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Story and Photo by "Triton" Mike Bucca

November/December 2004

learwater fishing for spotted bass in deep, clear reservoirs can be intimidating for those unfamiliar with spotted bass habits and clear water techniques. As a part-time guide the normal reaction I see from out-of-state clients is absolute terror of clear water, especially if they're from a stained water environment. Clear water is not easy to overcome, and most fishermen are much more comfortable fishing off-colored and shallow water.

Typically, clear water strategies revolve around deep water, a whole different ballgame for most. A popular clear water misconception: "We gotta fish deep and with small baits". For me that's the equivalent of reading Shakespeare before going to bed - boring! I fall asleep on the deck after about an hour of doodling. While fishing deep with small baits will definitely work if you're a small bait/deep water kind of angler, I stick with trying to find active fish, which adapts more readily to my fishing style - Power Fishing.

Spots vs. Largemouth

In northern Georgia where I live and fish, spotted bass are the most predominant species (not counting stripers). Most of our lakes are roughly 70% to 80% spots, with the balance being largemouth. I have gone almost a year on a few of our spot lakes without catching a largemouth. On a typical spot lake you'll find more spots in the main lake and just inside the creek arms (deeper water), while largemouth tend to favor the backs of creeks (shallower water).

So, care to guess where I spend most of my fishing time? Of course, you can catch a largemouth in the main lake and a spot in the back of creeks, but that's the exception. Compared to largemouth, the spotted bass is twice as aggressive, and twice as curious. In my opinion that's their biggest weakness, and what gets the spots into trouble. It's also the number one tendency that any angler can capitalize on, turning the spot's weakness into the angler's advantage.

If you can fully grasp the concept that spotted bass are aggressive and curious to a fault, you will improve your catch tremendously for most of the spring and summer months in clear water lakes - guaranteed! As far as aggressiveness, I tend to think of largemouths as lazy and slow moving, and spots more like a missile launched out of a rocket launcher.

The spots will generally live in or suspend over much deeper water than largemouth, which is another key part of the equation. By deeper I mean 15-80 feet, where the spots are right at home. I'm convinced that spots spend quite a bit of their time suspended over deep-water structure and spots are also a stronger fighting fish than their largemouth cousins. Spots are more prone to hold on rocky structure than largemouth, and add a few long points and deep brushpiles into the equation and you've sweetened the deal even more.

Reading the above it might seem that spots are similar to smallmouth. Spots and smallmouth are very similar, if not almost identical. They both tend to roam quite a bit, making a pattern very short-lived for the most part, and they both absolutely love moving water (current). Now those characteristics may not apply to the clear water spots in your home state, as every lake has their own characteristics, but they are what I've observed and used to my advantage here in northern Georgia.

Clear Water Equipment

I use relatively light line, primarily because I don't have as much structure to worry about as compared to most southern lakes. I use 14-pound Izorline for the majority of my reaction bait fishing, mainly because we catch an occasional striper and I don't like donating my Lucky Craft jerkbaits to the Striper Lure fund.

I may bump down to 8-pound in the heat of the summer, when the water is clearest, and on my Curado 100's I usually use 8-pound. Any reel will work, but I favor faster gear ratios, and you must make sure they are capable of slinging lightweight baits in the 40-yard range, plus.

Most studies I've read indicate that when feeding, clear water bass depend more on sight than any other sense. Much more than fish in stained or even muddy water, which use a combination of senses, most notably those that detect vibration and sound. I generally use the same size baits for spots that I use for largemouth - Pointer 78's, 100's and even the monster 125; Flashminnow 110 and TR95; Staysees 90, Heavy compact Spinnerbaits; four and five-inch Senkos, Bandits, Lucky Craft Cranks, Bass Stalker Jigs in 1/4 to 3/8-ounce, Sammy 100's, Alabama Rig, jigheads tipped with Yamamoto Kut-Tail worms, etc.

Sounds like a who's who of largemouth baits, doesn't it? For the most part the baits I listed are jerkbaits - a mainstay in my clear water arsenal. It's not that I don't know how to throw a Carolina-rig, Texas-rig, or a split-shot rig; they're just not my primary confidence baits in clear water. But I do try to remain open minded and versatile, because they definitely have their time and place.

When I mentioned heavy compact spinnerbaits I mean baits weighing ¾-ounce up to 1¼-ounce, in a downsized double willowleaf setup, smaller than you'd normally get with a heavy spinnerbait. I use these heavyweights for three reasons. I can easily make long casts, providing greater coverage to take full advantage of the clear water. The heavier the bait the faster I can burn it, taking advantage of the aggressive and curious tendencies of the spots. I like double willow leaf blades because they offer the least amount of water resistance - perfect for burning just under the water. Few manufacturers make such a spinnerbait, but Bill Dee and Ryan Coleman at SOB Lures have been producing and field-testing a very effective heavy compact spinnerbait called the Mini Me.

How We Catch 'Em

One of the keys to catching fish in clear water is retrieve speed. In clear water fish can obviously see your bait more clearly - the hooks, the eyes, the scale patterns…they can see everything more clearly than in off-colored water. By reeling faster I'm certainly taking advantage of the aggressive and curious Spots, but I'm also not giving them the opportunity to look the bait over, to decide if it's the real deal, or not.

I want my bait to look just like a fleeing baitfish, panicked and trying to avoid death. By using the faster retrieve I am trying to trigger a reaction strike, which actually defines the Power Fishing in my mind. They are either going to eat it, or miss out on a meal as the bait rips over their head - and if they miss, I mark the spot in my head or on GPS as a sweet spot.

Common Flubs

One of the most common mistakes I see is fishing too close to shore, and failing to make long casts in clear water. The last thing you want is for a "wolfpack" of three to five-pound spots to rise on your reaction bait out of deep water when your lure is near the boat - that'll spook them every time. I'm convinced that longer casts have a greater calling range in clear water, and provide ample time for the spots to come up out of 30 feet, or more, to nail the bait that's zooming overhead. Spots are also notorious bait followers, so a longer cast gives the fish a little more time to fool around and commit to crashing into your offering.

Spots are the only fish I know of that can simply crush a jerkbait full of super-sharp hooks and escape death! How they do it is beyond me, but I have had some huge spots crash my jerkbait as many as four times on one cast…and still not connect. Unfortunately, this is normal. The only known cure I have found is to come back in an hour or two with a different colored bait, and try again. For the stated reasons, when chunking spinnerbaits for spots don't be foolish - always use a trailer hook! There are a lot of days when I catch 50% of my fish on the stinger hook.

The Sweet Spot

Every area (point, hump, ditch) has a sweet spot - put your bait in the sweet spot and you've put the odds in your favor, with the best chance to call a school of fish to the surface. Fan cast systematically to find those spots, and then analyze where the sweet spot is in relation to the point, hump, or ditch. This is important - when you next visit that area you'll want to avoid running over the sweet spot with the boat or trolling motor.

In shallow water this is obvious - you'd never pull into a cut with a laydown tree and drive right over the sweet spot - it's just as important in deep, clear water, just not as obvious. In seems that in most cases the sweet spots are located right where a "normal" angler would position his boat when fishing the shoreline. Basically you'll be fishing quite a ways from the point or structure. I normally start fishing about 80 yards (often 60+ feet of water) out from the structure, and fan cast systematically, with long casts. Only after covering the area do I slowly close in on the point/hump.

I mentioned that jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and topwater plugs are a big part of my clear water arsenal. It probably sounds goofy, I know, but I fish baits that may never run deeper than five feet over 70 feet of water, and catch fish - actually, lots of fish, and fairly big ones, too. Some of my favorite areas are docks and tires floating over 100 feet of water. However, most of the areas I fish for spots are in 15 to 80 feet of clear water, with cover such as a brushpile on, or just off a point.

When a wolfpack of big spots zooms up out of 60 feet of crystal-clear water to get at your bait it's the neatest thing you'll ever see - it's a rush to watch four or five chunky bass try to out-muscle each other, to see who gets to the bait first! Basically we're fishing deep structure, but we're not fishing the lures deep. In a nutshell we're targeting the first few feet of water at the top of the water column, but drawing the spots up from their deep holding structure.

Fish More Water

I favor a "Run and Shoot" offense for spots; I move around a lot. Normally I fish a spot for 15 minutes, or less - if I don't get bit I'm gone, in search of active fish. Spots are usually so aggressive from spring through the middle of summer that if they're there, you'll get bit in the first few casts to a point or sunken brushpile. It's not uncommon for me to crank up and run to 60 spots in a morning's milk run, looking for concentrations of active fish.

Spots move around quite a bit, so I do too. They also can turn their appetite and moods off-and-on like a light switch, making running and gunning even more effective. I think Paul Elias said it best, "If you hop around and fish strictly points in tournaments you will usually do very well. You might not win the tournament but your chances of doing well and catching fish consistently over the long run are very good."

I mix my areas up; patterns change day-to-day, and even hour-to-hour. I may start on a bluff wall then work my way to main lake points, and then secondary points, and let the fish tell me where I ought to be. If I find fish on secondary points I look for secondary points that look similar to the one where I caught them. Pay close attention and each fish will provide you another piece to the puzzle, clueing you in on what's going on under the surface, and don't forget to analyze what isn't working, as well.

Last Thoughts

As I firmly believe that clear water bass hunt their prey by sight, I give them something they can see from a distance. My basic rule of thumb is that spots prefer LOUD colors. Here's my test: if my eyes hurt when I look at a bait it's just right for spots - white, fire-engine red, neon green, chartreuse, bubblegum and any other flashy colors. I can't explain it but a white-skirted spinnerbait with pink blades is awesome, and so are hot pink jerkbaits. Flashy colors are powerful tools for catching spots in clear water.

I actually keep cans of pink and chartreuse spray paint in my boat - for fast tune-ups on jerkbaits and spinnerbait blades, or for a quick change of pace. I go for the flashy colors on soft plastic baits, although I do go with the natural colors at times.

All of these power fishing tactics have been tested, tried and true in Georgia on Allatoona, Lanier, Blue Ridge, Carters, in South Carolina on Keowee, in Alabama on Guntersville, Wheeler and Wilson. The methods have proved effective for both spots and smallmouth, so next time things get tough, give these Wolfpack techniques a try. Concentrate on points and humps - warp speed retrieves and loonnggg casts!

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