Deep Water Bass

[acabtp]

don't underestimate a 3/8 or 1/2 oz ball head jig and a mr twister, drop, bouce and SET THE HOOOOOOOK

[ScowardNJ]

You cant go wrong with live bait either

[GetANet]

Fall Frenzy!!!!!! Yea Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eyes And Stripes !!!!!!!!!
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooho!!!!!!!! !!

[Shameless14]

Having done quite a bit of this up north, I would use first jig and a grub, then drop-shotting, a tube, or a vertical spoon (or a blade bait). They all work.

[bulletbob]

Good advice here, from all the replied.. Personally, I don't "get " the big dropshot craze.. If the fish will hit a plastic lure on a hook with a sinker bouncing below it, they'll hit the same lure on a jig head.. Drop shotting is just jigging with the hook and the lead weight separated..
I would try plain lead head jigs around 1/4 oz with natural colored worms, minnow shapes, tubes, craws, Sluggo type bodies etc, and see what happens.. better yet, bring two rods, one with a jig head, and another rigged for drop shotting, and see what produces better.. The MAIN thing is fishing productive water.. Some NJ lakes have a problem with oxygen levels below a certain depth,, If you are fishing lets say a rocky area in 40 FOW on a smaller lake, there may be no or little oxygen at that level.. In that case you may need to fish the edge of a weed line in lets say 14 FOW...
If the lake has Lake Trout that are regularly found deep, or is know to have good bass life in lets say 25 + FOW water, it probably has enough dissolved oxygen.. You need to know the lake, so do just a bit of research... Deep water jigging will get you some big fish. If you do this on the big NJ lakes., or the Delaware River at the right time, you may also get yourself some big Smallmouth ,Walleyes, BIG perch, Catfish, Carp, Laker, Brown Trout, and even a Striper hybrid or Pike or Muskie.. I have caught all these species while deep jigging.. The best tool is a good Fish Finder on the boat.. If you see schools of bait, and fish arches with decent consistency, there is food and oxygen down there, and you will be successful if you work the lures correctly.

Ask questions about the areas you want to fish, don't waste time fishing dead water... bob

[acabtp]

Originally Posted by bulletbob

Good advice here, from all the replied.. Personally, I don't "get " the big dropshot craze.. If the fish will hit a plastic lure on a hook with a sinker bouncing below it, they'll hit the same lure on a jig head.. Drop shotting is just jigging with the hook and the lead weight separated..
I would try plain lead head jigs around 1/4 oz with natural colored worms, minnow shapes, tubes, craws, Sluggo type bodies etc, and see what happens.. better yet, bring two rods, one with a jig head, and another rigged for drop shotting, and see what produces better.. The MAIN thing is fishing productive water.. Some NJ lakes have a problem with oxygen levels below a certain depth,, If you are fishing lets say a rocky area in 40 FOW on a smaller lake, there may be no or little oxygen at that level.. In that case you may need to fish the edge of a weed line in lets say 14 FOW...
If the lake has Lake Trout that are regularly found deep, or is know to have good bass life in lets say 25 + FOW water, it probably has enough dissolved oxygen.. You need to know the lake, so do just a bit of research... Deep water jigging will get you some big fish. If you do this on the big NJ lakes., or the Delaware River at the right time, you may also get yourself some big Smallmouth ,Walleyes, BIG perch, Catfish, Carp, Laker, Brown Trout, and even a Striper hybrid or Pike or Muskie.. I have caught all these species while deep jigging.. The best tool is a good Fish Finder on the boat.. If you see schools of bait, and fish arches with decent consistency, there is food and oxygen down there, and you will be successful if you work the lures correctly.

Ask questions about the areas you want to fish, don't waste time fishing dead water... bob

i agree. good post bob!

[Bergen Angler]

Blade baits. Many think that blades are just for cold winter lure but I have had great success with heavy blades (3/4 oz) fishing deep in summer. You just need to burp it slightly at the bottom. A Big mistake is setting the Bassmaster hook set. You will lose the bass. You just need to reel them in as fast as you can.

1. Heddon Sonars are ok but not great.
2. Woverines are good.
3. Johnson Thinfisher is good for shallow water not for deep water. (1/4 oz is the heaviest)
4. Reef Runner Cicada works well (1/2 oz is the heaviest)
5. Vib E is good (but the hooks will rust right after you use it).
6. Silver Buddy is excellent.
7. Cotton Cordell (good for shallow water)

If I have to choose 1, it would be Silver Buddy 3/4 oz. Then Reef Runner Cicada is the close 2nd.

[jimmythegreek]

The binsky is the best blade bait I have used and ive tried them all. It has the widest profile in height, which gives alot of flash and mimics wider profiles like herring, a local favorite in NNJ. 1/2 oz is good all around, for deep water 3/4 is better. U can move the holes forward or back to change blade action, 3rd hole back is best all around setup.

As far as drop shotting it is NOT the same as a regualr jig, not even close. U cannot suspend a jig 2 feet off the bottom consistently putting it in front of a walleyes face, some fish dont want the hop and bounce presentation, they want slow finesse deal. Also in alot of reservoirs and sand lakes u have 1-2 feet of grass/cabbage just on the bottom w no actual weed growth, a jig hopping disappears into that stuff and gets fouled, a drop shot w 2.5 foot dropper keeps ur bait in the zone the whole time, I often drop shot a minnow/herring and its the only way to do so effectively in some spots. Dont get me wrong, my goto is a mooneye VMC w a twister tail but its not the catch all, every setup has its place, and u gotta be on fish to catch anything w any presentation

Originally Posted by jimmythegreek

The binsky is the best blade bait I have used and ive tried them all. It has the widest profile in height, which gives alot of flash and mimics wider profiles like herring, a local favorite in NNJ. 1/2 oz is good all around, for deep water 3/4 is better. U can move the holes forward or back to change blade action, 3rd hole back is best all around setup.

As far as drop shotting it is NOT the same as a regualr jig, not even close. U cannot suspend a jig 2 feet off the bottom consistently putting it in front of a walleyes face, some fish dont want the hop and bounce presentation, they want slow finesse deal. Also in alot of reservoirs and sand lakes u have 1-2 feet of grass/cabbage just on the bottom w no actual weed growth, a jig hopping disappears into that stuff and gets fouled, a drop shot w 2.5 foot dropper keeps ur bait in the zone the whole time, I often drop shot a minnow/herring and its the only way to do so effectively in some spots. Dont get me wrong, my goto is a mooneye VMC w a twister tail but its not the catch all, every setup has its place, and u gotta be on fish to catch anything w any presentation

Well said Jimmy!!!.....You are correct.....jigging is jigging and while it is similar in style , d/s is a totally different presentation