Bank Fishing Approach

[Tser]

Many of the lakes I fish don't allow boats or have very poor boat access. As a result, there is little to no bathymetric information available. I just bought a Deeper Chirp so that I can make my on maps, but that will take some time. This leaves me with 2 questions:

1. I will start to throw 8+ inch baits this year. What areas should I target given the little information I have?

2. What areas should I look for first when creating a bathymetric map? 

Any other bank fishing tips or bathymetric map tips are appreciated.

[Loudsplashbassn_]

Points ,lay downs , any other visible structure. Ledges that transition from shallow to deep same approach as conventional just bigger baits . Good luck

[Mossyback Angler]

Rip-rap banks have been very productive for me this season.  Working the edges first. I then cast 45° out, working from deep to shallow, working up the rip-rap ledge. One such area, which produced a small current from a drainage from a neighboring lake was consistent at producing bass for me.

Most of my strikes come on the way up the ledge.

[chevro1et]

You can fish the same areas where you have previously been successful. I'd start mapping in these areas and expand from there. 

[ewillsd]

At most of my lakes here in SoCal I can look at the bank or features around me and I'm able to get a pretty good idea of what is going on out deeper.

[WaterWolf44]

I do a ton of shore fishing. Look for irregular shorelines with little backwater bays. Areas where fresh water enters the waterbody as long as there is some depth. It could be something as small as a trickle or spring.

[SVT THUNDER]

Man. There are so many variables that will dictate what areas and baits to start with. Some things to consider:

1. Do you have any idea of the bass population and size living in that water? 

2. Water temps, forage and the primary cover on that water. ie grass, rock, stumps etc.

3. If you have locations that you’ve caught frequent bass from, scan those areas and see what makes them different.

It’s a broad question with numerous possibilities. I’m interested to see what you find over time doing this. 

[chevro1et]

1 hour ago, WaterWolf44 said:

I do a ton of shore fishing. Look for irregular shorelines with little backwater bays. Areas where fresh water enters the waterbody as long as there is some depth. It could be something as small as a trickle or spring.

I gotta agree, points of confluence are classic features to be explored.

[ikaika]

A lot of good stuff above, so I would add to this by suggesting you spend some time on Google Earth (the desktop version) where you can click back through historical images and see how the lake looks in different parts of the year, or in previous years.  You can spot seasonal creeks coming in, places grass tends to grow at what points in the year, or even pieces of cover that are exposed by low water levels in dry years.  With a few points of interest narrowed down, you can more efficiently map those yourself or even just go drag a heavy jig around and feel it out to see what you can learn about bottom composition.

[Mossypumpkin]

Current

[dqb]

On land, walk softly and stay several feet back from the bank being careful not to cast a shadow on the water.  Stay low, hide behind trees etc and wear drab natural colors. Fish are constantly looking up for predators so stealth is key.

Learn the nature of your ponds and let that guide you to the fish; here are a few of my favorites 

_A stalking bird means baitfish are preset, bass will prob be in that area too; fish there 

_Pine trees grow best in gravel, a group usually signifies some sort of bottom transition that usually hold bass (or spawning in the spring)

_Shallow ponds get very hot in summer, an area just a foot or two deeper will hold a lot of fish during hot months

_Bluegill presentations from the bank are great but usually get bit moving from shallow area to deep, find shore angles that allow you to make this presentation whenever possible 

[Tser]

23 hours ago, SVT THUNDER said:

Man. There are so many variables that will dictate what areas and baits to start with. Some things to consider:

1. Do you have any idea of the bass population and size living in that water? 

2. Water temps, forage and the primary cover on that water. ie grass, rock, stumps etc.

3. If you have locations that you’ve caught frequent bass from, scan those areas and see what makes them different.

It’s a broad question with numerous possibilities. I’m interested to see what you find over time doing this. 

Thanks for the insight. The bass in my lakes are really finicky and don't seem to have any regular feeding pattern (moon phases, atmospheric pressure, etc.). The bass are mostly ON or OFF with very little in between. The lakes do not see much "sophisticated" angler pressure, so the bass are cognizant of common techniques (Senko, drop shot, small paddletail), but they have definitely not seen any baits over 5 inches. 

Here are my best answers to your questions:

1. Each lake has a healthy bass population, an in most cases, they are the primary predatory species. An average bass is about 2 pounds, but a 3/4 is quote common. There are also a number of fish in the 5-8 range, and there are rumors of fish over 10 lbs. 

2. Being MA, summer water temperatures hover between 75-85 degrees. The primary forage is bluegill and perch, although a few lakes have some rainbows. I am unsure of the primary cover. There are very few rock ledges, and only a few visible wood laydowns. I believe that most of the cover is thick week and lily pads. The bottom is mostly clean sand or "snot" grass. The bottom is also full of snags, however, I have never been able to establish they are (best guess is fallen trees).

3. Most of the bass I catch are from the few wood laydowns or along weed lines, however I have had success with a lipless crankbait in the deeper areas. 

I look forward to hearing your opinions. 

[SVT THUNDER]

2 hours ago, Tser said:

Thanks for the insight. The bass in my lakes are really finicky and don't seem to have any regular feeding pattern (moon phases, atmospheric pressure, etc.). The bass are mostly ON or OFF with very little in between. The lakes do not see much "sophisticated" angler pressure, so the bass are cognizant of common techniques (Senko, drop shot, small paddletail), but they have definitely not seen any baits over 5 inches. 

Here are my best answers to your questions:

1. Each lake has a healthy bass population, an in most cases, they are the primary predatory species. An average bass is about 2 pounds, but a 3/4 is quote common. There are also a number of fish in the 5-8 range, and there are rumors of fish over 10 lbs. 

2. Being MA, summer water temperatures hover between 75-85 degrees. The primary forage is bluegill and perch, although a few lakes have some rainbows. I am unsure of the primary cover. There are very few rock ledges, and only a few visible wood laydowns. I believe that most of the cover is thick week and lily pads. The bottom is mostly clean sand or "snot" grass. The bottom is also full of snags, however, I have never been able to establish they are (best guess is fallen trees).

3. Most of the bass I catch are from the few wood laydowns or along weed lines, however I have had success with a lipless crankbait in the deeper areas. 

I look forward to hearing your opinions. 

Great breakdown. There’s some great advice above already from others. But I’ll try and add how I would go about mapping and looking based on what you’ve told me. If I wanted to try and map out how the bottom is contoured, I’d start with something I use to do before I ever owned a GPS. That’s looking at the land features where they meet the water. If there’s a ditch or revene visable in the landscape, it will usually continue that path into the water. It may make turns or even run parallel to the bank out at some point. Closer to the bank and especially shallower water, it  will most likely have silted in to a degree over time depending on how long the lake has been there. Not always the case with manmade lakes. But those areas will usually show up again as water gets deeper. I use to always look at the land when fishing new lakes prior to the technology we have today. And most of the time, I could find that feature on sonar under water out from the bank. Sometimes it was a small depth change and other times it was drastic. A lot of those areas will hold bass or be used by them for one reason or another at some point in the year. Especially if they cut through shallower flats.

I also looked for changes of the ground. For example, if I was looking at a bank and it was sandy but made a sudden change to rocky ground, I would scan that area looking to see if those same rocky features were underwater in that area. Even a heavily wooded area that all of a sudden had a clearing without a house in sight could mean stumps or brush underwater in that area from cleared land before water was there. I was always looking for any type of change on the bottom that might hold bass. So if any if that applies to the lakes you fish, I would map out those areas and see what’s on the bottom. 

I would also map around the pads to look for any cuts or depth changes that run under or around those areas. 

As someone said already, springs usually mean a "Spring Hole". Of course without any idea of the location, if there are any, it’s just going to be something you run across while scanning. We have some here that are as shallow as 8’ and some as deep as 24’. They hold prespawn and post spawn bass here in the Springtime and also in the Summer. The water is usually the same temp year round. Can’t really recall what the average temp is. But in the Summer, it offers cooler temps. But that may not be as much of a factor up North. 

I’m no expert by any means. But I’ve spent my whole life fishing everything from ponds when I was a kid to Rivers and reservoirs. Just my thoughts on this. Hope some of this can help you in some small way. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by SVT THUNDER
Grammar

[Tser]

Thank you everyone for the help. I should be able hit the bank a bit more often in the next few weeks, so I will update this thread with what I have mapped out, etc..