Fishing on the Edge

There are times in fishing that fish will relate or hold on to or close to cover or certain types of structure. During this time of late winter this holds true as bass will hold on the edge of areas like steep drop off banks, channel edges, bluffs or cliff lines and standing flooded timber or main lake points with deep water close by makes all these places even more attractive to late winter bass. And what all of these areas have in common is that bass will hold on the edges of these different types of cover. By doing this it allows the bass to move in a vertical up and down movement to find the best suited water temp and oxygen levels and the best depth to locate food.

A smart angler will use this to their advantage by locating and fishing these high percentage areas. Watch your fish finder till you locate one of these types of areas and look for a sudden change in depth or when the cover drops off into deeper water. You will most likely see larger concentrations of fish and bigger fish on these edge areas. Once you locate an area you want to fish then try to stay on that general area as best you can. Start fishing with slow moving baits like hair jigs or a jig and pig combo. Make your cast and let the bait reach the bottom. Then very slowly work the jig back toward the boat with a slow reeling, pumping action. watch your line for any type of twitching or movement action.

If you see or feel anything different reel down and set the hook. You can also fish a tube bait or a spider jig. Try to fish these baits in places like main lake points that have large broken rocks or my favorite stair step rocky points. Keep your boat about a cast away from the bank and make a cast as close to the bank as possible and work the bait slowly back. Be sure to feel when the bait drops from one ledge to another one. On this drop is where most of the strikes will occur as the bait is on the fall. By fishing like this you will be casting into shallow water and retrieving the bait into deeper water while working the edges of several ledges and several different water depths plus increasing the chances of several more fish seeing your bait than by simply fishing one depth.

So you can see why I consider this type of fishing some of my favorite. This is a very high precentage way to fish now or at any time of the year. Other productive baits are the blade baits like the jigging spoon and the silver buddy a famous cold water small mouth bait. Look for areas with deeper water cover and make you cast with the jigging spoon wait till your line is straight down and slowly on a tight line work the rod up and down while watching the tip and the line for any type of jerk or twitch. If you see or feel anything set the hook. This is a bait that you can catch several fish off of one spot because the bass will be concentrated on key deep water areas right now. And the set up known as the float and fly will catch cold water bass as good as or better than most lures will so give all these baits a try and you will be fishing on the edge