Threadfin shad at 20ft ??

I was out to a local lake yesterday , the threadfin shad were suspended at 20-22 feet in 95% of the area's I checked . The week before , they were at 7-10 feet . week before I had them on the few remaining weed edges with a Dhot wacky rig on outside edges . This week , the water had cooled 4 degree's , water had dropped another 4 inches ( after dropping 5 feet the previous two weeks ).
Most of the weeds are out of water , no wood in the lake , rocky points and some drop off ---- but nothing worked yesterday and I haven't been skunked on this lake in years .
I tried , Dshot , cranks to 10-12 feet , bHogs , heavy spinnerbaits , jackhammers, Crigs and weighted flukes . I forgot to bring spoons or any deep divers .

1 - 2 vis , 57 degree water , partially cloudy , light winds out of the west . Food in the lake is Threadfin shad , small population of Crawdads , crappie and a small amount of water dogs . How would y'all fished it ?

I've seen the same on my little lake and it has been -tough- fishing lately. Seems as if the bass aren't relating to much and are roaming with plenty of food to key in on.

I saw the same thing today. From last Friday to today, all the shad in the lake went to 25-40 ft. Last Friday they were all in 10-15 ft. Water temp dropped about 8 degrees. Made for a tough day. The ones I did catch were near the bait in about 22-25 ft. Last week I didn’t catch one deeper than 15 ft.

Rattletrap or A-rig might have done it, but who knows.

another dumb question --- I basically suck with crankbaits , so I tend not to use them in a lot of scenario's . When you have shad at certain depths --are you using crankbaits that run just above them , equal to them or below ? I kinda assume just above ---but I always hear about guys wanting to bounce them off the cover (rocks , wood etc...)
I was thinking of throwing a lipless ---but ended up not doing it ---ironically , I ended up snagging someone's braid off the bottom and ended up pulling it all in and a brand new LV500 was at the end of it

I smoked them this past week on a rig

I don't know what's right or wrong.. but two years ago on Thanksgiving Day, I graphed a school of bait suspended at 12' depth over creek channel in 24 feet. Bass were hanging out 4 feet below bait. Cast out 6XD, cranked about 5 or 6 revolutions and put my reel down to put phone in waterproof bag. Picked rod up and had 2 pounder on. Cast out the second time, cranked bait down and let it slowly rise and caught 2nd fish. The one below.


11 lbs 6 ounces at Monty. Water temp mid 50's that day. May give it a shot there tomorrow.

Wow, that's a toad. Very nice.

As for crankbaits, I do try to make contact with cover. It's hard to tell what your fishing around sometimes, and getting down to a depth in the 20's+ with a crankbait is work. I would look at something like a jigging spoon on the larger size, a blade bait, lipless crankbait, or even a drop shot with a long leader between the bait and weight. Something to get into the zone. Yo-yo'ing it off the bottom with the weighted baits possibly. The info on the crankbait pausing is solid, been doing this since the first cold snap on Grapevine. One day all 8 of my fish were hooked on the pause.

I used to not throw crankbaits back 20 years ago, I just didn't have much confidence in them. The right color, size, and style can make a huge difference. I tend to throw only squarebill's in the shallows because they don't get hung up as much, and roundbill cranks in the deep. I still don't fish hardly any open water fish unless they are relating to structure. It's just to hard to pinpoint them when they are roaming. I do have FFS, and use it but I am approaching this question as if I wasn't using it. On another note, I tend to try stuff that might work, for example in deeper water where I am using deep crankbaits I Will throw heavy large willow spinnerbaits and slow roll them. They work well, and very easy to keep on the bottom without getting snagged. Just got to get out and crunch the brain and try something to get their attention. There is no wrong in trying something different, as this is how some fish are caught. You have no idea how many fish follow and examine your bait without eating it. It's mind boggling.. good luck