For years, suspended bass were tricky, providing both mystery and frustration for anglers trying to target them. They are generally harder to target than bass living next to cover, but that has changed with the advent of forward-facing sonar. Chasing suspended bass is a common theme in shallow and deep water.
Lousiana pro Nick LeBrun spends much of the year chasing these fish on lakes around the country on the Bass Pro Tour and has learned how to get them to bite effectively.
Unlocking the Mystery
Fishing for suspended bass required some hope that you were in the right areas and the use of 2D sonar and side scan. Now, forward-facing sonar has shown precisely where the fish are.
"My Lowrance Active Target 2 has made things easier to find; I'm not going to say it's made those fish easier to catch because a lot of them were never fished for before," he said. "Back in the day, it was like throwing darts at a map, and you spent time wandering in deep water. That wasn't an efficient way to fish; now I at least know I'm in the game and around fish."
Love it or hate it, the new technology has also taught anglers much about bass behavior and movement. One takeaway LeBrun has is that bass are typically always suspended somewhere on every body of water.
"I believe there is always a group of fish that are suspending out in deep water around baitfish, and going shallow is almost an inconvenience to them," he said. "They would rather be out there in 'La La Land' chasing bait than going to shallow water. I realized this when we had our tournament at Dale Hollow in Tennessee this year, and it was March, and the water was warming up, and the tournament was won out deep when the bass were supposed to be spawning."
Most of the focus with suspended bass is on deep water, but LeBrun says the phenomenon happens everywhere. "A lot of them are deep, but you'll also find them shallow," he said. "Obviously, fish suspended in 30 feet versus 8 feet of water are two different realms, so I use different baits depending on the depth."
Deep-Water Approach
When fishing in deep water, LeBrun looks for baitfish and bass present. A minnow-style bait is the best way to target these fish. It's the hottest thing in bass fishing and works almost everywhere.
"Out deep for suspended bass around baitfish, it's all about the Yamamoto Scope Shad for me," he said. "The 3-inch size is great for clear water, finicky fish, and when the bass are eating little shad. The new 4-inch size is good when you want more drawing power in stained water and for largemouth."
Many minnow-imitating plastics exist, but LeBrun prefers the Scope Shad because of the bait's profile. "If you look at it, it has a flat back and big keel that looks just like the shape of a shad," he said. "It mimics them perfectly, and they have some great colors, including the new Stealth Series, which are all translucent and natural-looking."
Depending on the size of the bait, LeBrun uses different jigheads and adjusts their weight based on the depth, how the fish are acting, and weather conditions.
"For the 3-inch bait, I like the Bill Lewis Scope Head. It's a real finesse head with a nice 90-degree line tie," he said. "I like a traditional ball head with a 3/0 round bend hook on the larger bait. The weight varies based on how finicky the fish are and how deep I'm fishing. I want a weight that allows me to get to them efficiently, but sometimes you need a lighter head so you don't spook those fish. "
Shallow Suspended Bass
When fishing shallow water, generally 10 feet or less, and targeting shallow bass, LeBrun uses a wacky rig. The tried-and-true Yamamoto Senko is a great option, but LeBrun's favorite is the Fat Senko, both in the 5-inch and newly released 4-inch versions.
"It's got the same qualities as the regular senko and great shimmy when it falls, but it's a faster fall rate," he said. "The bait gets down quicker and triggers those suspended bass much easier."
Suspended bass can be anywhere in shallow water, but LeBrun typically finds most in areas close to deeper water. "Many times, they will relate to little creek bends and channels in that 10-feet range, but close to that 30-feet zone. They want that access to deeper water so they can zoom back out if they want to."
LeBrun will rig his Fat Senko on a 2/O Hayabusa wacky worm hook with a fluorocarbon weed guard and fish it on a spinning setup with a braid to a fluorocarbon leader. "I'll cast it, let it sink, and let the drawing power of that bait do the rest," he says.
Fishing for suspended bass is no longer a mystery and one of the best ways to increase your catch rate any day on the water. Targeting suspended bass and all the other tried-and-true ways to catch bass are now in play for bass anglers everywhere.
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