"Nothing Looking" Banks

[Todd2]

This is indirectly another Ned Rig thread so I apologize up front...lol. I've been somewhat late to the party of fishing an actual Ned rig although I've thrown light sliders for years with a lot of success but I've started thowing a finessee TRD on Ned heads and on Crappie Sliders (which I really like as a "weedless Ned"). In short, its been my best producer this early Spring.

 

On to the question....I decided to read up some and I see a lot of mentioning of Ned's really excelling on "Nothing Looking" banks and I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Are people talking about just big muddy flats which I normally ignore? Areas with no structure or cover...what gives? I see it mentioned a lot.

 

Thanks....

[Team9nine]

Yes  Bass anglers love having something to throw at whether that be lay downs, bushes, weedbeds, docks, etc. As such, banks with lots of "cover" tend to attract a lot of fishing pressure, whereas banks that aren't littered with objects/cover like swimming beaches, the dam face, bank transitions, mud/clay banks, etc. don't usually get near as much pressure. These are the types of banks "nothing looking" refers to. The kind that if you were running down the lake and looked over at, you probably normally wouldn't take the time to stop and fish. This also works well because these featureless banks are well suited to an open hook (jighead) presentation on lighter line.

[Catt]

11 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Yes  Bass anglers love having something to throw at whether that be lay downs, bushes, weedbeds, docks, etc. As such, banks with lots of "cover" tend to attract a lot of fishing pressure, whereas banks that aren't littered with objects/cover like swimming beaches, the dam face, bank transitions, mud/clay banks, etc. don't usually get near as much pressure. These are the types of banks "nothing looking" refers to. The kind that if you were running down the lake and looked over at, you probably normally wouldn't take the time to stop and fish. This also works well because these featureless banks are well suited to an open hook (jighead) presentation on lighter line.

 

I'm not a "Ned" Fisherman but answer is dead on!

 

I'm however a structure fisherman; structure fishing aint always well defined ledges, humps, points, & ridges. 

 

[Todd2]

40 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

like swimming beaches, the dam face, bank transitions, mud/clay banks, etc. don't usually get near as much pressure. 

 

Thanks...Yeah,  I pass this stuff up all of the time, especially beach areas and mud banks.  I guess I've been drilled with points, cuts, drop offs and any of those three with wood (we don't have much grass) is a bonus.

 

Do you guys scan these "do nothing" banks first or just start throwing the Ned? Just seems strange..I get the no pressure part though. In the summer, sometimes I don't even hit points because it's a party on those.

[Team9nine]

No scanning, just fish. Midwest Finesse was developed on flatland impoundments where bass are the dominant predator. Ask a biologist how many times they electrofish down a bank in those type of waters and don't shock up bass. The answer will be "almost never."

[lo n slo]

i like to fish these places with some wind blowing straight in on them, even if that means anchoring down

[Bluebasser86]

One of my best winter time spots is a sand point. Looks very boring, but there's always fish there, without fail. I caught a bunch off a mud/clay bank from my kayak 2 weeks ago on a Ned rig. Even I had never fished this bank before but I will in the future.

[Deleted account]

6 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Yes  Bass anglers love having something to throw at whether that be lay downs, bushes, weedbeds, docks, etc. As such, banks with lots of "cover" tend to attract a lot of fishing pressure, whereas banks that aren't littered with objects/cover like swimming beaches, the dam face, bank transitions, mud/clay banks, etc. don't usually get near as much pressure. These are the types of banks "nothing looking" refers to. The kind that if you were running down the lake and looked over at, you probably normally wouldn't take the time to stop and fish. This also works well because these featureless banks are well suited to an open hook (jighead) presentation on lighter line.

This^.  A while back I found some fish on just such a flat, and was able to reproduce the results based on conditions and time of year in a few places over and over. They just sit with their bellies in the mud in 2-6 feet of water in the smallest of depressions and sparse weed clumps. Also a great place to go to at night with topwater, if they aren't in the mood during the day.

 

[FishDewd]

Most banks here are "nothing looking" banks. Cause at first you can't tell if there is anything below the muddy water that may hold fish. Until you actually start fishing it. So I fish those sorts of banks a lot, especially in new waters. Never know for sure until I drag a carolina rig or something along it whether it is really a nothing bank or not. I don't really use a ned too often anymore... I keep some TRDs and ned heads among my tackle, but unless the wind is manageable I'm not going to bother with them. They don't produce very well for me anyway. I spent a whole fishing session today focusing on topwaters lures in such aforementioned nothing banks, and along grass lines. Found out I need a lot of work with frogs and poppers in general. Never messed with either one before so I didn't know what to expect.

[TOXIC]

I chalk it up to the difference between "Sturcture" and "Cover".  Structure is below the waterline and may look like a "do-nothing" bank above the waterline but it could have a channel swing, hump, drop or some other feature you can't see.  Could be as simple as where the bank is located in the big picture.  

[Choporoz]

I don't ignore all of them, but probably too many.  Got it in my head long ago that nothing-banks could be good....IF...and only IF there was a pronounced drop to deeper water nearby.   May not be the case, but if the nothing-bank continues a long slow taper to flats, I probably will still go right by.  But, if there's 'good water' close by, I'll take some time with it...more likely with a slider or shakey head than a ned, but similar mindset.

[scaleface]

When I was fairly new to bass fishing , I was on the water talking to one of the more successful anglers on this lake and fellow club member . I asked him if he ever caught much on this nothing looking bank and his reply was  "No , there is nothing over there ."  That was several decades back and I catch lots of bass on that bank . 

[WRB]

Nothing looking banks discribes most of SoCsl lakes.

Tom

[Todd2]

Thanks for the responses, this thread has opened up my eyes a little. I'm not going to skip some of these spots anymore. I came across this article that kind of reinforces what's been said here. https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/ambush_bass.html 

 

According to the article, Bass are more flushers than ambushers, so instead of hitting every laydown you see, back off and fish the areas where the bass are cruising for dinner. But it does say repeated casts to that cover can turn those inactive fish on. It's an interesting article.