Sunny Or Shady Side

[Broadcreek karl]

I fish in a wide creek where the water depth averages 3 to 4 feet deep. The water is stained with tannin. I usually fish along the banks from a boat the last couple hours before sunset. Lots of woody structure with standing trees, submerged stumps and logs. My question is, on sunny late afternoon is it better to fish along the sunny or the shady bank, or does it even make a difference? Thanks for any info.

[Nice_Bass]

Shady as easy answer however fish where the bait is, where the wind is blowing, or if there is any current at breaks and bends.  these places may be in the sun.  If there is wood, then fish the shade of those . 

[scaleface]

Good question. I think it varies from day to day. Some days the fish will be easier to locate on the sunny banks .

[Fishes in trees]

Here's my opinion on the matter.  Woody cover is woody cover.   Fish are know to often, but not always, hang around edges.   There are hard edges and soft edges.   A shade line would fall in the category of a soft edge.  I've had many decent days fishing what I call "shade pockets"   By this I mean,  there is cover, sun is hitting the cover, causing shade.   I try to drop my bait - jig - tx rigged soft plastic - senko - what have you - on the sunny side of the cover, within an inch of the shade line.  The notion is that a fish, using the shade line for cover, sees the bait in the sun and darts out and grabs it.

 

This doesn't always work, but it is an approach that I always try when there is sun on cover.   Carried another step farther, there is such a thing as degrees of shade - deep shade, semi- shade, openly lit by sunlight.   Water clarity affects all these decisions.   A bubba drop shot rig - with 20 lb or so fluorocarbon line, dropped into a "deep shade" pocket and just loitered there for a few moments has worked for me at different times - more often than not an afternoon summer thing.

 

I might also guess that fish in a semi-shade area might be more active than fish in a fully lit sunny area.  The area you've fishing is 3 to 4 feet deep.  I'd probably do more spinner bait/square bill fishing in the semi shaded area and more pitching to specific shade spots with soft plastics in the sunny areas.

 

So, that's my current thoughts on shallow woody cover with/without shade.   Another thought comes to mind and that is current.  You mentioned it was a wide creek - is there any current to speak of?   Current makes a big difference on how fish set up on cover.   I don't think that it trumps everything else, but it is an important element to consider.

[ward131]

I like the Line between sun and shade. I always look for it at logs, stumps or docks. It is my starting point when fishing cover.

[bigbill]

Low light is where the fish don't hide as much. It's awesome inline spinner, spinnerbaits, c rig area. Small panther Martin spinflys or Joe's fly 1/4oz bass size. Try a tad brighter than natural colors in the daytime. Forwards dusk it's full on brighter.

[MainelyBASS]

It has a seasonal influence as well. Sunny almost all the time during pre-spawn ice out times until the water warms up enough. You wont find too many beds on the shaded side of a channel.

[WRB]

Conventional wisdom is fish the shade, however bass can't read and do unconventional things all the time.

Case in point is Bassmaster Classic, 1971 at Lake Mead. Bobby Murray won this event by waking a spinnerbait in crstal clear water coves that had a few small salt cider trees underwater. The brighter the sun the bigger the bass that would follow Murray's single spin a Tornado spinnerbait retrieved fast just under the surface.

Tom

[einscodek]

conventional wisdom usually holds but there are usually other variables involved and sometimes one cannot see nor detect  those

[flyfisher]

I like the Line between sun and shade. I always look for it at logs, stumps or docks. It is my starting point when fishing cover.

I had one of my best mornings on a float where i exclusively targeted the sun/shade line with buzz baits.  Caught well over 20 smallies and 4 were over 17".  Didn't matter what else was around as long as i was fishing that line....haven't had that good of a day since but it is still very productive for me.

[LuckyGia]

I ALWAYS start on the shade side. If it doesn't work out, I switch to the other side.

I would guess that 75% of the time, it's the shade side

[papajoe222]

Current is always the biggest factor I consider when there is one. If it's a straight stretch of the creek that you're targeting, I'd consider any current breaks when attempting to determine which shoreline may be better. If you eliminate the current factor, I'd say forage would be my next biggest consideration.  If the sunny side has more vegetation, it may hold more active fish.  I'm not saying to disreguard the presence of shade, just that I think there are other factors more important to the fish. 

At the very least, fish one side this outing and another the next. Keep a record of your success, or lack of it and I believe you'll have your answer.

[Bluebasser86]

That sun/shade line is basically the same as any other edge like a weed edge or dropoff, the fish use it as an ambush point for prey. Think about looking from the light into the dark or dark into the light, either way your vision will be impaired until your eyes adjust. Bass lie in wait or cruise that edge and use it to their advantage. I've had more than one time that I had good bites along the shade line. 

[Broadcreek karl]

Thanks for all the great replies. It has given quite a bit to think about and experiment with. One thing that came up in a couple of posts made me think I needed to clarify. The body of water I fish I said was a creek. It's not a creek in the sense of water flow in on direction all the time. It drains a very large swamp but water movement is usually wind driven. it drains into the Albemarle sound which the water level rises and falls with wind speed and direction. this in turn pushes water into or out of the "creek". So in other words I have one other factor to contend with in my education. Good thing I do enjoy learning.

[J Francho]

My question is, on sunny late afternoon is it better to fish along the sunny or the shady bank, or does it even make a difference?

 

1. Yes.

2. Sometimes.

[geo g]

 Lots of good responses to the question already..  I usually have faith in the fact the brighter the sun hitting an area the tighter the fish will be to heavy cover, or shaded pockets.  The cloudier the weather, the early and late low angles of the sun, and fish will loosen up and move away from tight cover.  Winter fish will seek out sun early, and be more active on the sunny side.   Whenever you think you have it all figured out Mother Nature will throw you a curve ball

[CRANKENSTIEN]

My family vacations on Table Rock and Lake of the Ozarks.  I fish the mornings and we do other water sports the rest of the day.  I always make it a point to fish the shade, usually with cranks late in the afternoon and many times my best fish of the trip can come at that time.