Entry 196-4

How Mr. Money Finds Bass in Three Stories of Water

Part 4: Suspended Bass in the Middle Story

When the water in the lake or the river you’re fishing begins falling, then search for suspended fish. As water falls, bass will pull out to the shallow water and tend to suspend – maybe over 20 feet of water. For example, when bass come out of the shallow water and suspend under floating boat docks where the bass may be holding only 3-feet deep, the water’s depth may be 10- to 20-feet deep. Bass also may move out on points, where you’ll locate them at 5-feet deep but holding above a 20- or 30-foot bottom.

You can locate these suspended bass holding over deeper water with your depth finder and by experimenting with various baits at different levels to pinpoint where the fish are concentrating. The water level greatly impacts where bass concentrate. When the water’s rising, the bass will be swimming around, trying to find new water. If the water’s falling, they’ll be suspended. If the water’s falling, the bass tend to move away from the banks and the pockets and out to the middles of the pockets and suspend on or over some type of cover. Or, they’ll move onto the points and suspend over the points, under floating boat docks and suspend there, or out of submerged bushes and tree tops and suspend under them.

The water level and whether it’s rising or falling is a main way to determine where the bass are, and what they’re doing. Too, the bass will suspend above submerged bushes and treetops because they like to sunbathe. Early in the year, if the bass are holding on submerged brush or cover, and one of those pretty days with high sky and warm weather occurs, often the bass will swim out of those thick-cover bushes and suspend above them to soak up the heat from the sun.

This weather condition can be difficult for catching bass, if you’re flipping or pitching to the brush. Then you’re casting directly at the bass and probably will spook them. A better tactic to use when bass are suspending above the cover or on points is to cast past where you think the fish are holding and then bring the lure up to the spot where the bass are to keep from spooking the bass. So, when you’re attempting to catch suspended bass, cast past them, and then pull the lure toward them.

When I’m fishing bushes for suspended bass, my favorite lure is the floating worm. I can cast past where the fish are holding, bring the floating worm to where I think the bass are concentrating and let the worm sit there until the bass comes up and eats it. Another great lure to use for suspended bass is the Wild Shiner jerkbait from Strike King. I’ll cast it past where I think the bass are, jerk it up to where I think the fish are holding and then wait for a bass to take the jerkbait. When you’re fishing on a windy day for suspended bass, a spinner bait also can be deadly effective, if you’ll swim it near where the fish are holding and then past them.

Bass like to suspend under floating boat docks because these docks provide shade, especially when the weather’s very sunny with a high sky, and usually a large number of minnows will be feeding on the algae under the boat dock. On a cloudy day, you more than likely won’t catch as many bass around boat docks as you will on sunny days. If bass don’t have much bank structure to hold on, even on a slightly-cloudy day, I’ll start with a spinner bait from the back of the boat dock and run that spinner bait through several different stories of the boat dock’s water. One of my favorite tricks is to cast the spinner bait to the back of the boat dock and let it fall all the way to the bottom. Then I’ll pull my boat around to the other side of that floating dock. Because my bait has sunk, I can swim my spinner bait all the way to the top of the water under that floating dock.

I’ll also use a trick worm, a crankbait and/or a Wild Shiner to catch those suspended bass. To take suspended bass on a jerkbait like the Wild Shiner, my number-one bait for catching suspended bass under a floating dock on a windy day, you have to know that bass position themselves so that they’re looking in the direction that the wind’s blowing into the boat dock. Generally the bass will be holding on the upwind side of a floating boat dock, and that’s where I’ll fish the Wild Shiner. On cloudy days, I don’t think bass suspend; I just think they’re roaming the banks looking for something to eat. On those windy, cloudy days, I’ll fish a spinner bait or a crankbait down the bank.

Next: Bottom Bass and Other Keys to Pinpointing Bass

Contents:

• Part 1: George Cochran’s Fishing Philosophy
• Part 2: The Quickest Way to Find Bass
• Part 3: Fishing Shallow Water
• Part 4: Suspended Bass in the Middle Story
• Part 5: Bottom Bass and Other Keys to Pinpointing Bass