Publication: Bass Matters
How to Fish Bare Banks | |
Subscribe FREE to Bass Matters by clicking here.
><> ><> BASS MATTERS - June 7, 2006 ><> ><>
------------------------------------------------------------
Picnic Season is Finally Here!
Keep Your food Bug Free With the Picnic Buddy Food Covers
There's nothing that ruins a picnic more than rain and bugs.
And although you can't control the weather, now you can keep
those pesky bugs away from your food with the Picnic Buddy
Food Covers. This set of 3 pop-up mesh food covers can cover
bowls and plates to keep out pests, while giving you a clear
view of the food underneath. Order a set of three Picnic
Buddy Food Covers for $9.99 when you visit:
Picnic Buddy Food Covers
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hello Anglers,
Some people insist on fishing deep water during the summer,
but deep fishing is not always the key to catch monster
summer bass. Shallow tributaries and bays can hold plenty
of hot water bass action. Weeds provide cover and forage
for bass including crayfish, minnows, and bluegill. Weeds
also help filter the water and pump needed oxygen into the
water.
Remember you can comment on any story or read comments
by visiting: Bass Matters Blog
Enjoy a week of fishing!
Brock
email Brock
How to Fish Bare Banks
Bare banks can rightfully be called the "Cinderella
structure" of bass fishing. These places can be sleepers.
Bass use them despite the lack of obvious features. And
because there aren't many features, the ones that are there
have the potential to draw in a lot of fish.
Overview Of Bare Banks: Bare banks exist in virtually all
reservoirs and lakes in the country. They are void stretches
of clay, sand, mud or gravel or composites of these materials.
Bare banks may border creek embayments, main river channels
or islands. Some run for short distances; others stretch for
hundreds of yards. Still, the thread that ties all bare banks
together is their lack of obvious features. The degree to
which bass use bare banks varies from lake to lake and even
from one bank to the next.
Bare banks in deeper and/or older lakes tend to attract more
fish than do similar banks in shallow, newer lakes. The
latter waters usually have other, higher quality structure
to draw the fish. Bare banks aren't as important in lakes
that have timber or grass or lots of up and down bottom
structure.
Even in lakes with plenty of other structure, some bare
banks still hold bass, and these can be honey holes because
they are rarely fished. The only way to learn which banks
are good is to test fish them. This takes a lot of time,
and this is why fishing bare banks is more practical for
anglers on their home lakes than for pros who move around
from one lake to the next.
Bass are more prone to hold along bare banks during seasonal
migrations. The best time to fish these banks are spring and
fall. In spring, the bass move into the creeks to spawn, and
a lot of times they follow banks back to shallow water. And
in the fall, shad swim into the creeks, and bass come in
behind them.
Much of the feeding activity during September and October
takes place close in to shore. Sometimes bass also feed
along bare banks in summer and winter, usually in main lake
areas where wind or currents push shad up shallow. So bare
banks have the potential to produce fish all year long.
Wind is one of the main keys.
Fishing along a bare bank is 100 times better if there's a
wind blowing on it, especially on a clear lake. The waves
'blow in' baitfish. They stir up the bottom and expose craw-
fish. They break up sunlight penetration. Overall, wind
blowing on a bare bank creates prime feeding conditions, and
it causes the bass to be shallower and more active.
One more note about bare banks: They hold an extra attract-
ion to smallmouth and spotted bass. If a lake only have
largemouths, plain banks will be good sometimes. But is
spotted and smallmouth are present, they can be great
virtually anytime.
Bass Locations Along Banks: Actually, the term "bare banks"
contradicts the actual makeup of these void looking struct-
ures. A bank may look bare if you're running down the lake
at 50 mile per hour. But if you stop and really study and
fish it, there's almost always something that will attract
bass.
It's just a matter of knowing what to look for and how to
find it. You can find bass near subtle changes or isolated
features along bare banks. Examples include where a bank's
makeup changes (i.e., gravel gives way to clay), where a
creek channel swings near the bank, where a bank becomes
flatter or steeper, or where a bank makes a slow turn.
Also, underwater features along a bank are like beacons that
draw bass. A stump. log or large rock can have a magnetic
effect on fish swimming alongshore. Also, a lot of people
sink brushpiles along bare banks. A brushpile along a bank
that doesn't have any other features is almost a sure bet to
draw some fish, plus it's not as likely to be found by other
fishermen because of the lack of fishing pressure.
Knowing
what to look for along bare banks and being able to find
these spots are two different matters. A visual check is
simple enough. An angler can see bank composition changes,
shoreline turns or dark shadows of underwater stumps or
logs. (Polarized sunglasses are vital in seeing below the
surface.)
Continued...
------------------------------------------------------------
Lose Weight Now: Oprah & 60 Minutes Agree Hoodia Works
Curb Your Cravings(R) Hoodia Patch System is here to help you.
All natural Hoodia is an appetite suppressant: You can
eat less, reduce your calorie intake and the lose weight.
"I'd have to say Hoodia did work" - Leslie Stahl, 60 minutes
Get your One (1) Week Free* Trial. 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
Visit: Lose Weight Now with Hoodia
------------------------------------------------------------
He can also study a topo map to find where channels angle
near the bank. However, most fish attracting features along
bare banks are hidden from view and not shown on maps.
Fishermen have two methods for finding them: electronic
inspection with a depthfinder; and test fishing. Start out
checking a bank by idling along it and watching your depth-
finder.
Zigzag in and out to scan different depths. Mainly,
look for cover down the side of the bank, and also watch
for contour changes and baitfish returns. If a bank is 200
yards long, cover it all. Then if you see anything that
looks promising, turn around and fish it. It's common to
idle part way down a bank and see nothing, then to begin
detecting features or fish.
Another approach is to start at one end and fish it all.
This way you can really cover the whole bank effectively.
Invest the time to go down it and check different areas and
depths. That way you can do a thorough job of eliminating
thinks and develop a reliable pattern.
As you fish along, constantly monitor your depthfinder for
objects or changes in the bank's contour. Look for little
shelves or places where the first break occurs closer to
the shore. Again, these are the subtle, little changes
where bass are more likely to be. Sometimes the only way to
find these places is by fishing the whole bank.
Baits For Bare Banks: For fishing bare banks you can rely on
a small selection of dependable lures: crankbaits, spinner-
baits, jerkbaits, topwaters, grubs, jigs and plastic worms.
Diving crankbaits are top choices for prospecting along bare
banks from early spring through fall. Also, because you can
cover water quickly with them.
In addition, you can cast them right to the waterline, then
bump them back down the bank's subsurface slope. This
facilitates a check of depths ranging from a few inches to
deeper than 10 feet. Another good bait for searching bare
banks in early spring is a jerkbait. Fishing a jerkbait is
a good way to catch suspended bass.
It's especially effective when the water first starts warm-
ing up (low to mid 40s). When fishing this bait move along
the bank while making 45 degree casts to the shoreline. Cast
right to the water's edge, and crank the bait four or five
times to start it down, then begin a "jerk pause jerk jerk"
retrieve. Repeat this all the way back to the boat. The
colder the water, the slower you want to work the bait.
A spinnerbait is a third option for prospecting along bare
banks in the prespawn and spawning periods. A spinnerbait
should be cast shallow, then pulled down the slope with a
middepth retrieve. Many times, if bass are actively feeding,
they will be drawn in by the flash and vibration, and they
will hit from below or beside the bait.
Alternate among crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits to
see which the bass prefer on a given day. This is just a
matter of trial and error. One day the fish will hug bottom,
and the diving crankbait works best. The next day they may
be suspended, and the jerkbait is best. And the third day
they might be roaming and feeding, and the spinnerbait is
the trick.
You just have to analyze the weather and water conditions
and try to figure out how active the bass are and whether
they're shallow, deep or suspended. Then pick the bait that
will work best under those conditions. But if that bait
doesn't work, try the other two type. Sometimes bass are
hard to second guess. Jigs, grubs and worms (so called slow
baits) are deadly along bare banks.
These baits are good under three distinct circumstances. If
you're working a shoreline with a crankbait and hit a piece
of cover without a bite, pick up your jig or worm rod and
work the cover a little slower and more thoroughly. If the
bass aren't too active, it's not uncommon for them to pass
up the crankbait or a spinnerbait but to hit a jig or worm.
The second case for using a slow bait is when a bank has
yielded some fish to one of the faster baits, and the angler
wants to make another pass down the bank and offer remaining
bass a different option.
And the third case for using grubs, jigs and worms is when a
pass down a bank with faster baits yield no action, but the
angler believes bass are present and just not in a chasing
mood. Topwaters are excellent baits for fishing bare banks
after the water temperature rises into the 70s. This is just
another alternative.
Topwater baits fished along bare banks early and late in the
day are a good pattern for heat-of-the-summer fishing. This
may not be the most consistent pattern in the world, but
sometimes it will produce some big fish. All in all, despite
their "non-structure" appearance, bare banks are a viable
alternative for finding and catching bass. The biggest
reason is because they're so overlooked by most fishermen.
And that makes bare banks a secret worth checking.
------------------------------------------------------------
*** SEROQUEL CAUSES BLOOD SUGAR DISORDERS ***
Studies have shown that Seroquel users are at a higher risk
of contracting diabetes, pancreatitis, hyperglycemia and
other ailments.
If you or someone you love has taken Seroquel the time to
act is NOW. Fill out this short, no cost and no obligation
form. Experienced lawyers are waiting to talk to you about
your injuries to find out if you are entitled to compensation.
Find out about your compensation
------------------------------------------------------------
GopherCentral's Question of the Week
Do you support a constitutional amendment in banning gay
marriage?
Question of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------
FISHING JOKES CORNER
------------------------------------------------------------
Standing at the edge of the lake, a man saw a woman flailing
about in the deep water. Unable to swim, the man screamed
for help. A trout fisherman ran up. The man said, "My wife
is drowning and I can't swim. Please save her. I'll give
you a hundred dollars."
The fisherman dove into the water. In ten powerful strokes,
he reached the woman, put his arm around her, and swam back
to shore. Depositing her at the feet of the man, the fisher-
man said, "Okay, where's my hundred dollars?"
The man said, "Look, when I saw her going down for the third
time, I thought it was my wife. But this is my mother-in-law."
The fisherman reached into his pocket and said, "Just my
luck. How much do I owe you?"
------------------------------------------------------------
Questions? Comments? email: Email brock
------------------------------------------------------------
Missed an issue? Visit the archives:
Bass Matters Archives
************************************************************
END OF BASS MATTERS - http://www.gophercentral.com
Copyright 2006 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved.
 E-Mail this issue
Subscribe FREE to Bass Matters by clicking here.
|