The One Question

 Fellow fishers are always curious about how other fishers are catching fish. They ask what kind of bait or color you are using, but the one question that everyone ask, that is probably the most irrelevant, is "how deep are you fishing"? The one thing modern technology has proven is that under most circumstances, there is no right answer to this question. Unless there is extreme weather like really hot or cold, fish will be all over the water column. This is especially true for crappie. 

Livescope technology has totally changed the perception that fish all school together at a certain depth. As a matter of fact I have seen fish swimming a few inches under water, even in 30 feet of water. One would think that if a fish in that depth of water, it surely would be suspended deeper than a few inches. 

Even in cover like standing timber, some fish may be at the top, some in the middle, and some may be on the very bottom and all on the same tree. 

So next time you are fishing and are curious about how someone is catching fish, the one question you can skip, is "how deep are you fishing"?

That being said, there are exceptions to every rule. At one of the Crappie Masters events, the winning team used livescope technology and had found most of their big fish right on the bottom. In cases like that, the "how deep are they" question might be appropriate. But the other 90% of the time, that probably won't be the case

The best question you can ask when other fishers are catching and you are not, is "can I see that bait you are using?"  It seems that the key to catching more fish is presentation, type of bait, and color. 

So for those who don't have the latest technology, how does one know how deep to fish? The best answer is to experiment and change depths until you locate fish. Just because you found fish 2 feet deep in one spot, doesn't mean they will that deep at the next.

For the novice fisher, when fish are active, like during the spawn, fishing the same depth will be beneficial. When fishing brush piles in deeper water, fish will often be at a certain depth. But the rest of the time its trial and error. 

So the next time you see someone catching fish, ask them "can I see that bait" and skip the question "how deep are you fishing?"

Good luck fishing. Hope to see ya on the water. 






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