by Bill Denning
(Florida)
Q. I fish a nice size lake in Florida and there is a spot 21 ft deep. Most of lake is 10' deep . This one spot 21' deep is loaded with fish on my fish finder. I throw shiners, worms, shrimp and not a single bite, why?
A. Bill by the description of your baits it sounds like the method you are using to fish is dead sticking or still fishing with live and/or dead bait, which can definitely produce. But if its not doing the job then change it up.
If you know there are fish there and this is not working for you, I would try changing up the technique and maybe even try some artificial lures. Try dropping some jigs, slabs or spoons over their heads and burn them back up to you and repeat. Or jig them off the bottom.The flash and action of an in-line spinner lure may provoke the bite.
Not sure what you are going after but if it's bass, stripers or sand bass these lures can be very productive. Even catfish will hit on them.
You may want to also try attaching a jig head hook to a Sassy shad or other soft fluke style swimbait and work that through the crowd to see if that gets you a bite.
It boils down to finding not only what they want but also what action is going to provoke the bite.
I hope this helps or at least sparks some ideas for you. Good luck and if you get them to bite make sure you come back and show us some pics!
Check these pages out for more info.
Rigging a fluke on a weighted hook.
Central Florida Bass Fishing
Bass Fishing Tips
