Thread: Clear water fishing

OK my fishing buddy went over to one of our favorite bassing lakes in Winter Haven and trolled around some with the rig we have been using lately with moderate success. White tubes on a jig tipped with a minnow trolled at about half the depth of the water fished. Didn't get a nibble. Closest thing to a fish was a few bass who were fanning out beds making a run on his minnows for getting to close to their bed.

This lake is gin clear. It has an average depth around 9 foot, but has a deep middle area, 20 to 24 feet deep. There is tons of cover growing in this lake. Hydrilla, Eel Grass, Milafoil in the water. Buggy whips, Cat Tails, lily pads and kissimmee grass around the edges. It has specs, we have caught 1 or 2 in the past. It has a good healthy bass population. Seen alot of blue gill in this lake too.

How would you fish this somewhat deep clear lake? What color jigs would you approach it with?

Right now we plan on coming back and parking the boat on a deep water transition point at night (say 12' coming out of 20') and fish with minnows.

this is a lake?
Sounds more like an old mining pit with water that deep and how you describe it.
One of my duties for the company I retired from was,I was in charge of some private but real old mineing pits for a company that I worked for.
The owner wanted to impress clients with some of the large bass that was in them.
I bass fished those pits nearly every weekend for 2 years before I finally figured out how to "sight" fish it, as that clear water was intimidating to me.
I could see bottom in 20-25 ft on a calm and clear day. The deepest in them was 45 ft.
Get hold of an what I call an underwater view,its more or less a box thing that you set in the water and look into the water from the boat,it has a piece of glass to see thru.
We didnt have any specks in them but had catfish,bluegill,shellcrackers and some whopper bass.Strange thing to me was, I saw bass bedding in 10-15 ft of water on shelves when I was always use to seeing them bed more or less shallow, in stained water.
Bluegill and shellcrackers would bed both on shelves approx 5 ft deep and in water 20 ft deep
Go figure..........
Good luck

It is a lake, not a mine pit. I have fished quite a few of those though in my time. My father worked for IMC and we have a lifetime Fin and Feather membership, though Mozaic has changed some of that.

The lake I am talking about is in front of the Winter Haven campus of PCC. It is called Lake Elbert, and, it is quite a bit deeper than it appears from the casual glance.

my bad

Originally Posted by Florida

my bad

No not really, it just isnt a mine pit, though i am reasonably familiar with them.

Can your son shed some light on clear water habits of specs?

in my experience, clear water is custom made for night fishing.
Good luck.