The Home of the Fish is Deep Water
by Buck Perry

The "home" of the fish (where they spend the greater part of their time) is deep water. This area serves as a sanctuary from a the commonly changing environment of shallow water. A fish's residence (sanctuary) is located somewhere in the deep water, often in the deepest water in the area being fished.

When the fish are at the sanctuary depths, they are normally dormant, and/or so deep, they are almost impossible to locate or catch.

As fishermen we are fortunate because the fish do not stay dormant, or deep all the time. Once or twice on an average fishing day fish become active and may move toward shallower water.

We are saved again, because when the fish become active and move toward shallow water, they do not go in just any direction. They follow paths. The route they take has bottom features (structure, breaks, and breaklines) that show them the way.

As fish move along a bottom feature (structure) they pause or stop at "objects" (breaks) on the bottom. How far they go toward the shallows and how long they stay before turning back to deep water is dependent on the weather and the water conditions at that particular time.

If you and I desire to consistently catch fish whenever or wherever we go fishing, we must control the depth we fish at, and the speed of our lures or bait. We must find the things the fish sees, the bottom features (breaks) on structure which fish use as they move from the deep water to the shallow water.

In my fishing classes I have a saying that always get laughs. I tell my students, I always know where the fish are.

"The fish are either in the shallows, the deepest water in the area,
or somewhere in between."

To many this statement sounds amusing, but have you ever watched a fisherman thrash the shoreline shallows all day, never getting a bite, and never fishing the deep water, or the in between water?

When fishing, always start shallow. Use trolling to cover large expanses. Use casting when a fish is caught, or in tight cover areas such as when fishing irregular weedlines or visible cover. (Realize that visible cover only holds fish a small part of the time.) You'll usually do better by turning around and casting to deep water.

Always, continue to fish deeper until all water depths have been covered systematically. Focus your fishing on structure, and if no fish are caught, repeat these actions, starting shallow and working deeper, on other structures until you find the fish.

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