Texas Fishing Forum

Offshore bass fishing

Posted By: Ryan T

Offshore bass fishing - 12/28/16 10:49 PM

I feel like there are more and larger fish offshore all year than shallow. I personally want to become a better offshore angler. What are some of yalls techniques that you use to catch fish offshore?
Posted By: Douglas J

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/28/16 10:57 PM

Two of the most important aspects are to learn the body of water you are on and learn to use your electronics to find structure and fish.

To me off shore fish are a lot of the time easier to catch than shallow fish
Posted By: bigbass94

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/28/16 11:20 PM

I'd have to say my most favorite technique would be throwing an underspin with a small paddle tail swimbait on the back. However, my most productive technique is throwing a jerkbait on rocky points. Learning to read the landscape of your lake will help you out tremendously when offshore fishing. Go to a lake that has lots of fish and has good structural features and go from there. I say go to a lake that has lots of fish because the more you catch, the higher your confidence gets. Maybe try a power plant lake. Those are usually good for numbers. Start with points, I think they're the easiest pieces of structure to fish.
Posted By: Jarrett Latta

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 12:07 AM

Crig and football jig
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 12:27 AM

I find them shallow to mid range first; then I track them to where they live. Let me know if you need some help with that and I will try to deliver some screen shots with explanations.
Posted By: Motomax

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 04:20 AM

Donald Harper, if you wouldn't mind I could use some help with that and some screen shots.
Posted By: stratos caster

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 07:52 AM

I look at it like a parking lot(the structure) you have four or five cars parked there and one truck.The odds are if there are several people there most of them will be gathered at the truck. You just need to find the truck (the key piece of cover). As Jeret stated the crig is a good way to check these spots, and points are some of the best parking lots.
Posted By: the skipper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 12:40 PM

Learn your electronics and learn your electronics. Like Latta said, a c rig and a t rig are the 2 best weapons out there. Once you get bit throw some different stuff to expand your bait selection.
Posted By: the skipper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 12:43 PM

Learn your electronics and learn your electronics. Like Latta said, a c rig and a t rig are the 2 best weapons out there. Once you get bit throw some different stuff to expand your bait selection.
Posted By: BMCD

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 03:02 PM

I'd highly suggest someone like Clark Reehm for a learning trip.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 04:14 PM

These are some things that I have observed over the years. Hope it will help someone understand how they come and go.

From Shallow to Deep:

The whole purpose of Shallow Water Mapping is to find the fish that you are going to search for later after you find the 3 best shallow water spots on your lake. My goal is to give you this start by helping you recognize the cove, creeks, flats, and structure that is required to find bigger Bass. Once you learn this you will have no trouble following them to their comfort zones as mentioned below.

In most reservoirs, bass reside on ledges and drop-offs adjacent to shallow-water feeding grounds. They travel along these areas in search of food. On the deep side of the ledge or drop-off, bass experience comfortable temperatures and better oxygen levels. The depth provides shelter while the shallow side provides food sources such as Minnows, Bluegill, Night Crawlers and Crayfish. To determine where to start your search, look for ledges and drop-offs with a significant edge. The faster the drop from shallow feeding grounds to deep water, the more comfortable a bass feels in its environment.

Fishing the channels, will help you recognize the important factors in deciding which areas should be most productive. Fishing at a depth of 8 to 15 ft. on the lip or edge of the channel is the more productive depth that you will find these comfort zones. A good map then should be used to see where the channels are located in various coves and regions of the lake.

Remember the pH scale? Bass are found in pH near 7. The cheapest one is the Color C Selector. Bass can tolerate pH from 5 to 8.5, and they can grow and be caught in waters throughout that range. The pH in many renowned Texas Bass lakes is 6 to 6.5.

Fact: Bass live where they have favorable temperature, adequate oxygen, and appropriate cover (which could be reduced light). They feed where the forage is. The bass’ life is good when their resting and feeding habitat is the same. As long as ample forage is in shallow water, some bass will be there, no matter what season; but a lot of forage fish move to deeper water to find their preferred temperature or comfort zone.

We are looking for flats and other locations with deep water nearby. Experience has taught me that the fish will move off toward deeper water as fall turns into winter. Huge Bass will not move any farther than they have to, however.

If Bass are on the top of a hump, I will look for them alongside of that same hump. If they were feeding up on a point in shallow water, I will follow that same point out to where it drops off into a channel or a breakline.

For safety and to preclude outside disturbance, bass will always move back to positions near deeper water when not actively pursuing food. This depth range, as I stated before, is usually between eight and 15 feet. Therefore, the most potentially productive ledges will be within that range. I think isolated cover is always "the deal," but that's especially true after a cold front. It doesn't matter whether you're fishing deep or shallow, wood or grass, clear or dirty water, postfrontal bass are going to be holding around isolated cover.

The terms 'cover' and 'structure' are NOT synonymous. They are different features. The potential of a given structure feature can be reasonably determined by: The nearby availability of 25 feet or more of depth; And, the 'steepness' of the drop-off associated with the access to that depth.

Cover consists of weeds, brush, grass or timber, and is used for ambush. It is not used for his protection. Bass will develop a route from there comfort zone moving from one piece of cover to another until they have fed up then return. Sometime they have to continue along this route all the way to the shoreline. Structure is for resting, comfort, security and for feeding just outside of the cover. The best of two worlds is finding a piece of structure as shallow as possible with cover on it. Now we have them cornered.

A productive structure feature is one which provides ready availability of food or serves as a reference point during periods of inactivity. In most cases, the bigger bass will be found on the best piece of structure that has cover and baitfish.

When a bass experiences fear or senses danger, his instinctive reaction is to dash for deep water.

Unless actively feeding, a bass will always hold near the edge of the drop into deep water.

Of all available structure features, ledges and drops are the most common AND the most continuously productive.

A `drop' is a contour change resulting in deeper water and has a downwards angler of decent of 30 degrees, or more. Any change less than 30 degrees is considered a slope and will not be as productive.

A `ledge' is the upper lip, or edge, of a drop.

While ledges and drops usually exist throughout a body of water, those associated with submerged channels and the deepest water in the area are always more consistently productive.

Ledges are a strange beast—sometimes you can fish a mile without any bites, then find several quality schools of bass in the next mile.

The next phase of locating our potential 'honey holes' is to back away from the old channels and look for similar contour variations and cover features in back-water sections of the lake or river. Apply the same rationale as before, but be especially conscious of the proximity of the deepest available water. This is where I do my shallow water mapping.

The quickest way to locate good ledges and drops is to consult a well-defined topographical map. I will start your map analysis near river and feeder creek channels and look for strong bottom irregularities and rapid contour (depth) changes. I will key in on those that fall within the 8-15 foot range. You will survey the general area for indications of cover close by as you fish these spots. The final step becomes to prioritize the list. To do this, I select the locations with the sharpest drop-off and deepest adjacent water and number them. Then they are rated using about 25 different factors that make a spot the best it can be. You now have a plan of attack which has been thought out in a logical manner. I primarily rely on my instincts when locating big Bass year round.

I find a lot more fish with a rod and reel than I do with a depth finder, I’ve idled over places that look okay without many fish, then turn around and absolutely wear them out. If I passed it over, I would have never caught them.

Spend some time learning where they are on your favorite lake and start with small areas that you have selected from my mapping. You cannot absorb the layout for the whole lake all at once. Just remember few fish are caught while you are running the boat from place to place.


Your goal is to find the best 3 shallow water spots on your lake. Your next goal is to find the best 3 second drop spots by fishing all the cover between the shallows and the bass's comfort zone. Your third goal is to find the 3 best ledges which will keep you on those bass as they return to their home environment and comfort zone. Having these 9 areas to fish each day whether your in a tournament of fun fishing is a must.
Posted By: Mudman63

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 07:11 PM

Excellent analysis, Mr. Harper.
Posted By: tin man 55

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 07:33 PM

great analysis Mr. Harper! Can we take it to a real world situation? I was at Monticello yesterday - my first time. I was prepared for hydrilla and lily pads, but according to a "local", they have been spraying the lake for the last couple of weeks, and everything is now dead. Only the lily pad stalks are left.

The structure in the lake has been mostly filled in over the years from silt; there is still structure but most of the creek channels are gentle drop-offs rather than steep banks.

We caught some fish in the old pad stems (cover), and a few off a point (structure). I struggled with what would the bass do; their lily pad cover and hydrilla cover was recently destroyed, so what would they adapt to now?
Posted By: Motomax

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 07:59 PM

Outstanding information. I will apply this tomorrow. Thank you very much
Posted By: ReeceKennedy

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 08:00 PM

So when you fish a new lake, do you usually start shallow, and work your way to deeper water?
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/29/16 11:53 PM

I pick the best 60 spots on the lake shallow. I fish many of them more than once because the rating system I use will grade about 20 of those spots as excellent and will give them more than one chance to produce depending on the weather and lake conditions each trip. It takes about one year to fish all those spots thoroughly and will give me the best 3 shallow water spots on the lake. Then I go to work on the 3 best mid-range spots starting with those top 3 shallow water spots. I will eventually have the best 3 mid-range spots to go with the 3 shallow water spot. Next comes the deep water spots; utilizing the 6 spots found both shallow and Mid-Range. Finding the 3 best deep water spots also takes another year of hard fishing, driving and graphing. When finished you have 9 spots to fish each day. I never hammer the fish. I go through those 9 spots and take what I can get, leaving many good fish for the next time. Yes, I could set on them and probably come up with a winning stringer; but a couple of days like that, then you want have a spot. I work through all 60 spots for each of the 3 levels of fishing to come up with the 9 best spots that will produce Shallow to Deep fish.
Posted By: Hook'em79

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 01:32 PM

Mr. Harper

You are truly a class act. Your posts are always so helpful and a pleasure to read. Guys like you are what make this forum so great.


Thanks.
Posted By: Kens3313

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 03:48 PM

Great write up Mr. Harper thanks for the great info. I also want to be better at offshore fishing. I always find fishin on my graph on ledge or creek channel, mark it and fish it and seems like it never works out. Very seldom it has.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 04:18 PM

Originally Posted By: Kens3313
Great write up Mr. Harper thanks for the great info. I also want to be better at offshore fishing. I always find fishin on my graph on ledge or creek channel, mark it and fish it and seems like it never works out. Very seldom it has.


It is not only about finding them deep like you have found them. Now you have to find the top of the slope with heavy cover on it. That is their first stop when they make a move to feed. If there is no heave cover only a few feet away from where they are suspended in the ditch or off that ledge then you may want to look for a spot that does. You can waist a lot of time trying to force feed fish that do not have cover to get around. Getting the Big Bite is all about cover on the top edge of that ledge. All they have to do to get a bite to eat is move 10 ft. in and out of it or up the ledge to that cover. Look for big piles of rocks that is different from the rest of the surrounding rock. Look for tall bushes on the top of the ledge. Look for stumps/hardwoods or heavy grass at the top of the ledge. The magic depth in the back 1/3 of most creeks is 12 to 15 ft. of water. Side Scan and Side Scan some more until you find a spot with cover on top of these comfort zones. Those fish are close to where ever they go to feed and the less distance they have to travel the better they like the good life. You can bet their first stopping place to ambush is very close by. Find the fish then find the sweet spot they go to first. Then learn to position your boat to sit close to it but not on it. I will keep going back every hour on the hour once I find such a spot until I learn the time table the Bass are using to feed.
What makes this so hard is, that many huge fish are nocturnal and you will never figure out why they are not in that cove. I have found some of the most excellent spots on Falcon, Amistad and Ivie to learn they are using them at night when we are not there.
Posted By: Texascajun69

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 04:43 PM

Excellent write up Mr. Harper. Now if only we could get the fish to read. smile. The truth is the fish don't have the reasoning to know what a PH is, they don't know that a mile away there is a really good drop off. They don't know there is clear water if they go 2 miles down the lake. I think your write up is really excellent; but, the one thing missing in all of this is the baitfish. The elite pros will all tell you they look for the baitfish first and then look for the bass.

The bass DO KNOW where the baitfish are and they follow them. It is the baitfish that determines what area of a lake or what part of a ledge the fish will position on. Once the bass have found something to eat they will move to all of the situations and conditions you mentioned. It is the bass fish that will position the fish.

Again, This was a great write up. I also agree about fishing repositioning at night. Many people know water vegetation generates oxygen during the day, but few people realize it removes oxygen from the water at night. This low oxygen level causes the baitfish and bream to leave the cover of the grass and move into open water and I firmly believe this is why a certain spot on a ridge will produce only at night.

Great write up
Posted By: Mudman63

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 04:54 PM

Great discussion guys. One other point for consideration, I think what Mr. Harper has not specifically said is that these key structural areas are key for a reason. They contain a healthy ecosystem that attracts and retains food sources on a consistent basis. My take is that the bass use these areas because baitfish make their way across the structure on a regular basis and the bass know this. So they don't really need to move off of good structure to continue to feed, they simply wait out the movement of baitfish to feed. Also, good ecosystems contain other food sources, like crayfish.

My $0.02. Tight lines.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 05:12 PM

Excellent points Texascajun69. These Old Big Bass know everything as they have seen it all and experienced it all through out their early life. I am a firm believer that when they get to a certain age and weight that they stop moving around so much. If you want to catch numbers then yes certainly look for bait fish and follow them in those areas that you have had the most productivity in.

I have been very successful with finding exact spots where big fish live and do not move from those spots except to feed on a short route toward the shore. When they have feed up they return. It takes a couple of years to do what I do to locate these spots. For those wanting to find fish of many sizes then following bait balls is another way to do it. If there are big fish lurking around those balls you can bet they are living close by. If the cover exist close by then those Big Bass know that the bait is going to use that cover also sometime during the day or night. Driving down that same ditch in deep water and finding bait would definitely produce a big fish on occasion that lives in that area. Big Bass do not like the chasing of the yearling Bass and will separate themselves just under or off the side staying close to there cover and ambush what ever is left over.

In other words I am targeting a Bass's home grounds that she has chosen for the rest of her life and will not leave it unless something drastic takes place like a 10 year drought.
Posted By: TBassYates

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 05:13 PM

Great information. One thing that I really noticed back in my Fork days when fishing with some different guides on offshore structure was how well some of them could read the fish. After you find productive areas and even if you see fish learning how fish position themselves in areas and near structure will tell you if it is a spot to fish or pass up for the time being and return later. I was amazed at how many times I would see fish, and sometimes big fish and would ask if we were going to stop and fish and be told that we would be wasting our time like Mr. Harper said trying to force feed a fish suspended and not feeding. Then we would run up on a hump or drop off and we would graph and I would be told this was the spot. Seems like so many times we would fish and immediately start catching fish because of the persons knowledge of reading feeding fish at the spot.
Some people I know who aren't anglers don't have a concept of what bass fishing actually involves and is the main reason why it has been such an obsession of mine for so long. Also explains why some people are also better than others because of the knowledge they have in learning everything involved with catching fish.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 05:31 PM

Good job. Glad you was able to experience that first hand. Nothing like being in the boat with an old guide that knows his business. Wish I would have learned those things. It would have saved so much time. All I new was that they were there and it was for a reason. I didn't take long to know if they were in or at the edge of the cover they could be caught. If they were suspended I left the area.

I have noticed that many suspended fish will be connected at that same depth; say on the side or end of a point. When I am seeing suspended fish all up and down that ditch at the same depth then I will fish the points at that depth. When they do feed they will move straight into those points at that depth and start feeding. If I am seeing many fish at 15 feet all over that cove that is the depth I will fish points and drops.
Posted By: Texascajun69

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 09:18 PM

Donald you are absolutely correct about big bass being home bodies and not moving much. Years ago John Hope was putting transmitters in big bass and tracking their movements. He had a 12 lb. bass he tagged at Jackson Hill and released. The fish swam about 1/2 mile out in 30 ft. of water and suspended about 15 ft. down. There wasn't any type of structure around or any irregularities. The same time every afternoon she would start moving very slowly to the bank on the south point out of Jackson hill to feed. She stayed at 15 ft. and when she hit the bank at this depth would slowly move back and forth feeding. When full she swam back out to almost the exact spot and suspended.

John would sit in Jackson Hill marina and make a coke bet with people that in the evening he could tell within 5 minutes the time she would start to move. He says he never lost that bet. He firmly believed it had to do with the angle of the sun. He once tracked her repeatedly swimming directly under 2 different boats. They were throwing to the bank and willows and she was swimming directly under them in 15 ft. of water. He said he tried to catch this fish while she was suspended and never had any success. She used the 15 ft. break line as her feeding ground where she was probably catchable.

John published a monthly article in Honey Hole Magazine for a long time about his findings and to me they were remarkable. Sadly TP&W got this tracking practice outlawed except for "Licensed" individuals so we don't see this scientific studies anymore.
Posted By: Donald Harper

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/30/16 09:48 PM

Thanks for the info.. I probably should have read some of those books. I am not a reader and have never read any of the great books that are out there. That is my loss; so I would suggest to all our young fisherman to gather them up and read them. It will save you a ton of time in some aspects. Above all most of them; I have been told will change your whole perspective toward fish.

There is a lot of difference in Book Knowledge and self learned knowledge through fishing with some of the best and against the best. It has got to be better to do a little of both; as in do all the reading you can and fish with the best ever chance you get. Seek out those that are the best in the techniques of which you are the weakest and get on the water with those people as often as you can.
Posted By: ReeceKennedy

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/31/16 12:47 AM

This is very helpful information for young guys like me moving from fishing neighborhood ponds to big lakes. Thank yall so much.
Posted By: Kens3313

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 12/31/16 06:20 PM

Originally Posted By: Texascajun69
Donald you are absolutely correct about big bass being home bodies and not moving much. Years ago John Hope was putting transmitters in big bass and tracking their movements. He had a 12 lb. bass he tagged at Jackson Hill and released. The fish swam about 1/2 mile out in 30 ft. of water and suspended about 15 ft. down. There wasn't any type of structure around or any irregularities. The same time every afternoon she would start moving very slowly to the bank on the south point out of Jackson hill to feed. She stayed at 15 ft. and when she hit the bank at this depth would slowly move back and forth feeding. When full she swam back out to almost the exact spot and suspended.

John would sit in Jackson Hill marina and make a coke bet with people that in the evening he could tell within 5 minutes the time she would start to move. He says he never lost that bet. He firmly believed it had to do with the angle of the sun. He once tracked her repeatedly swimming directly under 2 different boats. They were throwing to the bank and willows and she was swimming directly under them in 15 ft. of water. He said he tried to catch this fish while she was suspended and never had any success. She used the 15 ft. break line as her feeding ground where she was probably catchable.

John published a monthly article in Honey Hole Magazine for a long time about his findings and to me they were remarkable. Sadly TP&W got this tracking practice outlawed except for "Licensed" individuals so we don't see this scientific studies anymore.

This is a great story, ive always thought it would be cool track bass to see what they do each day.
Posted By: TBassYates

Re: Offshore bass fishing - 01/05/17 01:35 PM

We had John Hope at one of our bass club meetings many years ago and had a real casual question and answer session. It was really great to have him speak to us and give us so much of his knowledge he gained over all of his years of study on bass. His book The Lost Bass is a must read for every bass angler. I am going to look for my copy and read it again soon.
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