fishing for bass in slightly deeper water

[jeffo]

Hi guys,

Im a complete novice when it comes to fresh water fish so please excuse the silly questions (marlin are easier to find and hook than bloody bass).

I have been doing a bit of fishing at borumba and baroon pocket lately and seam to be able to get a few bas pretty easily on the troll (RMG poltergiest), but then when i turn to casting lures in the same area i struggle. I have been using spinner baits and jackels and as yet have only caught 2 fish on jackels and nothing on spinner baits.

Is the trick to let the lure sink all the way to the bottom before starting a retrieve? Do you just use a slow consistant wind for the spinner baits or are they better hopped along the bottom? what about the jackels?

Any tips you can give me for casting/jigging lures would be great as i would rather catch them that way than on the troll.

Cheers.

Jeff.

[Little grey men]

Bass swim in every inch of the water column, but most of mine come off the bottom using sinking lures that are hopped.
Different times of the year will see them favouring different depths. In the winter I get bass in deep water using metal slugs cast as far as I can from the bank. Most of these bass are schooled up and sitting very close to the bottom.
Bass don't like sunlight too much so generally in the morning they'll be closer to the edges of the dam. As the sun comes up they'll head out deeper. In the arvo they'll come back in again to have a sniff around. That's how they behave in Samsonvale...not sure about Borumba or Baroon as I haven't fished them yet.
When I use spinnerbaits I usually let them sink to the bottom. I work mine very slowly so they drag along the bottom. Sometimes I'll give them a little flick but most times just a very very slow retrieve is all you'll need. So slow that the blades just spin.
Use pauses on the spinnerbaits, bass will follow them but sometimes a pause is all that is need to make them hit. And use stinger hooks.
Dragging lures along the bottom will mean more snags but it will also mean more fish.
Jackalls are usually hopped along the bottom, if they are dragged too slowly they'll all snag. Work them as slow as you dare.
Try different retrieves as there's no set way to use these lures. Sometimes I'll rip the hell out them to get vibrations and noise to travel through the water.
Most times just a slow steady hop is what the bass want.

Good luck.

[Hardb8]

G'day Jeff,
No such thing as a silly question.We only know what we know,To be enlightened you NEED to ask about stuff.

Do a search in freshwater reports for Baroon,I think I've scribbled some stuff there that may help.

Some good stuff above this post also.

Regards. B8.

[BlitzBaga]

Blitz Bagas are back in, there are plenty of good ares aroung Somerset where good Bass are being caught, now that there is water in the dams again it's hard bodies all the way

Cheers
Murray

[2manylures]

I have been doing a bit of fishing at borumba and baroon pocket lately and seam to be able to get a few bas pretty easily on the troll (RMG poltergiest), but then when i turn to casting lures in the same area i struggle. I have been using spinner baits and jackels and as yet have only caught 2 fish on jackels and nothing on spinner baits.

Cheers.

Jeff.

Some very good advice already given Jeff.

Another thing to take into consideration is all diving lures will troll deeper than when cast and retrieved. Some by as much as twice the depth depending on drop back & boat/retrieve speed.