ESPN

Sometimes the mere mention of the word "suspended" sends shivers down the spines of bass fishermen who have been schooled on its negative connotations. For years, most references to "suspended" bass have been accompanied by other phrases such as "neutral feeding mood," and the bad press for suspended fish just snowballed from there.

Adding to the negativity is the fact that bass do indeed "suspend" in response to adverse weather or water conditions. But does that mean the fish suddenly become less aggressive? Or does it mean that the bass are merely forced to change positions in the water column?

While these questions can be debated, the bottom line is that many of the fish we catch throughout the year are suspended. Whether a bass is 2 feet or 20 feet off the bottom, technically it is a suspended fish. If a jig flipped under a dock doesn't make it to the bottom, most likely a suspended fish intercepted it. If a bass rises to a surface plug or shadows a jerkbait, the odds are probably great that you're targeting suspended fish rather than ones relating to the bottom.

The whole point of this exercise is to eliminate that negative twinge when you hear the word "suspended." Not only are suspended bass catchable, they may offer the most possibilities of any single group, especially in regard to big fish opportunities.

Perhaps the greatest hurdle in re-ordering your thinking about suspended fish is not assuming that you have to take the lure to the fish. While swimming, dropping or jigging baits in the depth zone of suspended fish can be very effective tactics, many anglers forget the power of lures to draw fish to them. Moreover, the negative attitude toward suspended bass has also created the perception that these fish will not move very far to strike a lure.

While there are certainly no "magic bullets" in unlocking the potential of suspended bass, the first step is obvious: Recognize your negative attitude and get over it.

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