How do yall attack deep structure in a lake without a clean bottom, ie covered in that black mossy muck? I was very frustrated today as jigs, crankbaits, c-rig were all covered up. Drop shot is my only answer I just have difficulty catching anything over 1.5 pounds on drop shot. Thanks.

A splitshot rig might work as well, dunno. The drop shot is oen of the best ways to catch fish in that type of cover. I might run a CB down until you feel like you are getting close and then SLOW DOWN the retrieve, to a crawl. Has worked welll for me in past instances like you are getting. Hope this helps. Tight lines, keep safe and good luck. OH, try a deep running SB right above the bottom, too, works great if they are located on teh bottom.

Thad Rains

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Both techniques work well but they are different in their presentation. Always try both to see what the fish want.

I need more information on this Mossy Muck you are speaking of?
- Is this on shore?
- Is it tall matted Hydrilla?
- Is it over 20 ft. of water?
- Are you casting to it from the deep water position or trying to fish it from the shoreline?
- At what depth does the Mossy Muck end and clean water begin?

thanks Don for your help!!!

How do you guys work your c-rig? Drag along the bottom or pop the rod tip up a few times nd reel and repeat?

Phenomenal post!!! This belongs in a FAQs section somewhere...

I use as light of a Crig as I can get by with. I have 4 in the boat with all weights pegged and no clickers or beads.
- 1/2 oz. short rig for casting Brush Hogs and slow rolling it off the shallow, across rock points, down the slopes, and parallel with the ledges sometime. Keeping it in contact with the bottom and creeping it along slowly.
- 1/8 oz. short rig for casting stream line baits like Senko's, Flukes, and Grande Ring Fries around heavy grass and heavy shoreline rock. On a calm day I will also drag this light rig on the contour at 20 ft. working the last bit of cover that is there on lakes that are full of water.
- 3/8 oz. medium length rig for dragging in deep water on fairly calm days using a smaller wide gap hook to accommodate Baby Brush Hogs, Trick Worms and small swim worms.
- 1/2 oz. Long rig for dragging on controlled drifts alone the rubble pilled on the edge of the channels as pictured above. It is rigged with Braid to work the long line technique and to get the long line hook set. I use the heavy wire hook in wide gap for the larger baits for deep water like the Big Brush Hog and larger worms.

When dragging I want the bait to be at rest as much as possible for as long as possible on the 20 ft. Irregular contours. As you take the boat in and out on this contour around points, protrusions and into gouges with lots of line out the depth that the bait is in changes with the long lining on contours. It come across high ground then works it way down into the deeper water between one point and the next one coming up. You are hitting lots of different depths as you follow a contour line with a Crig.. This is what makes it such an excellent choice for dragging behind the boat if you are in the back seat all day long.

This is great information. Thank you to all who have contributed.

When casting, do you cast to the hump, or parallel with the slope?

When fishing 20�, what depth crankbait would you throw on 12lb line?

To be truly effective in getting the fish to bite you have to be prepaired to cast in every direction until you find what they are wanting.
- To the top of the slope and work it down hill toward deep water.
- Parallel with the contour, especially if there is a huge Irregular feature involved there like a small rock cropping, short ledge, heavy cover on the lip of the drop and etc..
- If there is deep water around the hump drag your way around it. If that doesn't work get on top of it, making long cast to deep water and drag it up hill from deep to shallow.

As you are driving around the lake you may notice lots of suspended fish everywhere and they are all at the same depth. I will have a crank bait tied on that will run to that depth. Let's say that is 12 ft.. Fish are suspended at 12 ft. everywhere. They will connect to these irregular features at the 12 ft. line on points and etc.. Otherwise I will use a 20 ft. deep diving bait that will stay in contact with the bottom as quickly as possible. You can control that bait with the angle of the rod and speed of retrieve.

So when do you guys move to fishing deeper water like this?

So did I learn anything or totally miss the boat (pun intended).

The red circles would be where I would fish based on what I digested from the discussion above.

To the hump and drag down the slope, or across the hump and drag up one slope and down the other depends on how big the hump is. Usually if they are feeding they will be on top of the hump. If I'm targeting fish in 20fow I'm most of the time going to opt for a 8xd or a 10xd. A 6xd will get there but you are going to need a really long cast and your bait will not be in the strike zone as long as the 8xd or the 10xd. I have also been fishing the 6th sense Cloud 9 cranks they have them up in c15/c20 and c25 its honestly a better big crank than a strike king 10xd/8xd because it comes in higher quality paint jobs, has sharp hooks already and is about $5 cheaper

Now