By David A. Brown
Special to BassFan
Time management is a requisite skill that any angler can learn from those who make their living with a rod and-reel. Essential to this concept is minimizing wasted hours by wisely selecting general areas.
No sense wasting time idling into a bank that you simply don’t believe in, but what exactly does that mean? Well, a handful of considerations prove foundational to making the most of those initial decisions and the key is sizing up key details before we approach.
Shaw Grigsby, one of the all-time great shallow water anglers, notes that forward-facing sonar like his Lowrance ActiveTarget has clearly improved the search process once you’ve identified a promising area. Modern technology certainly hastens the recon, but the game begins with visual observations.
Specifics will vary by fishery, but a handful of key points apply most anywhere.
Applicable Angles
Bank slope – sharp or gradual – tells us a lot about when the area will be most attractive to fish.
“If I’m looking at a flat bank, that tells me those fish are going to get on there in the spring around the spawn,” Grigsby said. “So I’ll want to use baits I can keep in that shallow water, as opposed to something that will fall off into the deeper water of a steep bank.
“If I have an angled bank, that tells me I need to be throwing baits like a crankbait; something I can keep in the strike zone.”
Tennessee pro John Garrett, who recently qualified to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series, said those flatter banks remain viable through the postpawn; then, they’ll come back into prominence during the fall, when fish utilize them to corral shad schools.
Run-outs and drains are bank gold mines.
“If I’m looking at winter-early spring, I’m looking for easy deep-water access,” Garrett said. “Maybe the creek channel so the fish can move up and down, so they only have to swim a short distance rather than swim several hundred yards.
“Definitely pre- and postspawn, because the fish want the steeper ‘lead-in’ banks. They’ll hang around those areas right up until the last minute before going up to spawn, or moving offshore (after spawning).”
See the Unseen
Complementing that previous point about vegetation clues, Grigsby said the bank composition often hints at what the water conceals.
“Most of the time, especially in reservoirs, you can almost predict 100-percent that what you are looking at above the water continues into the water,” he said. “When you see a rocky bank, you knew it continues into the water. When you see a point, you know it continues into the water.
“A lot of times you can see where a bank changes. Like there’s rock and all of a sudden, it changes to clay to rock and rock to gravel. Those transition places are really magnets to fish.”
One of Grigsby’s favorite transitional bank scenarios comes into play particularly where bronzebacks rule.
“You may see little pebbles on the bank and then all of a sudden, you see some big boulders,” Grigsby said. “So many times, I’ve looked offshore and found big boulders. That can really produce in smallmouth country.”
Other notables include rock veins and rock slides, both of which will point you toward the right areas to snoop around with the forward-facing sonar. Garrett said he’s particularly interested in darker rock or slate rock ¬– both notable heat-holders.
Likewise, Grigsby adds boat ramps to that preference, as those long, concrete slabs hold heat, too. Grigsby goes on to point out that transitional banks catch his eye on rivers.
Shaw Grigsby knows the importance of understanding what the bank details are telling him.
“You’re looking at a bank and it may have willow trees and stuff like that and then you come to a bend that turns into a much steeper (look),” he said. “I look at those transitions from the flat, shallow river banks to those deeper transitions.
“You can do the same thing on a reservoir going upriver. You can assume those outside bends are going to be deeper, with sharper drops. Where it transitions from these deeper bends to the shallow flats, fish often hang around those places.”
Grigsby adds this thought: “During the spawn, I’m generally looking at things that are more protected so the water can warm up and stay warm. Also, these spots don’t get affected as much by wind. Wind can turn the water and bring in colder water. The more you get into a pocket or cover that can be more protected and keep the water from moving around a lot, those seem to be better spots for me in the early spring.”
Additional Details
Here’s a handful of factors that can help you break down the bank you’re fishing.
> Vegetation vision: Abundant vegetation may mask much of the bank, but observant types will pick up revealing details.
“In the sense of just catching fish, I look for something different, whether it’s thicker clumps, lanes that you can work a bait through, outside clumps that are isolated away from the main line of vegetation,” Grigsby said. “Or, you may find where a mix of vegetation comes together.
John Garrett will observe from a distance and pull into areas with appealing bank features.
“In the sense of telling depth and what’s under water, most of the time, you’ll have lily pads and certain reeds that will grow in more of the mucky bottom and the cattails can grow in more of a softer bottom than those round reeds that grow in a hard bottom.”
This insight tells Grigsby whether an area may or may not host spawners seeking firm bottom.
Also, hydrilla often grows out to deeper water than most shoreline vegetation, but as it comes to its conclusion, the tattered, uneven edges present a great area for fishing a crankbait or a Strike King Thunder Cricket bladed jig over this boundary.
> Know the flow: Drain pipes, culverts, small creeks; inflow points are high-value targets because they’re areas of activity. Even when there’s little to no current flowing, the scour holes and ditches created by periods of heavier flow present depth changes that bass leverage.
> Cypress trees: These iconic Southern fixtures always represent attractive bass habitat, but consider how those exposed cypress knees connect via the expansive root system to the main tree. Often, this submerged structure attracts spawners, especially if the surrounding bottom has a softer makeup.
> Open eyes, open mind: One thing Grigsby has found consistently beneficial in his career is flexibility. Example: In a largely mucky lake littered with lily pads, it may appear that the fish have few hard-bottom spawning sites. However, the large, tuberous root systems that sit above the muck offer viable spawning surfaces.
You don’t know if you don’t look and if you know what you’re looking for, your chances of locating something good geometrically increase. Garrett concurs and says that the search effort usually pays off with consistency.
“I’m on pad most of time when I’m looking, but if something catches my eye, I’ll pull in to have a closer look,” Garrett said. “What you think looks good usually is, but if that wood on that shoreline isn’t producing, maybe that rock transition will be.
“Most of the time, within your first two to three stops, you’ll find a pattern. It’s about stopping, trying what looks good and, if you have success, you can put together a pattern and have a good day of fishing.”
