Summertime Mixed Bag On Deep, Clear Inland Water
The dog days of summer can be a tough bite espcially on deep, clear water lakes unless you can figure out where to start. Capt. Justin Kohn shows you how to target these deeper fish.
by Capt. Justin KohnAs a full-time fishing guide in the south-central Wisconsin, I am fortunate to have some very high quality fishing lakes in my area. I get the opportunity to spend most of my time during the summer work weeks learning and developing different technique on lakes like Winnebago, Puckaway, and Big Green. I guide on many bodies of water across Wisconsin, but I am going to share how I make targeting multi species on Big Green Lake so much fun through all of summertime months. Like most deep clear water lakes it can be rewarding but a challenge to figure out where to start. These techniques and fishing patterns can be used on any other deep body of water that you like to fish and learn more about.
Big Green Lake is always a little late to warm up compared to other close by inland waters due to its excessive depth of well over two hundred feet deep, but that helps the bite last longer through summer and into fall. Fish will almost always have the option to move into their desired water temperature by simply changing depth and they will most often be feeding consistently.
As the water gets warmed up in the mid to late summer months, the lake develops a lot of changes - the weeds grow, the water clears, and a thermo cline develops. Big Green Lake can be extremely difficult and overwhelming to learn for even avid fisherman because of its endless structure and deep clear water. When trying to decide which depths to start targeting each day, it is important to look at the previous couple days wind and weather. When there is consistent wind from any particular direction for multiple days in a row, it tends to move a lot of water because of the lakes average depth of one hundred feet this can often times set up the best situation to target and can easily get over looked. Plankton, algae, and baitfish get moved by the current created by wind and the roaming predators will often times move along with them. Even the fish that are not roaming around with the wind, but primarily stay in certain areas of the lake, will get much more active with the movment of the algae stained green tint to the deep clear water. By stained I mean visibility going from twelve or fifteen feet down to three or four feet, which is absolutely ideal. When I get patterns set up like this, there are several ways I target these fish. The best way to pick off the most aggressive fish is by casting crank baits in these areas. My crank bait rods are seven foot, medium action rods spooled with Berkley FireLine Ultra 8 fourteen pound test for a super long cast every time. We all know that there are many different cranks that catch fish while casting in deeper water, but for me and my customers, the Berkley Digger casts far with little effort and digs right down into the desired depth with almost any retrieval speed. This loud rattling digger attracts fish from a distance and when walleye, bass, and pike strike this lure you will definitely know it.
When I am focusing on larger game fish, such as bass, walleye, and pike, I have not found a better bait to rig on the drop shot than the new Berkley PowerBait MaxScent D-Worm. The D-Worm has proven itself in my boat to catch almost everything. Walleye, pike, and bass are extremely attracted to the large amount of scent this bait gives off. There are many rod, reel, and line combinations that can be used for drop shotting but mainly I use two different set ups. My live bait rods are medium-light action spooled with six pound test - Berkley Trilene XL. When I am drop shotting the D-Dorm, I rig it on a medium rod spooled with ten pound Berkley FireLine Ultra 8 and a four feet of ten pound fluorocarbon for a clear leader.
Big Green Lake Is a challenging clear water lake that is fun to continue to learn due to its constant changing of patterns throughout the season. These are just a few of my go to techniques that should help you be more successful on a challenging deep, clear lake near you.