Big M, June 4

[merc1997 Bo]

i am thinking a lot of bass are suspended off shore during the day. i do not think they are very deep, but just hanging with the bait.

bo

[Champ188]

i am thinking a lot of bass are suspended off shore during the day. i do not think they are very deep, but just hanging with the bait.

bo

Bo, I'm starting to think our fish are spending increasingly more time out there suspended. I really don't have enough information to theorize why, but I'm inclined to agree with you that it has to do with the natural loss of shoreline and shallow cover, especially wood.

[merc1997 Bo]

champ, the loss of cover is part of it, but also the brown sludge left over from the yearly green slime is part of the rest of the story. that brown sludge is not only covering what little bit of timber left, but also the bottom of the lake. therefore, it is cutting down on the available crawdad population. remember when you could pull up to the boat ramp at night, and they were always covered up with crawdads. ever see any at all in this day and age. very few if any. we are quickly changing the eco system of the lake not only from the constant sewer going into the lake from all the housing around the lake, but also from the various soaps and other chemicals that go into those inadequate septic systems. plus, how many other various fertilizers weed killers and other things drain in everytime we get some run off??

yep, we are forcing the bass, and other species as well, to become suspended open water feeders. great example of what the crawdad population is doing - i have a friend that traps crawdads, and last summer, he had to set his traps in 45 to 50 feet of water to get any. not many summer bass will spend the energy to feed below the thermocline in the summer. some of the suspended shad chasers will, and it is a very brief feeding window because of the lower O2 levels.

side imaging should help some in dealing with these suspended bass. you could at least have an idea of where to throw. here is where a good knowledgeable troller will begin to put everyone to shame.

bo