Fishing deep water

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Duce
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Fishing deep water

Post by Duce »

Hi. I'm going try lure fishing on a lake I've previously only bait fished. The water's very clear and deep , average 20 foot and over 40 foot in places. When deadbaiting most runs would come to baits fished hard on the bottom. Would you recommend trying to fish lures as deep as possible or maybe something brightly coloured in midwater to try to stand out. Any tips much appreciated. Thanks.
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Steve Dennington
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by Steve Dennington »

Shallow lures over deep water (particularly clear water) can be very effective indeed, even in the depths of winter. It's certainly a tactic well worth trying :thumbs:
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Mark Phillips
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by Mark Phillips »

As Steve is rightly saying, pike will be much more prone to go up for a lure than down for one, so I'd start shallow and work my way down. I've caught pike on or just below the surface in 70ft of water, so don't let depth cloud the issue for you. It only becomes really necessary to start getting on the deck when the pike are really nodding off, like most species, they spend most of their time well away from the bottom. The deeper the water, the more likely they'll be somewhere else in the water column - a bit like zig fishing for carp, a method that turned my carp fishing on its head when I first started to do it - most of the time the fish are not on the deck, e.g. last Monday I had both my fish on 13ft zigs fishing in 21-22ft over water. I'd had probably blanked on bottom baits that day... anyway I digress, search the water column with different lures and then when the takes come, you know where to stay. Trolling is a method that teaches you how to understand depth and where pike will be and react to a lures passing them ... fishing trout waters on lures is another place where you start to appreciate the importance of presenting lures at specific points in the water column...
Piking Plonker
Duce
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by Duce »

Thanks for the replies/advice guys. I was out today and although i didn't put any fish on the bank i had several follows and one missed take all on crankbaits near the surface in 20ft+ of water so definitely some encouragement to keep with it. I'm pretty new to lures and enjoying having to think a bit more about my fishing. Thanks again.
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Ratty46
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by Ratty46 »

Mark Phillips wrote: Sun Nov 03 2019 18:08 -
As Steve is rightly saying, pike will be much more prone to go up for a lure than down for one, so I'd start shallow and work my way down. I've caught pike on or just below the surface in 70ft of water, so don't let depth cloud the issue for you. It only becomes really necessary to start getting on the deck when the pike are really nodding off, like most species, they spend most of their time well away from the bottom. The deeper the water, the more likely they'll be somewhere else in the water column - a bit like zig fishing for carp, a method that turned my carp fishing on its head when I first started to do it - most of the time the fish are not on the deck, e.g. last Monday I had both my fish on 13ft zigs fishing in 21-22ft over water. I'd had probably blanked on bottom baits that day... anyway I digress, search the water column with different lures and then when the takes come, you know where to stay. Trolling is a method that teaches you how to understand depth and where pike will be and react to a lures passing them ... fishing trout waters on lures is another place where you start to appreciate the importance of presenting lures at specific points in the water column...
good bit of info that!

(whens the book out face)
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Martin Ward P.A.C.
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by Martin Ward P.A.C. »

Some of the Savage Gear rubbers are great on a new water, Herring Shads or Paddle Tail Roach, with a 25gr screw in head and two sets of trebles on the back they are a great search lure, from bouncing on the bottom to working in midwater I often start with them and a Guppy for the shallow and aggressive option, or you could have a 10gr head on the second rod......ref all your follows....... try running the lure through quicker giving the pike less time to think.


Martin
peteren
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Re: Fishing deep water

Post by peteren »

Mark Phillips wrote: Sun Nov 03 2019 18:08 -
As Steve is rightly saying, pike will be much more prone to go up for a lure than down for one, so I'd start shallow and work my way down. I've caught pike on or just below the surface in 70ft of water, so don't let depth cloud the issue for you. It only becomes really necessary to start getting on the deck when the pike are really nodding off, like most species, they spend most of their time well away from the bottom....
Interesting points.
Shallow retrieves would be far easier on snaggy rivers I fish. But having tried often with limited success, I generally revert to "bottom-bouncing" with spinnerbaits / sp's / cranks. With more success (and snags!) - but often not prolific!
Smallish rivers around 20 yards wide and 5-10 feet deep. Even when the water is clearish for winter - 2-4 foot visibility (me looking down), I still feel I need to be in "bottom half".
Comments welcome!
Peter Newman
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