by Mike Bucca

Fishing for the elusive Spotted bass in deep clear reservoirs can be an intimidating task for those not familiar with the habits of spotted bass and clear water applications. Being a part time guide the most consistent thing I am seeing from my out of state clients is that they are absolutely terrified of that clear water especially if they are from a stained water environment. Clear water is not an easy situation to overcome for the average angler.

The vast majority of the bass fishermen are more comfortable fishing off colored and shallow water. Typically, clear water strategies usually revolve around fishing deep water, which is a whole different ball game for them. A lot of clear water misconceptions are normally “We gotta fish deep and with small baits”. All I have say is that’s the equivalent of reading Shakespeare or listening to Chopin before going to bed. BORING!!! I tend to fall asleep on the front deck after about an hour of doodling. But anyway, while fishing deep with small baits will most definitely work if you’re a small bait/deep water kind of angler. I tend to stick with trying to find active fish which adapts more readily to my fishing style which is Power Fishing. Don’t get me wrong but there are certainly times when things are not happening and I have to become more versatile by fishing slower and smaller baits to get the bites I need.

One of the most common mistakes that I see people do is they fish too close to the shore and they don’t make long enough cast in clear water or they do not have the right equipment to make those long casts. The last thing you want is to happen is to have a “wolfpack” (school) of several 3-5lb spots rise on your reaction bait out of 50ft of water and the lure is right at the boat and the fish get spooked. I feel that longer casts have a greater calling range in clear water and it gives the spots more time to come out of 30 plus feet of water to nail your bait zooming over head. Not to mention that Spots are already notorious as “bait followers” so by making the longer cast it gives the fish a little more distance to fool around and commit to crashing into your offerings.

Let me make a point by saying that spots are the only fish I know of that can pocket pick a jerkbait full of hooks and escape death! How they do it is beyond me, but I have had some HUGE spots crash my jerkbaits up to 4 times on one cast and still not connect, unfortunately this is normal and the only known cure I have found is to come back in an hour or two with a different color and try again. For the reasons I stated above while fishing spinnerbaits don’t be foolish and fish them without a trailer hook. There are a lot of days where I can easily catch 50% of my fish on the back stinger hook alone.

I need to add a few pointers about color selection. Spotted bass in clear water hunt their prey by sight more than any other sense so I like to give them what they want in color selection. I like to give them something they can see from long distances and the one thing that drastically sticks out like a sore thumb is the color favorites of spotted bass. My basic rule of thumb is they prefer very LOUD colors. I always say that if it hurts your eyes to look at the bait it will probably do very well in catching spots and great for calling them long distances in clear water. I’m talking about White, fire engine red, Neon green, Chartreuse, bubble gum and flashy type colors. In fact, I keep a can of pink and chartreuse spray paint handy for spraying down jerkbaits and spinnerbait blades while on the water for a quick change of pace. Color selection for me remains the same for small plastics as well. I however do get around and use natural colors at times.

In closing, all of the tactics above have been tried and tested on various lakes in Georgia including Alltoona, Lanier, Blue Ridge, Carters and also in Keowee, SC, Guntersville, Wheeler and Wilson in Alabama and they have been effective for both Spots and Smallmouth. So next time your out on the lake give these Wolfpack catching techniques a try when things get tough. Concentrate on those points and humps as they hold fish 365 days a year and remember WARP SPEED retrieve and LONG casts!