Clear Water Tactics
By - Rob Brewer
If you’re looking for a different challenge in your fishing style, why give a few of the area’s "clear water" lakes a stab. Clear water is a relative term, but there are several lakes in the area that I consider as clear water. Some examples are Diascund, Beaver Dam, Lone Star, Little Creek (Toano), Newport News/Lee Hall and Waller Mills to name a few.
Clear water offers a different set of challenges than stained or murky/ muddy water. For one the fish are far more apt to see you or detect your presence, requiring longer casts and smaller diameter line. Your presentation must be natural and lifelike, as the fish can see better in the water than you can. Clear water often means deeper fish too. A tactic many of us need some work on.
My favorite area clear water lake is Little Creek in Toano. It is a tough body of water to fish. While there are some nice hawgs in the lake, there is no shame in leaving this place skunked, especially in summer. Personally, I also think a bass from clear water is a prettier fish. Their coloration seems just seems to be more vivid.
Another reason I like Little Creek is it has very little cover, forcing the fish to relate to bottom contour and other structure like points and bars. While there is some wood from beaver huts and isolated stumps its not enough to form a pattern off of.
Before I go into some tactics that work for me, let me talk a tad about the tackle used. Because the lake is so deep and void of cover, I only use spinning tackle here. Distance in casting is far more important than casting accuracy. Having said that, I usually arm myself with half a dozen spinning rods spooled up with clear or green 8-10 LB mono. It is a blessing in disguise that the lake has no cover. This fact allows you to let a good fish run on the light line with no fear or worries of him wrapping you up in something and breaking free.
You’ll only need a handful of lures. The banks in this place, except for a few bars and shelves, plummet into depths of 40 to 100 feet in no time at all. It seems that most of the banks are greater than a 45-degree angle. So you really can’t do the jig or worm thing to well. All I carry with me are the following baits: a smoke colored tube on a ¼ or 3/8 oz head, a Hopkins Shorty or No equal spoon, a zara spook (I don’t know if it’s the pooch or the puppy, but it’s the mid size one, not the 5 ¼" one), a Bomber Model A (deep diver) and a Johnson’ silver minnow spoon.
You can bring more stuff if you want, but I assure you using the previously mentioned baits will get you the fish. Here’s my system for working the lake. I rig the Johnson’s silver minnow on a Carolina rig and troll around the banks and points with it. I’m searching for bass with the bait and also looking for shad activity on the surface. When I hook a fish, I toss a marker buoy over the side, marking the spot. Once the fish is in the boat, I’ll work the Hopkins, tube and spook at the same spot, often picking up a few more fish. The key is finding the shad. The bass are always working them and balling them up on the surface.
While trolling along, you will often see schools boiling on the surface. For the far off schools, the Hopkins will cast damn near a mile. Just let it flutter down into the school and work in back in a jerk/drop cadence. For closer ones that erupt near you, nothing beats the spook for fun. As you motor around you will see some clay bars and points. Work the Bomber on these trying to grind off the bill in the clay. Often times, you’ll get to see the bass appear out of the depths and swipe the bait right off the bar and it deflects along the bottom. When nothing hits the crank, cast the tube out and let it sink on a slack line, watch your line for a jump and set the hook. You’ll get far more bite letting it fall on an open bail than tight lining it.
The spook is great at pulling up suspended fish. I have not found anything better at bringing them from the depths to bite. If the bass are feeding they’ll bite anything you throw, but when they are just suspending and not feeding, the spook is your best bet.
Keep in mind this is strictly a Little Creek prescription. If you try other clear water lakes, you might not want to use the skinny line I mentioned. Some of the other places are full of cover and grass. That light line will only break your heart there.
So if you’re after a change of pace, or just want to work on some of your deep water fishing weaknesses (if you have any) give one of the clear water puddles a shot. I should mention that all the lakes I mentioned are electric motor only, so be certain your batteries are up to par. Go catch a big one.
Fishing is life, Rob
