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What is the best technique for catching bass suspended offshore with swimbaits?
Catching suspended bass offshore using swimbaits can be a highly effective method, but it does require some specialized knowledge and techniques. Based on the video context provided, here are some key points and strategies to consider:
Understanding Suspended Bass
Suspended bass are those that are not relating to the bottom or the surface of the water. They can be found in the middle of the water column, often following schools of baitfish. These fish can be challenging to catch because they are constantly moving and not holding to any specific structure or cover.
Key Techniques for Fishing Swimbaits for Suspended Bass
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Selecting the Right Swimbait:
- Size and Style: Larger swimbaits, such as the Megabass Magdraft Freestyle (6-inch), are excellent for targeting bigger bass. Smaller swimbaits like the Megabass Spark Shad (3-5 inches) can also be effective, especially if the bass are feeding on smaller baitfish.
- Multi-Jointed vs. Single-Jointed: Multi-jointed swimbaits like the Pulse Swimmer can be particularly effective when bass are actively feeding on shad. These baits have a more lifelike swimming action that can trigger reaction strikes.
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Rigging and Weight:
- Underspin Heads: Using an underspin head, such as the Tennessee River Bling, can add extra flash and vibration, making your swimbait more attractive to suspended bass.
- Heavier Heads: A heavier head (e.g., 1-ounce) allows you to keep the swimbait in the middle of the water column while retrieving it at a faster pace, which can be crucial for triggering bites from suspended fish.
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Retrieval Techniques:
- Counting Down: Cast your swimbait out and count it down to the desired depth. This ensures that your bait is in the strike zone where the suspended bass are located.
- Steady Retrieve with Twitches: A steady retrieve with occasional twitches can mimic the erratic movement of a wounded baitfish, enticing bass to strike.
- Reaction Strikes: Fast-moving swimbaits can elicit reaction strikes from bass. This is particularly effective when bass are actively feeding on shad or other baitfish.
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Using Electronics:
- Sonar and Fish Finders: Utilize your electronics to locate schools of baitfish and identify the depth at which bass are suspended. This information is crucial for determining how deep to fish your swimbait.
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Timing and Conditions:
- Seasonal Patterns: Fall is a prime time for targeting suspended bass with swimbaits as they follow shad into creeks and offshore structures. However, this technique can be effective year-round, especially during periods when bass are not relating to the bottom or surface.
Practical Tips
- Experiment with Different Swimbaits: There are many styles and colors available, so don't hesitate to try different ones until you find what works best in your local waters.
- Stay Patient and Persistent: Suspended bass can be tricky to catch, so persistence and patience are key. Keep experimenting with different depths, retrieval speeds, and swimbait styles.
By understanding the behavior of suspended bass and employing the right techniques and equipment, you can significantly increase your chances of success when fishing offshore with swimbaits. Happy fishing!
Related videos
Transcript
Video03:36
06:07
Suspended Bass : Locate & Catch Fish Offshore by The Bass University → swim baits changed fishing bass fishing at least on this part of the country a lot you know really changed how we approach fish and how we catch fish you know people say it replaced spinner baits people say it replaced crank baits in places and it has well the swim bait 10-15 year we didn't talk about them for bass we didn't talk about them for you know especially the bigger ones for bass you know whether it was I was right or wrong it just wasn't part of the conversation so now it's changed a lot in and you go on tackle warehouse and you hit swim baits and you're gonna be able to see every style every color every size every everything you want on swim baits they've done a great job of keeping all the current good swim baits and you can really have fun with it and it's an ongoing it's an ongoing process like suspended fish there's swim baits that are out now that weren't out your two ago that are awesome I mean it's stuff we've been asking for so I think that's really where what when I talk about swim baits I'm showing you a couple the ones I use but there's a lot a lot of good ones when it comes to swim baits and some of the best ones are really hard to get really hard to get a handle of there's one that I use a lot
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Video00:00
02:14
Complete Guide to Offshore Swimbait Fishing | Sonar, Tackle, and Areas Explained by Fish the Moment → what's up y'all welcome back fish to moment in this video i'm going to explain how to catch suspended bass offshore on a swim bait let's get into it okay guys fall is almost here and that means that a lot of bass are going to start their migration from the main lake back into the creeks and they're going to follow big schools of shad when they do this a lot of these bass are going to be suspended around offshore structure and out in the middle of the creeks this makes them very difficult to catch with your traditional power fishing techniques but it makes them actually really susceptible to a swim bait this is actually one of my favorite ways to catch fish in the fall and if you're fishing anytime from about september through november you should be able to find a swimbait bite for suspended baths now fishing a swim bait for suspended bass is definitely one of the more advanced techniques in bass fishing there's not a lot of great information out there i had to learn through trial and error over 10 years to really dial in how to fish a swim bait in the middle of water column and trigger those fish to bite fortunately i figured it out about three years ago and i feel like i'm an expert on it at this point so i'm going to explain this video the entire process of fishing swim bait how to identify
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Video00:00
01:27
The Most Effective Bait and Pattern You Are Missing by BassGeek → hey bass geek here and when you see bass doing
these two things you better pick up a swimbait but not just any swimbait one that you can move
fast and elicit a reaction strike for years I've chased bass on offshore Ledges and humps and for
years I've heard pros and YouTubers talk about how when those bass are suspended that they're not
active all the while I've been putting out videos like this and like this talking about how you can
catch those suspended bass now that all those pros and YouTubers have got Ford faing sonar ain't none
of them admitting that they were wrong and that I was right the whole time but I'm not here to say
I told you so I'm here to teach you Geeks how you can catch those suspended Bass with a big swimbait
now I know that Glide baits generally get all the love when it comes to Big swim baits the single
joints the wide swiming action they look so good they catch a lot of fish but when you're seeing
two things that's happening during the summer you better pick up a multi- joint like this the
pulse swimmer when you see bass busting shad and if it's a consistent thing they are hitting top
water yes top water is a great thing to throw but they're not going to do that all day and when
you see bass out on the ledges or when you see
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Video02:30
04:51
Pick the PERFECT Offshore Bass Lure EVERY TIME With This Simple Guide- Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall by Fish the Moment → on the bottom and you can know your bait's down there because you just see your line stop moving or top water baits that are sitting on the surface suspended baits take a little bit more practice expertise and understanding to fish and there are a lot of them to choose from and again more and more coming every single year so I'm going to run through my favorites first up let's start with the suspended baits that are fast moving and power baits what I mean fast moving it means baits that are moving through the water pretty quickly and power baits are going to be your bigger bulkier baits to Target more aggressive Fish Feeding on big bait my couple favorites are going to be first a big swim bait this is a megabass magdra freestyle six inch swim bait on a one ounce under spin head I like a heavier head on my big swim baits when I'm fishing for suspended bass because it allows me to reel that bait a little bit faster while keeping it in the middle of the water column there are other smaller swim baits that work really well in this like a mega best spark Shad five inch you can even go to like a three inch or a four inch swimbait as well but my personal preference is they're a little bit bigger swim bait because it seems to get me bigger bites another great option that you can throw
Transcript
Video01:09
03:34
Complete Guide to Offshore Swimbait Fishing | Sonar, Tackle, and Areas Explained by Fish the Moment → fish in your fish finder how to count down the bait how to reel it in everything you know so that you can be an expert at offshore swimbait fishing in the fall as well so let's get into it first let's explain what a suspended bass is basically it's a fish that's not related to the bottom or the surface of the water they're in that in between zone a lot of times bass will suspend just randomly out in the middle and follow big schools of bait fish around other times they'll suspend over the top of a structure like a ledge a hump or a point other times they'll suspend by cover like a brush pile a rock pile or standing timber in all these cases these fish are basically just roaming around chasing bait fish but some of these fish are more easy to catch than others let me explain how that works in general the toughest type of suspended bass to catch are the fish they're sitting out over the creek channel over the deepest part of the lake just randomly chasing bait these fish are not related to any structure or cover and they are very migratory they move a lot or nomatic this makes them really challenging to pin down and even if you graph these fish or electronics if you try to spin around and cast on those fish there's a really good chance they've already swam
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Video07:40
11:06
The 6 Lures You NEED to CATCH Suspended BASS by BassGeek → can just throw it out there and count it down and then just give it a couple three twitches straight up and the bass go insane for it it makes a great follow-up bait for when they're popping a swim bait but not eating it if you know me if you know me you know what number one and number two are but i bet you're not gonna guess the order number one it's gonna be my swim bait a swim bait is such a versatile tool i think it and a jig are probably two of the most versatile baits that we can fish because you can fish them almost at any level of the water column and depending on the weight at almost any speed but jigs not so much for suspended bass now a swim bait on the other hand is perfect and guys i'm telling you you can catch the biggins on a nice soft plastic swimbait ramsay bates is probably my favorite producer is a second favorite and they make the pen tails which are great on my number one and then of course you've got the shadolicious that style of hollow body now last but not least the number one on the list the underspin suspended bass can't stand that dang thing but what's great about an underspin is how versatile it is especially the one from ledgehead which they call the tennessee river bling and the tennessee river bling micro the
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