Finding right depth for active fish

The fishing at Glenbawn has really fired up in the last couple of months, with the bigger fish being caught deep. Fish be seen on the sounder in both lakes. If one school of bass is not in the mood to eat, move around until you find bass that are feeding.

Often bass will be seen sitting at different depths, with bass at a particular depth more

Short, sharp hops at the correct depth will excite the fish and cause a reaction bite. Once one fish is caught, the excitement and vibration of the fish usually fires up the remainder of the school.

If the bass are quiet and do not respond to an ice jig then use a black curly tailed Gulp and retrieve it very, very slowly. Use a soft rod and when you get a bite, do not strike. Let the rod do the work. When people are learning this technique it is natural for them to instinctively strike, and this unfortunately misses most fish.

When looking for edge fish, look for actively growing green weed. The fish in winter move up into the weed to feed during the winter months, and can be caught on jerkbaits and plastics. There are many subtle tricks when using both of these techniques and I will talk about them at a later date, or you can drop in to the shop and I can show you.

Since Glenbawn has risen considerably over the last 12 have still been caught on the edge using plastics and lipless crankbaits. As the water cools, these edge fish will be caught on jerkbaits and small plastics.

Instead of being a ‘fisher of men’, this local Anglican minister became a fisher of fish!

When fishing deep, a good sounder has been a must to sound the depth the bass are sitting. Due to water temperature, the bass sit at their most comfortable depth. There is food at depth in the form of smelt. Big schools of smelt can actively feeding. In the same way when edge fishing bass feed at a certain type of bank, bass will be more actively feeding at a certain depth When the fish are active you will see them moving on your sounder. It’s easy with Livescope, but even using traditional images you will see the fish lines move on the screen. months, the carp population has exploded. In June there will be a Carp Fishing Competition at Glenbawn with lots of prizes, and it should be good fun. More and more people are heading to Glenbawn chasing carp. Worms and corn seem to be the preferred baits, while soft plastics and fly are the most popular artificials That said, the carp have been super aggressive and have been taking lipless crankbaits as well. There are many big carp in Glenbawn, well over 10lb. These fish fight hard and are good sport, just be sure to dispose of them responsibly. June is a month where the fish are moving more to the edge but still can be found deep. Next month I will further explore fishing the winter deep bite

When targeting these fish, try ice jigs and blades first.

Remember, if you’re heading up to the Barrington, Glenbawn or St Clair, drop into the shop at the turnoff to Glenbawn in Aberdeen and ask about the different techniques and what they are biting on. We stock all the quality tackle that you need.