Mid Lake - Nov 17 - Deep bite with Damiki & Swimbait

[Dock-in-it]

I have fished several mornings this November and the deep bite is pretty good. I normally keep the boat in 30-60 FOW and the best baits have been a 2.75 Damiki style bait and a 2.8 Keitech. I look for areas with trees and shad. The fish do not seem to be interested in a spoon or ice jig, but the water temperature probably needs to drop several degrees (currently 60-62).

Right at daylight, the main activity is near the surface (3-15ft down) and once the sun gets high the bite is closer to the bottom. The fish suspended halfway down the water column are tough to catch because they do not seem to be interested in feeding. 

The Damiki and Keitech can both be worked horizontal and vertical, one of my best trips involved jigging the Keitech with 3/8oz jig head in 30-40ft where large schools were postured near the bottom. Drop speed can be the ticket that triggers bites, so I use jig heads in 3/8 to 5/8 range.

There is an abundance of 8-13" fish so that looks good for the future keeper stock. 

Most trips produce a high percentage of K's but this morning included a few good LM.

 

 

 

[Champ188]

2 hours ago, Dock-in-it said:

I have fished several mornings this November and the deep bite is pretty good. I normally keep the boat in 30-60 FOW and the best baits have been a 2.75 Damiki style bait and a 2.8 Keitech. I look for areas with trees and shad. The fish do not seem to be interested in a spoon or ice jig, but the water temperature probably needs to drop several degrees (currently 60-62).

Right at daylight, the main activity is near the surface (3-15ft down) and once the sun gets high the bite is closer to the bottom. The fish suspended halfway down the water column are tough to catch because they do not seem to be interested in feeding. 

The Damiki and Keitech can both be worked horizontal and vertical, one of my best trips involved jigging the Keitech with 3/8oz jig head in 30-40ft where large schools were postured near the bottom. Drop speed can be the ticket that triggers bites, so I use jig heads in 3/8 to 5/8 range.

There is an abundance of 8-13" fish so that looks good for the future keeper stock. 

Most trips produce a high percentage of K's but this morning included a few good LM.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Dock-in-it said:

I have fished several mornings this November and the deep bite is pretty good. I normally keep the boat in 30-60 FOW and the best baits have been a 2.75 Damiki style bait and a 2.8 Keitech. I look for areas with trees and shad. The fish do not seem to be interested in a spoon or ice jig, but the water temperature probably needs to drop several degrees (currently 60-62).

Right at daylight, the main activity is near the surface (3-15ft down) and once the sun gets high the bite is closer to the bottom. The fish suspended halfway down the water column are tough to catch because they do not seem to be interested in feeding. 

The Damiki and Keitech can both be worked horizontal and vertical, one of my best trips involved jigging the Keitech with 3/8oz jig head in 30-40ft where large schools were postured near the bottom. Drop speed can be the ticket that triggers bites, so I use jig heads in 3/8 to 5/8 range.

There is an abundance of 8-13" fish so that looks good for the future keeper stock. 

Most trips produce a high percentage of K's but this morning included a few good LM.

 

 

 

Your ability to find and catch those quality deep fish is darn impressive. Appreciate you sharing as much info as you do. And if I'm not mistaken, you do this primarily with 2D sonar? No livescope?

[Dock-in-it]

I do use livescope, but 2D is excellent option for deep fall/winter fishing. I started to take a 2D picture this morning to prove the point....here is the scoop.

I normally go to spots where I keep my boat in a 1 or 2 acre boundary. I will move around and eventually almost every 'deep' fish in the area will be seen under the boat because they are also attracted to boat. The fish near the surface are chasing shad so I see those without the need for any graph.

If your in an area with lots of fish you have a better chance of triggering a bite fishing vertical under the boat because fish like to be triggered with up/down bait movement and a group of fish will react to aggressive vertical jigging and one of those fish will normally grab the bait.

This morning I was probably around a few hundred fish.

If you want to fish deep in the fall/winter and you have 2D, then consider thinking about the spawn. From November thru March, the deep fish will setup in areas that are tailored made for staging for the spawn.....just keep in mind you need food, trees, and spawning habitat.

 

 

[Champ188]

Great info and thank you much. As opposite as we are in fishing styles, we very much share one thing in common: We take our craft to another level when compared with the average angler. 
Anyone can spoon or swimbait up the occasional decent fish from the depths, but you consistently catch sacks that would walk away with many of the bigger derbies on TR. (Ain't it nice not to give a toot about that anymore? That crap ended a marriage, which in turn about ended me. God just wasn't ready for me yet.)
But I digress. My point is that you catch these fish by paying close attention to detail. Water depth, fish depth, shad depth ... then there's fall rate, retrieve speed, retrieve cadence ... Truthfully, that style of fishing isn't my favorite, to say the least. But I like catching fish more than fishing, so I've become reluctantly adequate at it. 🫤
Likewise, shallow fishing takes a lot more knoggin work than it first appears. Like your deep fish, details are critical. Boat position is everything. Wind direction (never fish WITH the wind unless it's howling 20-30 and you just cannot cast into it.). Slope of bank, rock formation (gravel? chunk? bluff?), wood present? Hardwood or cedar? Sky conditions ... sun position. And on and on. 

Livescope totally aside, and I think you'll agree, there are times you need to be looking at your graph(s). But you also gotta make time to look around you and start noting/soaking in some of the details all around you. 

[Dock-in-it]

Champ, speaking of paying attention to what's going around you. About 20-25 yrs ago Bill Babler had a website for his guide service and he would do a fishing report from time to time. It was probably in the April/May timeframe and the lake experienced lots of rain and was very stained....and I fished over the weekend. Bill comes out (let's say Monday) with a report that his guide trip caught 75 on a grub. 

So I am back at work and read this report. So I wrote him an email to ask how he caught 75 on a grub in the stained water. He wrote back and said the stain doesn't matter, you just have to pay attention to your surroundings. Then to make me feel better he said that someone in the network of brethren (guides) always figures them out. 

So to this day, I always pay attention to any surface activity...and whatever else is going on.

[Champ188]

17 hours ago, Dock-in-it said:

Champ, speaking of paying attention to what's going around you. About 20-25 yrs ago Bill Babler had a website for his guide service and he would do a fishing report from time to time. It was probably in the April/May timeframe and the lake experienced lots of rain and was very stained....and I fished over the weekend. Bill comes out (let's say Monday) with a report that his guide trip caught 75 on a grub. 

So I am back at work and read this report. So I wrote him an email to ask how he caught 75 on a grub in the stained water. He wrote back and said the stain doesn't matter, you just have to pay attention to your surroundings. Then to make me feel better he said that someone in the network of brethren (guides) always figures them out. 

So to this day, I always pay attention to any surface activity...and whatever else is going on.

Sounds like he got his info from Timmy Sainato or the late Buster Loving ---  couple of grub fishermen if there ever was one. 

I can assure you he did not get that info from me ... stained water after heavy rains would have me up in flooded backyards. Literally. LOL

[Bill Babler]

Don’t know how it is anymore, but networking between guides represented a huge part of their success. 

Loving, Tim Paige, Beck, Chris Tetrick, Pete were all ready to share back in the day. 

James  mentioned Tim Sainato, not so much there.  Timmy played it pretty close to the vest.  Always happy with any info. You could give him however😂😂😂

I got so lucky yesterday and stumbled into a total load of just those big ole grey /green K’s. 

Just because people can’t catch them doesn’t mean there is a lake wide shortage of 15+ inch spotted bass. 

Ran into a gentleman at the ramp when I was pulling out. His boat setup made my electronics gear look like an old bird flasher.  
It was getting dark and said he had been out since daylight and caught only 4 fish all day. 
Said he just bought a house here but the fishing was so poor he was considering selling it. 

Didn’t show him my thumb. 

70% of the fish weighed in at Table R. Tournaments are legal 15” plus spotted bass. They are truly a resource that few lakes have and should be cherished. 

Those big old fat 16/18” K’s provided this old man with an afternoon I’ll not soon forget  

Had one run me under the boat from right to left, jump twice on the back side of the boat then wrap around the trolling motor and break off. 

I got the giggles at my clown show and gave her a big salute. 

We have just had an August thru November fishery that this lake has not seen in 30 plus years.  Even in the 90’s we didn’t catch September fish like this year. 

Don’t touch this pond. It ain’t broke. 

Sorry to ramble on your thread Dock.