Fishing for bass in many of our South Carolina lakes this month poses a problem. The water is super clear, because we’ve gone through a dry summer, but the weather is starting to cool, and the nights are getting longer.On Santee Cooper, Clarks Hill, Murray and Hartwell — or any South Carolina lake that doesn’t have grass — fish that have been suspended out over deep water all summer will start to move closer to the bank. But they will usually stay suspended, and that’s the problem.
As they move toward shallower water, they don’t get on the bottom and move in. They remain suspended, still keying on herring or sometimes shad. And catching suspended fish is never easy.
The best solution to this problem, I’ve found, is fishing a floating worm or Senko at or close to the surface. I was raised on Lake Murray fishing a floating worm, but I’ve switched over to a Senko in the past few years. There’s not any real difference in the way you fish one bait or the other.
Really, about 90 percent of the floating worms we fish sink once you stick a big hook in ’em. They sink slowly, and you can fish them from two or three inches below the surface down to five feet, depending on the way you work the bait.
What makes a Senko or a floating worm effective at this time of year is that you can fish it in front of suspended fish. They don’t have to be hugging cover or structure on the bottom — because they won’t be. I believe they’re following herring or shad, and the baitfish are suspended, so the bass are suspended. The baitfish are also moving closer to the bank, and bass are following them.
Fish are moving back in creeks as the fall progresses. Shad will go all the way back and stay awhile, but herring won’t. Still, you have to move back with them, you just don’t go to the bank.
When I’m fishing a Senko or a floating worm in the fall, I’m really paying attention to my electronics, because I’m not going to even think about keying on any kind of visible cover on the bank until much later.. I’m more interested in points and humps and little changes in the bottom that baitfish will relate to. They may suspend 10 feet down over a hump or a point that’s 15 feet deep. I’m more worried about locating those kinds of places. I may have my boat in 20 feet of water, but I’m throwing to five or 10 feet deep where the fish are.
What you want to do when you fish a Senko or a floating worm for suspended fish is to work the bait by twitching your rod tip, letting the bait sink and twitching it some more. Bass will follow baitfish, so you’ll get some bass that will be following your bait. You’re twitching it along, and when you stop it and let it sink, it looks like a dying herring or shad to those bass, and they’ll hit it as it sinks.
That’s one reason I’ve gone more to a Senko than a floating worm is the way the Senko shivers or flutters as it sinks. I think it’s better at drawing a reaction strike from a bass that’s following it.
One big advantage to fishing a Senko or a floating worm is that you can decide exactly how deep you want to fish it. I’ll Texas-rig them on a 3/0, extra-wide gap Owner hook. I use a 7-foot, medium-action All-Star rod so I can make longer casts, and depending on what I want to do with the bait, I’ll either use a fluorocarbon line or regular Trilene XT, usually in 12- to 14-pound test.
If I want the bait to sink, I’ll fish it on fluorocarbon, I’ll keep my rod tip down, and I’ll twitch the bait much more slowly. If I want to fish it closer to the surface, I’ll fish it on monofilament, I’ll hold my rod tip up, and I’ll fish it a lot faster. The speed of our retrieve and the kind of line you fish makes a big difference. Being able to get an idea of the depth you want to fish is a primary concern, so your electronics are important.
One more thing to think about when you’re working these kinds of fish is that they’re going to be spooky. They’re usually schooled up, but the water is so clear that they’re a little bit spooky. It’s the kind of situation where if you hook one fish and you’ve got him coming to the boat, you might see two or three following him. If you’re fishing a team tournament or you’re just fun fishing and you’ve got a partner in the boat with you, that’s the time he needs to have a Senko or a floating worm tied on that he can throw right in to those fish that are following the one you’ve hooked.
You’ll usually only catch one fish in an area at a time. If you catch a fish, it’s worth slowing down and really working it over, but most of the time, you’ll do better if you’ll leave it alone and come back later in the day. The bass will stay in that area as long as the baitfish stay, so you can come back and work them a second or third time, trying to pick off a fish every time you come through.
Davy Hite is a 43-year-old native of Saluda who lives in Ninety Six. He has fished professionally since 1993. He was the BASS Angler of the Year in 1997 and 2002, and he won the 1999 Bassmasters Classic and the 1998 FLW Tour Champion-ship. He is sponsored by Triton boats, Evinrude outboards, All-Star rods, Pfleuger reels, Berkley Trilene, Yamamoto Baits, Owner hooks and Solar Bat sunglasses.
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