Get a fluxgate compass on your graph, go downwind then point your header line at your waypoint, then cast away.

It just depends on how deep the top of the hump, point, brush pile and ditch bank is. They are all marked differently.
- First of all I never idle over the fish in less than 20 ft. of water to drop a marker.
- Hump: I want my marker on the shallowest part of the hump. I will do this by drifting with the wind and put it in place. When the boat drifts off the hump in deeper water I will get to work on the deepest contour holding fish that I found while idling around the hump. I fish for them by dragging a C-Rig all the way around the hump staying on that contour. If that is at 20 ft. I circle the hump while dragging and staying at that depth. When I get bit, I throw a marker toward the shallower water as far as I can throw it to mark the general location that the fish was caught. This allows me to return in a few minutes as I like to change directions on them hoping for a better presentation.
- Points: I will again drift to put out the markers. I want 3 markers out at about the 10 ft. depth. One toward the end of the point and one on each side of the point at this same depth. This helps in determining the irregular features that a point may have; as you will quickly notice when you are staying on a 20 ft. contour then begin to move off and away from the buoy, this gives you a visual in determining that there is a irregular feature that sticks out on the side of the point. You will get the same visual when running across any gouge in the point that takes you toward the marker. You are going to find your fish on the steepest drop that the point has to offer or the best irregular feature on one side or the other of the point.
- Brush Pile: I always want the marker off the pile on the down wind side of the pile. I do not want the wind pushing the marker over the pile and want the line drifting away from the pile. I will first fish the shallow side of the pile as I want to position my boat there if possible. I like to fish brush piles up hill from deep to shallow.
- Ditch Banks and Ledges: Ditch banks that are lined with trees gives you a great visual and no marker is needed. Some time it may be necessary if there is a sharp bend in the creek that must be marked because the brush has been washed away or knocked down by high water. The inside bends are most productive for me, as they will provide a small flat that provides a natural route for big bass to move shallow to feed. So get those bends marked when there are no shore line visual indication of a flat being present on the inside bend of the creek. When possible clip up and fan fish by casting and searching for any and all cover along the lip of the ditch as well as up on the flat. Bass that are moving from their comfort zone to the shallows to feed use every piece of cover along that route to ambush from. You have to drag through those to get bit.

Ditches and creeks in open water are a must to drop buoys along the drop showing the ins and outs that the vertical bank is taking. Again Bass will group up on that small irregular feature of the ditch bank when you find it. I love open water ditch or creek banks with rock; so place a buoy about every 30 yards to gain those visuals on great underwater features when you find one. This is mostly your deepest water fishing where the ledge of the creek which actually forms a wall extends out into the lake and gets deeper and deeper. This is where most of your DD disappear to after the shallow water feed and at night. Slow rolling one of my 1 oz. deep ledge spinner baits along the top of the ledge at night is just awesome.

I would like to know when to bring your bait up the point and when to bring the bait down the point. Do you sit your boat in deep water, cast, and then bring your bait down, or do you sit in shallow water, cast, and bring your bait up? How do you figure out when to do that?

Also, I usually mark the exact spot on my Lowrance where I see the fish or cover/structure. Why would you wanna mark it anywhere else but where the fish or structure/cover is? I just mark it and then back off and cast to it. Is that not what you're supposed to do?!

Fishing uphill or downhill is just personal preference and falls in there with what you have confidence with. The more deep water fishing you do will set that preference. When I find fish on a point they are always holding on an irregular feature. Many times they are scattered along this contour. I do very little casting for them unless they are shallow to 10 ft.. I like to drift and control the boat with the trolling motor staying along that contour. I start with the deeper contour holding fish first and if that is in 30 ft. of water there want be any casting to them. By the time the bait gets to the bottom then is is time to bring it up again; so I drag for them with a C-Rig or I long line a DD-22.

Fishing uphill and downhill is usually done all in one setting to find out what they like best many times. I keep positioning the boat on shallower fish that can be cast to; determining the direction they want the bait traveling to get the best bite and get them fired up; then it really doesn't matter once that happens.

On using a marker: I am just old school and like to have that surface visual if possible. I like those markers to give me a general area and distance that I have to cover and it is a great help in keeping up with where that fish was that bit. I have out lots of line using a light C-Rig. I also mark the fish once I find them and back off to fish for them. When this is in really deep water at 30 ft. or even 20 ft. I have found casting is not a good option for me. I want my lure in the water at all times and work my way back and forth through the fish passing over them in deep water. If they are shallow holding to a bush or tree in 10 ft. of water on the end of a point then they will be caught by casting to them.

I love this topic. I have so much to learn... I practice this quite a bit but I just need more confidence. I see fish all the time but never know if they are bass and I do catch some good ones off shore every now and then but I almost feel like I get lucky more than utilizing my skills. There are few road beds on Fork that I will fish religiously I just use my graph to stay on point. Honestly I use my graph to look for baitfish and structure more than fish. If I find balls of bait near a brush or rock pile, I will fish it for awhile.

Great way to do it Slade. I like to fish the last bushes on a point or flat. That is where all of it is happening.

Donald, As you know there is not much out there like the bite on a 1 once deep running spinnerbait. Man that is fun.

How deep will you fish the 1oz spinnerbait?

Great info on this thread, thanks!

I read that one person reported that they looked for suspended fish on the points. I guess suspended could mean a foot off the bottom but I have had little luck getting those fish that seem to be at the midpoint of the water column. Do yall sit on those fish and wait for them to move down in the water column where they are more catchable or skip to the next point.

Any advice or how to deal with those dreaded suspended fish out on the offshore structure would be much appreciated.

CD

Long lining and go as deep as I have to to get to the ledge. Most of the deep fish live on those ledges with scattered cover on top of the ledge. Most of the DD on Amistad at night and day have come out of 20 to 30 feet when the grass was that tall and setting right on the ledge dropping into even deeper water.

I will always give it a try with deep diving crank baits. If you get lucky and fire up that school then it is on. Most of the lime like you said it is a waste of time to fish for the fish that are suspended over deep water. If you will pay attention to this, look at the depth finder, say those fish are suspended off that point in 25 ft. of water. You can bet that run of fish will connect to the point at 25 ft. and that is the contour you need to be fishing out and around that point. If they are suspend at 15 ft. then that is the magic depth on the point to be fishing.

I run from one cove to another and watch the depth finder for suspended fish especially in the fall, as I am running even in 50 or 60 ft. going back to the back. If I am seeing fish suspended at 15 ft. then that is the depth I am going to look for them connected to the points in that cove.

Deep water fish are in their comfort zone usually and not feeding unless they are on large bait balls, which never last very long for me. I might catch one or two small fish then they are gone. What I am looking for is a ledge with as much cover on top of it or a slope with heavy cover. Find the fish suspended in that cover and you have found where they live and they are easily caught. Without this cover they only feed certain times of the day or night and as a rule will not bite unless you can get them fired up. I do not have the patience to do that and the wind usually makes it tough to do.

Very good thread would like to hear more opinions and strategies on this..