here is my question? when bass are suspended of the bottom in 15-10 feet of water and the and your sittin in 20feet what is the best way to approach them?

Tom, glad to see another Ky boy on the site!!! There are several techniques to catch suspended bass. I like to try crankbaits first, if they are suspended in 15ft of water, try a DT12 or DT16 Rapala crankbait. If that doesnt work, try using a 1/2 ounce football head jig/craw and use the stroking technique. You may also use a drop shot rig and keep that bait in their face. Sometimes I have found that catching suspended fish are not very active and can be the hardest to catch, but if you stick with it and can get one fish to bite, you can fire up the whole school and the fishing can hot in a hurry. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions.

Just to add a bit to what Kevin is saying about suspended bass... the activity level can also depend on the presence of baitfish. If they are chasing schools of open water bait, they are really high percentage bass to target. I just mean that they are usually more aggressive when they are chasing bait. In the absence of bait, you need to do something (like Kevin was saying) to get them fired up!

Those bass are most likely suspending near some major piece of structure waiting for the arrival of bait fish. If you can draw them into that piece of structure with a lure (like a crankbait or swimbait) and get one to strike, the other bass in that school will become active thinking that it is feeding time. This is a great situation to be in and many times you'll find these fish you are targeting will be less pressured because most angler think that they are not catch-able...

Try to identify what the key element on that piece of structure is... or what people refer to as the "spot, on the spot". It might be a rock pile, or some stumps on the end of a point or hump. Do you recall what the most predominate piece of structure is near where these bass are suspending?

BC

This works for me, hope it will for you. Throw a Magnum Rat-L-Trap and retrieve it very fast through the school. This will get the fish aggitated- then like mentioned before throw a deep diving crankbait (slower) or Carolina rig. Make several casts with the "Trap" and repeat when the fish stop feeding. Good luck. Johnnie

they are suspended on points and deep breaks with rock and gravel bottoms. the lake i am fishing has alot of trees and and huge creek channel breaks with under water cliffs dropping into 20 feet. the bass are not holding on stucture under water, they are sitting on breaks and points across from trees and thank for any help with this

Tom,

A crankbait might be a one of your best choices to try and trigger a strike from those suspended bass. I will again stress that if you can position your boat so that you are retrieving the crankbait towards the structure (point, creek channel bend, etc.) those suspended bass can be drawn into that structure and may be more catch-able. Those bass are out there waiting for bait fish, when they get in a feeding mode, they will use that creek bend, point, etc. to pin their prey against. Banging the bottom with a Norman's DD22 or Lucky Craft D20, or the Strike King series 6 model, will work well in the 15' - 20' zone. You'll also be able to feel for hard bottom, which will be key spot-on-spot elements on those points and creek ledges. One other thing to keep in mind is that it can sometimes be a timing deal. You've gotta be there when they are actively feeding.

The other option is to try and pick them out of the water column using a drop shot rig and lowering it down to those suspended bass on your fish finder. Have you ever tried this technique?

BC