Shallow Water

Never, ever overlook the shallow water bite when it comes to bass.  I was invited to go fishing on beautiful Walled Lake here in southeast Michigan.  Our guide for the day was dealing with a dead and charging battery, so we had some time to kill at the dock.  I was astounded by how clear the water was, unbelievable.  I was also surprised at how many bass the skinny water on that lake holds and their quality.  

Cover is the key.  Don’t overlook docks, wood, rocks, and even boats themselves.  Case in point, my fishing buddy bounced a paddle-tail swim bait off of a neighboring pontoon and had not gotten three cranks into the retrieve before a nice fish wrapped him around a pole and came off.  He promptly walked down the dock, even closer to shore, and hooked a beautiful fish in about a foot of water off of some rocks.  The cover is the key. 

Ken Shelton with a Walled Lake shallow water bass.

Do not overlook bait selection.  You can cast all day but if you have the wrong bait it’s not going to make much difference.  I was standing next to him throwing a paddle-tail frog, because that’s what was on my rig from the last trip, and I couldn’t raise anything.  I was throwing it as close to the docks, boats, wood, and rocks as I could and they just didn’t want it.  They would inhale that swim bait though, even moving a few feet off the cover to take it.  They didn’t want to break the surface but would surely use the foot or foot and a half of water they had for cover to move subsurface. 

They don’t mind the heat.  The middle of summer can get pretty hot, even in Michigan but even though the water might feel like a bath the fish don’t seem to mind it.  So don’t be fooled they are there and waiting to ambush the next meal that comes swimming by.  If anything the heat seems to invigorate bass. 

Sight fishing isn’t over you just have to change what you are looking for.  You might think that sight fishing ends when the fish move off their beds, it doesn’t.  You just have to change what you are looking for.  No longer are you looking for that fat girl finning on her bed, you’re looking for the next boat, dock, tree, grass, lily pad, rock, or structure that provides a little shade and cover.  Change the mindset from fish to structure and you will catch more fish.  

In the end the delay at the dock helped us.  We caught a few smallies and a pike out in the deeper water, but it was that shallow water fish that made the day.