How to Fish Deep Freshwater

Some man-made waters can be very deep which can be quite intimidating when pole fishing, often provoking an angler to resort to bomb, leger, feeder or method fishing with a rod.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with rod fishing, but some people, like myself, prefer to fish on pole; fishing deep freshwater with pole doesn’t have to be daunting.

The standard depth of most fisheries is between 4ft and 8ft. Some man-made waters can be up to 5 times that depth.

The most important thing to remember is to not over-think it. Just because the water is deep doesn’t mean you should re-think your entire process of fishing. You don’t need to overhaul your entire rig and there’s no special bait for deep water fishing.

They key points for deep water fishing are:

Finding a suitable depth
Feeding strategy
Rig setup

I’ll discuss these key points in more detail below.

Finding a Suitable Depth

Usually when fishing on pole you would target different areas of the swim, often fishing with a line down the margins, a line at 5m and one at 13m. However, when the water is deep you would need to find areas that you can fish at a suitable depth.

More often than not, an angler would start by fishing well away from the bank to start and then come in closer to find any drop off in the margin and then fishing on the waterbed.

Obviously when fishing on deep water, depending on just how deep, it’ll be impractical to fish on the waterbed with a float method in most areas of the water.

You’ve probably noticed that fish tend to move towards the surface when it’s warmer; deeper water is colder than close to the surface. When water is deeper than 8m fish tend not to feed on the waterbed and will either move to shallower water to feed on the waterbed or feed at a lower depth on the drop. I wouldn’t even consider fishing on the waterbed if the water is deeper than 8m.

It is considered that an ideal depth is to be around 6ft. So, I would suggest setting your rig to 6ft and using a plumb around the swim until you find a depth that is close to 6ft, even if that means fishing only a few meters from the bank.

During the summer months fish tend to feed near the surface so I’d fish for these at a distance no further than I can comfortably throw a few pellets accurately, this is usually around 8m from the bank. It’s inevitable that fish will be lurking just below the surface when it’s warm.

I’d also fish the margins anywhere between 12 inches and 2ft from the bank using a ‘jigga’ float to fish the upper layers.

A Jigga float is a dibber-style float with a tube running through it. It runs freely up and down the mainline, resting only on a float stop set 4 inches from the hook.

As you lower the rig in, the float stays on the surface and the hookbait falls through the water as you lower the pole-tip down.

The depth at which you fish is controlled by how high or low you have the pole-tip from the water. This way you are covering a lot more levels in the water, and if a fish sucks the hookbait in it simply hooks itself against the top of the pole, due to the tight line between pole-tip and hookbait.

The float never moves and the first you will know of a bite is when the fish hooks itself and elastic streams from the top of the pole – there’s no striking and missing bites.

For information on fishing deep water read – How to Fish Deep Water

Feeding Strategy

Above I have discussed fishing three lines. One at a depth of 6ft and on the waterbed if possible, one at around 8m distance in front and fairly shallow during the warmer months, and one in the margins, close to the bank.

Each of those lines would require a feeding in a different manner.

Feeding Shallow fishing – When fishing shallow you need to keep a constant rain of bait falling down in the water in order to keep the fish feeding at a shallow depth. The fish will come up, in to the shallow water, to intercept the bait as it falls.
The fish may be feeding at a deeper depth initially, but as you feed the swim constantly they will compete for the bait and gradually start to feed shallower.
I’d suggest feeding the area with a dozen pellets every 30 seconds or so in order to keep the fish shallow.
If you’re not getting any bites then you may need to adjust the depth of your hookbait as you could be fishing slightly shallower or deeper than the fish a feeding. My strategy would be to start coming shallower rather than deeper, especially in warmer months.
Feeding at 6ft depth – It is a completely different ball game when fishing on the bottom at 6ft of water. Here I would prefer to use a small pole cup in order to drop in a small quantity of 6mm pellets after every catch.
You’re trying to keep the fish feeding on the bottom and not encourage them to come shallower. Feeding too frequently could cause the fish to rise up. An indicator that the fish are coming shallower in the water would be false bites; as the fish come shallow they may brush up against your line and cause knocks on your float.
By feeding infrequently you give the fish no reason to come off the bottom and using a cup means can not only be accurate with your bait drop but also cause less disturbance.
Feeding the margins – Last but not least, the margins are fed with big pots of ground bait. The fish are not likely sat in the margins of your swim to start with as you will probably have scared them away during your arrival. You’ll need to feed the margins with large quantities of ground bait in order to attract the fish in. Large quantities of ground bait is often considered the best approach for attracting the best fish by even the pro anglers.

For tips on using a Sliding Float Stop Knot read – Sliding Float Stop Knot

Example of Fishing a Deep Lake

One of the lakes local to me is a deep water exactly as I have described above, so below is a brief example of how I approach fishing it.

All 21 pegs of Newmiller Dam are extremely deep.

My first port of call is to get out my plummet to find a small patch of water that is somewhere close to the 6ft mark in depth. On this particular water it is usually on a ledge pretty close to the bank.

Here I will dump in a large pot of ground bait and then setup up my rig to fish in that spot.

Most anglers would consider this as their margin line as it’s so close to the bank but, in reality, because of the depth, it’s the equivalent of fishing at a long pole line in open water.

On this particular water I know that there is a steep slope and if I fish even slightly further out I will be in much deeper water, significantly reducing my chances of a catch. I know this from my investigations with the plumb.

I’ll start by cupping in a dozen pellets and then lowering in my hookbait over the top.

For the first 10 minutes I’ll frequently throw out a few 7mm pellets while keeping my eye out for surface swirls to indicate that the fish have started feeding.

I’ll drop in a cup groundbait every 30 minutes or so.

This technique usually results in some decent small to medium sized F1’s.

An F1 is a cross between crucian and common carp, F1s vastly outsell other popular species, such as barbel, tench and bream.

Check out https://www.anglingtimes.co.uk/ for all information on Fishing in the UK.

To Summarise

Apply the knowledge and tactics you already have when fishing in deep water, finding the areas of your swim that meet the magic 6ft depth rule; even if that is only 1m from the bank. The depth makes the distance equivalent to fishing at a greater distance.

Feed the swim appropriately to the depth you’re fishing and enjoy being able to pole fish on deep waters.

For more advice on choosing the right Reel read – Top Tips for Choosing the Right Coarse Fishing Reel