The Visual Line of Fishing
Wintertime, on many lakes can take many different forms in respect to water clarity; often the water is really middy because of all the winter rain and then you have periods of no rain and lots of clear water. The constant change in winter conditions produces what many refer to as a visual line of depth where you have a clarity in the water down to a certain depth that you can see with your eye wear.
This visual line can be a clue as to what depth the fish are holding on, if its muddy the bass are generally closer to the surface but if you can see down say 4 ft. then the bass are generally holding just below the visual line. The key being now you know where to concentrate your depth level that being just below the visual line, in this case maybe 4 to 8 ft. below the surface. Concentrate on the step drops as bass like to be able to be in position to go up and down on the step drops just below the visual line in the wintertime. This ability to move up and down the step drops gives them ambush areas to feed on just below the light and visual line giving you a depth range that will allow you to find active fish. Remember bass do not like sun light this is a key to the visual line in the winter on clear cold days and finding where the sun breaks down the water column can be a real difference maker in finding fish.
Look for the signs that tell the bass are in the area your fishing, the obvious signs are things like bait fish, crawfish on the edges of the bank, birds diving and feeding from the surface, bait being pushed around as they run from being a meal for a big bass. These are all signs of active bass, add to this the structure elements like stumps, grass, rock or shell beds and you have some ideal visual keys that you can see from the surface with your eye wear or you can visualize from your electronics. Use your natural keys, your eyes and your keys from your electronics and you will catch more fish.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
www.facebook.com/FishGuntersville
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Capt. Mike Gerry