Covering Water Effectively
By Don Applegarth
I have been asked by several people what I do to cover water
whenever I am fishing, say a new lake or whenever I am trying
to locate some fish, and put together a pattern. This is a subject
that is very broad, and can be discussed at great length, I will
try here to list some of the things that I consider when choosing
a bait, and an area to fish.
The first thing that I consider is the time of year. By this,
I try and figure out where the fish should be. If it is late
winter or very early spring, then I know the fish are going to
be relatively deep, and lethargic. Therefore, I will try to find
ledges, and drop-offs, that are at the mouths of creeks, and
river bends.
I will usually try fishing these areas with crankbaits, and spinnerbaits
slow rolled first. If I can not get any takers, then I will try
using worms, or jigs, and fish slower.
If it is later in the spring, but still pre-spawn, I will use
faster moving baits such as a Rat-L-Trap or crankbaits and spinnerbaits,
but moved a little faster. I will also move away from the deeper
ledges, and start to look in the first half of some major creeks.
Start at the channels, and work toward the shallower water. Many
times fish will move up onto flats in these areas and feed, then
return to the depths. Look for places where there is a drastic
depth change from say 6' - about 10 or more.
Another consideration, is the weather. If it is windy, I always
fish the windy side first. That is where the baitfish are usually
located. While it is not the easiest way to fish under these
conditions, it is almost always the most productive.
For these conditions, I use a fast moving bait like a Crankbait,
Rat-L-Trap, or a Spinnerbait, and work the areas quickly. It
is very important to cast into the wind whenever possible/ This
can be a nightmare, but it gives the bait a more natural presentation,
and the fish are usually feeding facing into the wind, like a
current in a river. While these little details seem unimportant,
they make a huge difference in the size, and numbers of fish
caught.
During the summer months, and warmer weather conditions, I usually
start out with topwaters, and then switch to a Buzzbait, and
then crankbaits and blades. Once fish have been located, I will
slow down, and work these areas with slower baits like a Carolina
rigged Lizard, or a Texas rigged worm.
If you are fishing overcast conditions in warm weather months,
I recommend that you try a topwater bait all day long, as well
as other faster moving lures, and keep moving. Fish are prone
to be feeding all day long under such conditions, and can be
caught.
Soft Jerkbaits are always tied onto one of my rods, just as
a Spinnerbait is. I use these to search areas as well. They can
be worked very rapidly, and will draw strikes from less aggressive
fish just as well as the more aggressive ones. If you are fishing
a soft jerkbait, and a fish misses the lure, stop it! Let it
fall, sometimes all the way to the bottom. About 50% of the time,
that fish will come back and get it. If it doesn't, twitch it,
and then jerk it back to the top, and let it fall again. A few
feet, and return to your retrieve.
I think that soft Jerkbaits are one of the most underrated
lures on the market today. If you have not tried them, you should.
You are missing a lot of fish, and a lot of BIG fish as well,
especially during the spring months.
Covering water is important, but you have to be able to go
slow enough to work the areas effectively as well. I will use
a stop and start technique with my trolling motor. I usually
keep it on a relatively high speed setting then move about 10
- 15' and stop. The boat will continue to drift while I make
several fan casts to the areas around me. If not takers, then
I go another 10 - 15' and so on. Many people prefer to use a
slower setting and keep moving constantly while searching waters
for bass. I think they cover a good deal of water, but they miss
a lot of targets, that I always try to hit, until I come across
a pattern.
By this I mean, that if I see after a few minutes that I am
only catching bass on stumps, I will move faster, and only slow
down whenever I am fishing stumps.
I hope this article has been of some help to you all in understanding
effective ways to cover water.
Good fishin'…
Don |
