Advice For Fishing Standing Timber

[einsteins]

Hi all

I recently went to a new lake and it has a tremendous amount of standing timber. This lake is a flooded valley where they left the trees standing and the top of the trees are exposed with therest of the trees in water depths of 15 to 35ft.

i would like know how to fish this type of terain as Ost lakes i fish are not flooded timber like this. obviously snags are a huge concern. I didnt have any luck keeping my wacky rigged senko from getting hung up.

thanks for any advice you might have

[Fishes in trees]

I routinely fish a lake that has a lot of standing timber. Let me offer a couple of options for you to try.

To start with, I'm assuming you've got a boat and aren't shore bound. First, structure ( as opposed to cover) is still important. How would you fish this lake if all the trees and such weren't there? There are still points, ditches, high & low spots, etc. There is still probably still a weed line. This is where I'd start. Now, trees and submerged & partially submerged bushes and such add value to those spots.

Don't start by fishing every tree on the lake. Fish the trees on the points first. Fish the trees on the points that are getting the most wind that day. Fish the shady side of trees or bushes on points that are getting the most wind that day. The old Buck Perry slogan still applies, i.e. "The fish are deep - or shallow - or somewhere in-between."

You didn't have any luck keeping your wacky rigged senko from getting hung up. Thats probably my favorite tree fishing bait. Did you use a weedless hook? I like Falcon weighted weedless hooks, (1/16 oz), but any of the weedless spring style hooks will work. You really need a foot or two of visibility ( and more is better) for the wacky senko to work. At least, that's what I think. For me, senko is a confidence bait and I lose some confidence when the water is very stained or muddy.

Anyway, a wacky senko drifted down on the shady side of trees, on points that are getting the most wind that day, is where I'd start first.

You might want to take a more active approach - looking for a reaction bite, try throwing cranks. Just my opinion, but I think that the best crank for cranking timber is a Timber Tiger. You can get them in all different depth ranges. Me, I can get a DC16, which is supposed to get 16 feet down on 10 lb line, on an abrasive resistant 14 lb line, I can get down an honest 10 feet or so. You will be amazed at the kind of brush and cover that bait will come through and not get hung up. You will get hung up from time to time so invest in a good extension pole type retriever and also one of those hound dog style of lure retriever.

A jig can be a good tree lure. A tx rigged worm can be a good tree lure. A tube can be a good tree lure. I generally fish trees using 14 or 17 or 20 lb fluorocarbon line - just depends what you think you can get away with. You try to determine where in the trees the fish are hanging at. They can hang out on the edges of the submerged branches, or next to major linbs or next to the trunk you never know, trial and error throughout the day until you put together the puzzle for the day.

Find out what the forage base of the lake is. If you can find a sharply sloping clay bank, you've probably found a spot where lots of craw dads live, might be a good spot to put some time into. Somewhere on that lake there are different kinds of cuts, indentations, coves, whatever. Areas where deep water is kinda close to shallow water can be prime areas.

There is no substitute for time on the water, but I hope this rant offers some ideas and areas on where to start.

[Bankbeater]

I like to drop a jig or a t-rigged tube straight down right along side a standing tree. It kind of looks like something fell off of the tree and is sinking in the water.

[flyfisher]

I also fish a lake with lots of standing timber and they key is to act like the trees are not even there. Once you figure out where you want to fish then focus on the trees in those locations. It seems that the timber provides more cover on already good spots and that is where the fish congregate.

The other thing to consider is that just because you can see the tops of the trees it is highly unlikely that hte trees are straight down. I have seen many trees that are angled, half fallen over etc...

I also like to try and find grass beds and fish any trees that are present as they seem to hold bigger fish.

Good luck!!

[papajoe222]

Gotta love Buck Perry, he made anglers out of many a fisherman. The hardest part of fishing standing timber, is determining where in the water column the fish are holding. This type of cover is prime for fish to suspend in. The best way to find them is some form verticle presentation. Once you find that 'majic' depth, you can switch to something verticle that will cover that depth a lot quicker.

Two things to keep in mind here; active fish will hold among the branches and inactive fish will hold tight to the main trunk. The other thing is, like the depth they're holding at, fish will tend to be on the same side of the trees in the same area.

These two factors can help you develop a pattern very quickly when fishing standing timber, even if you continue to use the verticle presentation you initially used as you can eliminate a lot of water and concentrate on, not only the depth but, the proximity to the trunk and the side of the tree where the majority of the fish will be.

A quick example. I was fishing a tournament with a non-boater that I had drawn a number of times that season. We located some nice fish suspended in isolated standing timber by counting down our jigs to around 15ft. or so. I was catching three fish for every hit he was getting as the only time he'd get bumped was when he'd start reeling back in to make another cast. The fish were holding just off the ends of the brancheson the sunny side of the tree and the only time they saw his jig was as it swam up and away from them. After limiting out, I coached him a little and we went from isolated tree to isolated tree, often behind other boats, collecting and culling some nice fish. We finished 5th (him) and 6th (me) that day and I went on to finish out the tournament in 3rd place.

[Wayne P.]

Regarding weedless hook Senkos for timber. I make my own that has a weedguard that won't release just by bumping into hard cover but will release when setting the hook. I add a braided stainless steel guard on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook #02414 and use a piece of 1/8 heat shrink tubing to attach it. The wire is Malin-7 in 60# test.To make the Senko more durable, I use a piece of 3/8" heat shrink tubing like this:

[Wayne P.]

To add to Fishes in trees post. Fish that live in a timber filled lake don't find all the trees remarkable, they relate to bottom features just like a lake without timber.

The pattern here is the creek channel and has nothing to do with the timber. This is at Lake Fork:

The same pattern here also at Briery Creek Lake in Va.:

[merc1997]

some other informatin is important to be able to pinpoint your fish. i noticed someone posted some pics of lake fork. fork is more of a flatland lake. lakes such as table rock are a highland type lake. hihgland type lake have some bluffs as well as flats. flatland type lakes do not have bluffs. good advice was given to fish the lake just as though it did not have timber. new lakes with timber have trees that still have limbs, and bass will tend to suspend in tops of trees. once the lake gets older and all that is left of the tree is the pole, bass tend not to suspend in the tree any longer. another thing in locating your bass is to understand the seasonal patterns. this will help you narrow your search down. just remember the best trees will be located on the best structure.

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