Trial & Tribulations Of Shore Angler

[68camaro]

Fishing from shore can be tough, especially when shore is overgrown with weeds and trees. On two of our local ponds it's tough to find a spot where you have decent backswing space to cast. Also, with all the overhangs over waters edge, while great place for fish to hide, is very difficult to get at. My one pond with mostly open areas is very pressured so pickings are slim.

 

I do have muck boots so I can walk a bit out into the water to get out of brush, the muck boots allow me better angles to cast to parallel banks or weed lines and offer betters casting lanes, but not perfect.  Backlashes are pretty frequent due to trying to pinpoint backswing between or under/over branches, plus cast lure under branches etc. One miscalculation and you can spend many minutes fixing backlash or getting lures out of trees/bushes. Spinning reel is more forgiving on cast but accuracy really suffers. Fan casting to open water is easier but much less productive.

 

In order to find bigger fish I recently spent several hours trying to cast further back under brush/limbs and get back closer to structure in tight areas. Now that it is November it is easier to fight the branches to get to areas where I can get angles to cast into these areas. While not easy, it's easier than summer with all foliage on bushes.

 

Unfortunately I spent a very significant amount of time untangling backlashes and retrieving lures from bushes/trees because I was trying to be aggressive with my bait placement. I did have a couple blow ups but none landed. 

 

Next outing I'll focus solely on jigs and reduce casting/pitching distances to see if this helps. Shallow Jerkbaits parallel to shore do work pretty good but treble hooks are problematic.

 

Rant over.........I think I need a small raft/canoe etc.

 

Thanks

 

 

[bigfruits]

id recommend hip waders or a kayak.

[scaleface]

Yeah , you need to get off that bank A.Kayak  or even small plastic boat  may be the way to go  . If you have a pickup truck a bass baby    has built in wheels and can be launched  it by one person . I have one and a canoe . I fish places others cant get too and those places are easy to fish .

[Catt]

Cut limbs & brush out of the way

[gulfcaptain]

Or find yourself a float tube, I had a couple places I used to use mine.  But you're lucky if you can use them in that body of water you're wanting to fish. I want to float tube one of our local ponds but the idea of that HUGE ticket isn't really worth it.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Use a short 5'6" or 6' med or mh rod with a short handle.accuracy is big time improved.And flick casting with your wrist with 1 finger on the end along with your feather casting it will become second nature

[68camaro]

Agree with all about getting off bank. I used to have small sea eagle raft for trout fishing and loved it. Looking at replacement, I will be car topping so need very lightweight and mobile. Thinking of a small lightweight canoe, can get one in 30+lb range, or sea eagle fishing raft I can stand in.

 

Chest waders or hip waders could work but not sure how far out I can walk bank and don't want to scare fish fighting through bushes getting to water.

 

Had nice blow up today casting parallel to shore but I jerked too soon. Hope to get out with jigs later this afternoon for couple hours.

[Senko lover]

It's much easier to do this time of year: grab a machete or an axe and whack yourself 5-6 + good places around the pond.

[SwimJiggin]

I started out with a sea eagle bc I had the exact same frustrations you described. I still have it and love the way I could put it in the trunk. The fact is a boat/kayak/canoe opens up so much water. A lot of the times there were only a few places to fish from the shore, and then a family would show up and throw rocks or whatever.

[Fishes in trees]

For pond duty like you're describing, spinning gear worked better for me than bait casting gear did.

[soflabasser]

Personally I like the challenge of bass fishing from the shore.I feel that with the right tactics you will do just as good on the shore (if not better) compared to bass fishing on a boat. Look for changes in the shoreline,changes in underwater structure,concentrations of baitfish, locations where you see bass attacking baitfish.Experiment with different lures and lure retrieves to see what the bass like.Never ever give up,fish the ponds hard,and you will learn those ponds like the back of your hand.

[Bluebasser86]

For pond duty like you're describing, spinning gear worked better for me than bait casting gear did.

This is what I was going to suggest. Any time I can get away with using spinning gear in your situation, I will. 

[guitarglynn1]

This is what I was going to suggest. Any time I can get away with using spinning gear in your situation, I will. 

 

Exactly. I usually bring a casting combo and spinning combo to spots like that and some spots the casting combo works best. Other spots the spinning combo works best. But to just try to use the casting combo for the entire day in spots like that is an exercise in futility. 

[68camaro]

I have been using a spinning combo for finesse stuff, it really throws them far but I am trying to focus hitting tight places with a lot of brush/tree overhangs and with limited backswing clearance I find I have much better accuracy flipping wrist hard with bait caster.

 

By the way another shore tribulation is standing in muck for awhile and then turning and trying to walk before breaking suction in mud