Deep or Shallow?

This week’s BassMaster Classic is special for many reasons.  For one, this week’s Classic will be a classic test for the age old question of whether to fish shallow or deep in the dead of summer.

If you talk to classic competitors, they are almost split down the middle as to whether it will be won shallow or deep, so there in lies the puzzle that these anglers will have to figure out this week, the same puzzle that you and I must figure out each day we fish this summer.

  Deep water fish must be defined by the lake you are on.  Deep on a Florida lake may be ten feet, while a reservoir like Nevada’s Lake Mead, 30 to 40 feet would be considered deep and ten feet, …….well that’s almost flippin water.

  One of the characteristics of deep water during the summer is that the under water temperatures vary the deeper you go.  In fact the lake can stratify, forming several thermoclines, or varying layers of water that sit on top of each other as the water densities are different. 

Down there somewhere is a depth provides the best living environment for bait fish, the bass’ main source of food during the summer.  Because of stratification, there will be a certain depth that will be better than the others, as a result, baitfish and bass will be at that particular depth.  Deeper fish will tend to bunch up which is why those fishing deep at this week’s classic will have a chance to catch better numbers than those fishing shallow.  A decision, which no doubt will play into the minds of  Classic competitors.

The deeper, cooler water will hold a better oxygen content, the main reason that bait fish and game fish will tend to gravitate to a particular depth.

Those choosing to fish shallow this week will undoubtably seek water that creates similar conditions to those found in deep water:  Cooler water, better oxygen content and of course food.

  Grass beds may just be the connection to shallow water success this week.  As we have discussed many times before, living aquatic vegetation offers bass in shallow water several important life-giving advantages.  1^st living grass is undergoing photosynthesis, a process that changes the sun’s energy to oxygen, resulting in oxygen rich water in and around shallow water grass beds.  Grass of course creates shade and shade cools the shallow water.  Finally shallow grass beds are the home to many small species of fish and crawdads, which the bass can use as a good food source. 

You can bet that this week, a number of pros will target some form of shallow water aquatic vegetation.

Another form of shallow water cover that will undoubtably play into shallow water success this week will be Lake Wylie ’s endless supply of docks.  Docks create large shade pockets, which cool the water and attract bait fish.  Determining which docks will be productive is tricky because on the surface, most docks look the same, its what is under a dock that makes it productive or unproductive.  Productive docks will have some kind of contour change close by, while a dock on an endless flat, may not get any play.

Shallow or deep, a decision we all must make each time we go fishing during the summer.  The deeper fish will tend to be of the cookie cutter variety, if you catch one two pounder, the rest figure to be in that category.

Shallow fish, figure to be bigger, however less avaialbe.  Often, a bass that is shallow has staked its claim to a piece of cover.  Because bass are so territorial, these shallow fish are typically the largest fish in the area.  

So there you are.  A Summer time puzzle that you have to figure out.  Do I fish shallow or do I fish deep.  Do I play for numbers of bites that I can get deep or gamble on bigger fish in the shallows?  The right choice can produce classic results.