down line questions

[iasus]

Gonna be going out tonight and I know I'll be dropping ales down 30-60 feet unless I feel like throwing the banks. My question is how long of a leader line will you guys normally put out behind the swivel if you're fishing that deep. Right now I've got them about 2 feet, but I'm starting to wonder if I should have them 3+ so they can move around more. Also, I've marked some schools down 60 feet and I'm wondering how long ales will stay alive down there. Should I be putting new ones on every 30 min or less? Just hate taking them out of the strike zone and they're dead after an hour once I reel them up. Makes me wonder if they've been dead for a long time and also the reason I haven't been getting hit. I'm sure we've all been in that situation And lastly, do any of you slowly jig a rod up and down as you go through a school that deep with live bait?
Thanks for any info!

[mwardncsu]

I use a 3'-4' leader as a general rule.

Not sure where you are fishing but keep in mind that at 60' the water temp is right at 50 degrees now - what's the temp in your bait tank? If it's 70ish then you are likely thermal shocking them. Also, depending where you are fishing, they could be below the thermocline where there is much less oxygen for the baits to use - generally less an issue down lake than up in the summer.

Regardless - if you're catching them from 50-60', releasing them successfully is unlikely - catch a limit and call it a night.

Be safe out there and post up a report on how it went.

[iasus]

I'm fishing Claytor down by the dam. I have been fishing a hump 30' down that drops off into 100' of water, but I met a guy who I saw catch a couple out of 60'(90' deep) and he's saying that's the thermocline this time of year for the lake. I'm marking them deep like that, but have managed to only catch one so far in 2 trips going deep. I wish I could catch a limit, but I'm not at that level yet. I might try dropping them to 50 feet with a 4' leader. Bait tank is pretty close to air temp this time of year. I'm just wondering if I should only be going deep during the day and stick to the shallows at night. Water temp is 82 degrees right now so I'm not sure if that keeps them from coming up to the surface as much or not at night. Seeing a ton of bait in the shallows, but only catching hybrids in less than 10 feet or so.

[striperjohn]

Iasus,
First let me state that I have never fished Claytor. However unless it's got something going on in the water unlike other lakes, you should be able to see that thermocline on any decent fishfinder. The deep ones are much easier to see this time of year simply because they are a much more compact layer when they're below 45 feet of so. Remember also that stripers will almost never go down for a bait, so those fish may in fact be deeper then where he's getting his hits. I've had them come from 55-60 feet on SML and come up and hit a bait only 5 feet down under a float.

[iasus]

So I ended up getting 2 last night in 30 feet of water, but I tested the depths again to no avail. Experimented a little bit and tried just dropping them down to 45 feet of water and slowly reeled them back in... all dead after only 5 min in the water. I'm thinking about bringing 2 frozen milk jugs of water and pouring them into my bait tank slowly to drop the water temp before dropping them down deeper. Have any of you tried this?

[mwardncsu]

Are you bring your bait with you from a home tank that is "air temperature" or are you catching it that day/night?

I make sure my bait tank is a lot cooler to start - usually 65-70 range and the bait I catch goes straight in - so that it comes up from, gets stored in, and goes back down to about the same temp. And I use about a cup of salt per 10 gal.

Also - what type of bait are we talking here? I feel we may be missing some details that are important to help provide useful assistance.

[iasus]

I'm catching it around 10pm in 10 feet of water and only keeping ales. My tank is a 12 gallon shingle creek with pump. Only keep max 30 baits in it so they stay fresh. Never get any red noses unless they've been in there over 8 or 9 hours. I put the salt in before I start netting to let it dissolve in, but maybe only a half cup of it. As far as scales go I just put them in a small bucket for a couple minutes before dumping them in the tank. Even then I still have a few scales that get in. Should I be doing anything different?

[mwardncsu]

Sounds about right - though I use a little more salt - some use less.

Still sounds like a temperature shock issue if your tank is surface or air temp since it's likely a lot cooler down that deep (sorry - don't know a lot of specifics on Claytor's temp profiles, but would assume it's not that different than SML).

[mwardncsu]

And it works the there way round as well. Keep my tank 66-74 on ales since I generally fish them 20-30' deep. If I have to pull downlines up for more than a few minutes above 15' the bait is likely to die pretty quick due to the hotter surface water. Also, when dropping your baits get them down and down fast - don't put them in the surface and turn around and get a drink and then slowing let them down - make sure they get down to the cooler water fast - again, this assumes the tank water is cooler