How to fish rock piles?

[thefraz44]

So, one of the lakes near me is a clear water lake, has a little bit of submerged grass that usually doesn't produce fish, and has rock piles. That's where I'm seeing bait and possibly bass on my fishfinder. The problem is, I don't know how to fish rocks. I know to throw a football jig, and the sticks tell me to fish a Texas rig, but I can never get bit. It's really weird. Thank you in advance. 

 

-Justis

[WRB]

You may be using too heavy of a weight on both jigs and T-rigged worms. I fish rock piles all the time using both jigs and T-riigged worms, sometimes you will snag them beyond recovery, most of the time you can jiggle them free but shaking the rod tip against slack line. If you pull a snagged jig tight wedging I between rocks try a different angle and jiggle it free. The bow trick rarely works for me in rock piles.

You can also try a Scrounger jig, works great around rock piles.

Tom

[papajoe222]

My first choice for fishing rocks in 15ft. or less is a craw colored crank. I will follow up with a worm  or jig 

[timsford]

Crankbaits,  big spinnerbaits with a single willow slow rolled,  football jigs, "preacher" jigs stroked and hopped,  heavy underspins and scroungers slow rolled and stroked,  flutter spoons stroked and hopped,  heavy swimbait heads with paddletail trailers slow rolled and stroked, 10" worms Texas rigged, and rigged on shakyhead and swinging football heads, and large 3/4-1 oz lipless cranks stroked off bottom all produce at different times for me depending on the mood of the fish and the forage they are feeding on. 

[Scott F]

How deep are the rock piles? How big are they? Sometimes, the fish are on top of the rocks, sometimes, they are on the edges, they might be suspended, off the edges, they might be at the base of the rocks. On the rocks reefs I fish, I usually find them in the same spots, the spot on the spot, and usually on the shaded side of the drop off. During the warm water period, the deeper rock piles are better during the day, and the shallow piles or the tops of the rocks work better during low light times of the day.

[thefraz44]

3 hours ago, Scott F said:

How deep are the rock piles? How big are they? Sometimes, the fish are on top of the rocks, sometimes, they are on the edges, they might be suspended, off the edges, they might be at the base of the rocks. On the rocks reefs I fish, I usually find them in the same spots, the spot on the spot, and usually on the shaded side of the drop off. During the warm water period, the deeper rock piles are better during the day, and the shallow piles or the tops of the rocks work better during low light times of the day.

The depth will vary. Usually, they are any where from 15-30 feet, at least that's where I'm seeing the life. I think the rock piles are below average in size, but I don't know.

8 hours ago, WRB said:

You may be using too heavy of a weight on both jigs and T-rigged worms. I fish rock piles all the time using both jigs and T-riigged worms, sometimes you will snag them beyond recovery, most of the time you can jiggle them free but shaking the rod tip against slack line. If you pull a snagged jig tight wedging I between rocks try a different angle and jiggle it free. The bow trick rarely works for me in rock piles.

You can also try a Scrounger jig, works great around rock piles.

Tom

Yeah, maybe. I'm using a 3/8 ounce usually in the T-Rig, while using the 1/2 ounce in the Jigs. I think that 7/16 might be the best size for both, but I'm not sure.

7 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

My first choice for fishing rocks in 15ft. or less is a craw colored crank. I will follow up with a worm  or jig 

The lake I'm fishing gets a lot of pressure, so I think I would be wasting my time fishing a crankbait. However, I haven't really tried a crankbait, so I might give it a fair shake.

[thefraz44]

4 hours ago, timsford said:

Crankbaits,  big spinnerbaits with a single willow slow rolled,  football jigs, "preacher" jigs stroked and hopped,  heavy underspins and scroungers slow rolled and stroked,  flutter spoons stroked and hopped,  heavy swimbait heads with paddletail trailers slow rolled and stroked, 10" worms Texas rigged, and rigged on shakyhead and swinging football heads, and large 3/4-1 oz lipless cranks stroked off bottom all produce at different times for me depending on the mood of the fish and the forage they are feeding on. 

I have a ton of confidence in spinnerbaits, flutter spoons, lipless crankbaits, and swimbaits, so I'll definitely try that. I don't have a ton of confidence in the others, but this will be a good opportunity to try to gain confidence. Thank you all for the advice.

[WRB]

3/16 oz bullet weight and 3/8 jig w/trailer and flow down but don't dead stick in rock piles.

Tom

[thefraz44]

4 minutes ago, WRB said:

3/16 oz bullet weight and 3/8 jig w/trailer and flow down but don't dead stick in rock piles.

Tom

Ok thank you. I'm actually out of 3/16 bullet weights now that I think about it. What is your favorite type of tungsten?

[WRB]

8 minutes ago, thefraz44 said:

Ok thank you. I'm actually out of 3/16 bullet weights now that I think about it. What is your favorite type of tungsten?

Painted brass n glass by Iovino, no reason for tungsten in 3/16-1/4 oz bullet weights and bass like the clicking sound brass n glass makes.

Tom

[Bankbeater]

The rock piles in my lake are pretty shallow.  Maybe 2 or 3 feet from the surface depending on how much water is in the lake.  I like to drag a jig or t-rigged plastic across the top of the pile.  If that doesn't produce I start circling the rock pile and fish the slopes dropping down into deeper water. 

[Columbia Craw]

For me, fish on rocks are feeding fish so moving baits, especially crankbaits and jerkbaits are the place to start.  Is there current ?  Fish current breaks. Clear and not too deep?  A wacky rigged Senko can be deadly.   A spider jig with a light head is a great option.  Mix it up. 

[Hot Rod Johnson]

Keep your line as "Vertical" as possible, by adding weight to this set-up you reduce the "Angle" of your line and therefore reduce your chances to get hung up. Use a "Floating Jig Head", for Night Crawlers, inject a shot of air from a Crawler Inflator, For slip sinker weights try a No Snagg "Tube Weight" instead of a "Egg or Walking Sinker". Use a "Slip Bobber Rig" and position the bait just to hang above the rocks. Deep diving "Floating Crank Baits", select a crank bait that will run just off the bottom or bump the rocks, if the lure should get hung up let the line go limp, it should float up.

 

Try using a Owner 4/0 - Twistlock Light with CPS Weighted 3/32 oz with A 4" Berkley Havoc Ike's Smash Tube in the Black Red Flake/Chartreuse Color.

[Hot Rod Johnson]

Western Ways, Part 1: The Hideki Rig...

"Basically the 'Dek rig is a form of wacky rigging," Murray explains. "It's a wacky rigged Senko with a tungsten nail in it. I know that doesn't sound much different from regular wacky rigging, but the difference lies in the presentation."

The rig is comprised of a stickbait, a tungsten nail and an Owner Mosquito hook. Don't get tied to a Senko, though. Murray will also use finesse worms and the occasional craw. Tungsten nails are better than lead for their denser properties; you get more weight with less. Depending on how deep you're going to work it, you'll want anywhere from a 1/16- to 1/4-ounce nail. Murray likes the Mosquito hook because it is self-setting. If he's fishing around submerged trees, he'll select a similar Owner hook with a weedguard.

http://www.espn.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/news/story?page=b_FT_JM_WesternWays1

[bigbill]

Jig n pig. I'm old school, watermelon color with a pork trailer.

Skip fan cast the whole area.

[Hot Rod Johnson]

Try using a BOOYAH POND MAGIC Spinnerbait in 3/16 Oz... The FIRE BUG and FIRE FLY BLADE Colors. They sell them at Wal-Mart for $2.94 each. Tip the Spinnerbait with a 3" or 4" Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad in Firetiger, Glow Chartreuse and Pearl White colors. Just nose hook the Ripple Shads with the hook coming out of the nose/mouth of the bait. This set up works great on a Spinning Reel while using 6 pound and 8 pound Fluorocarbon Fishing Line ...You can also use a Chatterbait Mini take the skirt off and add a 3" Smelt Ripple Shad...