Swimming Deep for Big Fish is Nothing New

[Bill Babler]

I believe in the early 90's Sonny Chafin was one of the  pioneers of this technique.  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.  Sonny at that time fished with Jerry McCutchin out of Warsaw Mo, I believe in both the Heartland and the Redman series, along with Central Pro Am as it got started and this time of the year, that team was deadly on catching White River chain deep suspended bass by swimming a grub deep.

They used a 1/4 to 3/8th. ball head and a 3 to 5 inch C-tail grub to swim to deep suspending fish.  I can remember talking to Jerry and he said they had a coffee can with pre-rigged grubs, said they usually had at least 50 already set up to swim thru the deep tree tops.  Told me if your not losing baits, in the deep trees your not catching fish.  He said you just had to be daring in your approach and let it fall to the last second before you started to swim it back to the boat.

Long cast were as important to them as they are to us today.  They wanted to cover as many deep trees and as much water with each cast as possible.  They weighed in some huge strings of fish doing this prior to the fish kill and even after the kill.

They were fishing the same fish that we work with a stickbait now, but the fish as today at times are not high enough in the water column to take a stickbait.  They swam a grub deep, sometimes as much as 50' for their catches.  Swimming covers much more area than a vertical presentation, and they also did that when they would find fish congregated.

In those days there was 10X the amount of timber that we have now, but they not only worked the timber, they also worked humps and channel swings.  How many of us go out and find a swing or a hump and fish that deep with a swimming technique?  not many I'm guessing.  It works.  Your never after numbers in this type of fishing, more after that one or two big keeper, kicker bites on those locations.  It takes patients and success to fish like this and continue to fish like this.  Most of us don't got it.

With the invention of the A-rig, in modern times both the Fann Brothers and Brent Algeo took this presentation a step further and caught really good bags doing the same thing with the A-rig.  Today in tournaments that allow it, it is usually a winning deal.

I Sundays Anglers In Action derby I saw lots and lots of A-rig retrievers.  Most are 30' telescoping aluminum poles with either a big triple hook on the end or a pig tail to wrap in the wires of the rig.  Most of these are patterened after a golf ball retriever and you just rip the rig out of cedars or deep trees.  I counted at least 30 boats with these on deck.  Most everyone that throws the rig uses extremely light wire hooks that bend out when they are caught.   Depending on how bad the hook is they either bend it back or just replace the bent hook and bait with a new one.  Takes about 15 seconds.

If you have not tried this style of fishing, get your map out, mark some spots and go ply the depths with the A-rig or if your a purest tie on that Chompers C-tail a Yamamoto, or if you  have deep pockets the Keitech paddle tail and see if you can get one of those big old deep Table Rock Bass.

Good Luck

[Quillback]

Thanks Bill, great information as always.

[buckcreekmike]

Is this considered a "late winter/early spring" technique?  Sounds like the locations are what would be classified as winter, at least as compared to spawn or spring.  

Kind of just wondering what water temps this pattern emerges or is it always an option? 

I am headed to TR on the 11th of march and wondering if this and the stickbaits will be going or will it be wiggle warts and neds (though Ned seems to work regardless). I always thought wiggle warts kicked in around 50-55 degrees. 

[Bill Babler]

Mike, kind of all of the above.   This is not so much a Winter technique but a pre spawn deal.  Lots of times the fish are in the deep guts or deep channel swings in the Winter and move into the timber on transitions, bluffends and major creek or cove mouths.

Warming water and bright sunny days bring these fish into these locations and as we have called them before fish travel lanes or highways.  At the time of the year you are coming there will be fish on everything you mentioned to be caught as you mentioned.  There will also be deep staging LM mostly that can be caught by deep swimming.

As has been stated here many times, on the White River Chain there are always deep fish and there are always shallow fish.  Now thru March is a chance to catch big pre-spawn LM that stage in these locations.  It is also if you can get the right conditions to fish a float-n-fly to the same fish.  The floater only gets down 15' to 20' but it catches the same type of fish as deep swimming.  Big pre-spawners.

If you notice and I think most missed it, thinking Donna had on a Ned Rig, I don't believe she did when she caught that big 5 plus pounder.  Looked to me like she was deep swimming a C-tail.  Don't let James fool you to thinking he only throws a blade or a Ned.  He knows about staging fish and I think they were on them day before yesterday.  Just my thoughts.

Bill Anderson our old lake biologist once told me there are fish here that never go really shallow, they live in deep water and spawn in deep water.  They move and chase shad, they eat blue gill and they most never approach the bank.  Lots of these are LM as well as K's.  Lots of those are what we are targeting now.  3 of the 5 fish we weighed in Sunday were caught with our boat in 90' of water and the fish were suspended in about 30'  They were our 3 biggest fish, with two of them being LM.

Good Luck

[dtrs5kprs]

Donna's not going to let you have any tater salad after that.

[dtrs5kprs]

32 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

Bill Anderson our old lake biologist once told me there are fish here that never go really shallow, they live in deep water and spawn in deep water.  They move and chase shad, they eat blue gill and they most never approach the bank.  Lots of these are LM as well as K's.  Lots of those are what we are targeting now.  3 of the 5 fish we weighed in Sunday were caught with our boat in 90' of water and the fish were suspended in about 30'  They were our 3 biggest fish, with two of them being LM.

Good Luck

Think this is even more accurate, post virus. Seems like it just culled out the largemouth that were "wired" to stay shallow.

[rps]

On a related note - back in the 50's and 60's, savvy anglers used the twin spin blade bait to slow roll through deep timber during the winter and pre spawn period. I remember the method was featured on one of the early fishing shows, although I cannot remember if it was Virgil Ward or Harold Ensley. Later people began to use a short arm single blade like the Scorpion. Be aware the twin spins fall upright and are less likely to snag. The method still works.

[dtrs5kprs]

1 minute ago, rps said:

On a related note - back in the 50's and 60's, savvy anglers used the twin spin blade bait to slow roll through deep timber during the winter and pre spawn period. I remember the method was featured on one of the early fishing shows, although I cannot remember if it was Virgil Ward or Harold Ensley. Later people began to use a short arm single blade like the Scorpion. Be aware the twin spins fall upright and are less likely to snag. The method still works.

Tailspins too. If you are nice to them, they will sometimes bounce loose easier, with all the weight.

[Smithvillesteve]

Bill! Couldnt you wait until after the OA tournament to post that info!!!!  Good information as always. I guess i just dont have the patience or whatever to do that. I am willing to bottom bounce baits in 35 fow at Table Rock. I havent fished the deep 50-60 fow with a swimming grub, spoon, A-rig etc. Guess i need to get out of the box a little bit!!

[gitnby]

pumping a spoon through the treetops can work in the same way

long cast and let it flutter down and then yo-yo it back to the boat

Bill Beck showed me that trick many years ago