deep water. I had an earlier post on this "strange bass locations".

http://www.nybass.com/forums/showth...ghlight=strange

Posted by JOHN G on 2002 AM:

Dick, I have seen this "unconventional" stuff, so many times in the last couple of years, that I will believe anything right now....I don't know if you saw my post last sunday where the 3 pound LM hit a topwater lure over 40 feet of water....

Scully will tell you that there is always a shallow pattern at some time during the day, and I certainly believe him..

the trip before that, I caught everyone of my bass in water deeper than 18 feet and my partner caught all of his in water 4 to 5....same day.......hot as all hell ( when isn't it now?)

I expect the unexpected now everytime I go on the water.....

JOHN G

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Posted by Bassin Dude on 2002 AM:

In my opinion, this isn't unconventional at all.

As far as Largemouth Bass are concerned, the biggest ones in a system generally are located and live the vast majority of their lives shallow. Studies done by Doug Hannon and our "In-Fisherman" pals verify this. I'm pretty sure that every Largemouth bass over five pounds that tugged on my line was in water less then 8 feet deep.

Evidently, the monster California bass that have been reported lately are a bit of an exception to the rule as I read about those taken from 20 feet of water. Although, I think that is because their main forage base, Rainbow Trout, generally live at those depths in those California reservoirs.

It would have been nice to have been there or at least familiar with the water that the fish was taken from. It would be interesting to analyze the probable reasons why that fish felt compelled to be in that shallow water.

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Posted by theole34 on 2002 AM:

fishing with a friend from this board last season we were sight fishing some large bass lurking in shadows on a local lake. the fish were lurking in about 8 - 15" of water. fishing with a black/blue jig and pig (hint) he hit a 5lb'r from a shallow stump. temerature was really hot in 80-90 range, and water temp was hot, but not measured.

day was dinks and one 5lb fish.

sometimes thisngs stray from conventional wisdom. as a camera carrying member of nybass i seldom belv weights and measures related posts, but i don't mind them. a picture goes a long way in describing these fish.

there is a photo of this fish, and i'd have to bug earthy to dig it up.

robbie

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Posted by mr jig on 2002 AM:

Tony , your observations are on the mark.

It also true that smallmouth are WHOLLY different.
The likelyhood of a big smallmouth relating to a single piece of cover up in the head of a bay, hundreds of yards from even 5 ft of water approaches nil.
A single isolated piece of cover almost always seems to hold a decent lm without APPARENT regard to other factors.
Like you, most of my larger LM have come in less than 8 ft...perhaps averaging 3-5 ft.
My northern lake smallmouth come mostly from 8-12/15 ft. The reference i tossed out regarding selecting for size, drew no interest but the differences in lm/sm
behavior do make it possible to select.

John perhaps went too quickly over a good point.
All bass are NOT doing the same thing at any given time.
Even on waterbodies of modest size there will be bass which regularly pursue feeding practices that differ markedly from their bretheren.
Some of these differences may i think be lifelong.

Many anglers get fixated on an apparent pattern and vigorously attempt to repeat it elsewhere on the lake.
The apparent "pattern" may in fact be nothing more than the arrival of some
active bass in an area where you are...or where you have arrived.
A far stronger pattern (influenced by seasonal factors) might co-exist AND have more potential on any given outing.
I often hear overenthusiastic anglers saying things like:
"They are on secondary points and they only want chartruse crankbaits."

YEAH....RIGHT!
Best
dick.

Posted by Gregg on 2002 PM:

quote:

The apparent "pattern" may in fact be nothing more than the arrival of some
active bass in an area where you are...or where you have arrived.

I have often wondered about that.

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Posted by mr jig on 2002 PM:

Gregg.

Keep wondering and testing because....
If you aspire to be an effective smallmouth angler you must accept the traplining behavior of MATURE smallies in geologically younger lakes.
If you are "wondering"you are on the way.
dick.

Posted by JOHN G on 2002 PM:

Tony, it is uncanny how some of those bigger bass will be in such shallow water, at many times of the year.....however, I myself have caught many very big bass in deep water, the phenomen in California is certainly not unusual in the NYC reservoir system for expample, where most of my biggest fish have been in very deep water....

I remember one particular 5 LB LM in mid October, fair weather, water not very cold at all, a time when all the magazines rave about the shallow fall fattening up phenomena.....and this fattie was caught with a syclops spoon slowly dragging the bottom in 40 feet of water? I will ASSURE you, that turnover had NOT occurred yet as there had not at this point been the type of temperature drop neccessary to bring on that event, and yet , here he was obviously perfectly "comfortable", at least Oxygen wise and also obviously ready to feed on that 40 foot bottom, which incidentally DID have some rocky texture to it, felt through the spoon...

Posted by airmax on 2002 PM:

i agree with the fact that there is nothing unusual about really large LM's hanging out in the shallows. during my last trip to the catskills, my largest couple of LM's 3-4lbs (weighed on a berkley digital handheld scale) were all taken from water that was between 1 and 2 feet deep in mid-day. not only that, but the temperatures were in the upper 90's. besides the fish that i was able to catch, i could see small schools (probably wrong term) of 3-4 bass cruising through the most shallow spots of water. it's possible that the shallow water had a higher oxygen content than the deeper water. especially if there is any vegetation around the flats. in any case. i'm never terribly surprised at where the LM's like to hang out. they are similar to people in that they have places that they like to congregate, but there's always a loner here and there. j.

Posted by hvbassmaster on 2002 PM:

I was on a tournament on the mohawk on the 18 th of aug four fish boated in under 5 feet of water. 82 deg water temp and 90+ deg air.

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