Bluff Walls

[Adam Markley]

Help break them down for me fellas. I’ve thrown jigs, cranks, shakey heads, Texas rigs etc. I’ve tossed up shallow and dragged it off the drop, fished parallel to the drop, and can’t get bit. It is too shallow to set up and fish up hill. I just can’t get bit near these rock walls but know they hold

fish.

[Dens228]

How deep do they drop?  Is there any other cover with them like weeds, overhanging brush etc???

 

[RoLo]

 

You rarely find fish without structure,

but there's lots of structure without fish.

 

Roger

[Adam Markley]

18 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

How deep do they drop?  Is there any other cover with them like weeds, overhanging brush etc???

 

Weeds sprinkled in, not much brush or other cover. Starts in about a foot-2 feet and drops off sharply to 10-15

[scaleface]

I  havent had a lot of luck fishing bluffs but have done well in the cuts  along them. If there is any cover like a fallen tree , fish that . Sometimes there are points at the end of bluffs that  hold fish . 

[Jig Man]

I hate bluffs.  I love bluff ends.

[Adam Markley]

3 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

I hate bluffs.  I love bluff ends.

Care to elaborate a bit? Should I try focusing on where they start and end?

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

I hate bluffs.  I love bluff ends.

 

Exactly.

For example, Dale Hollow is chock-full of gorgeous shale banks. After spending about 2 days meticulously

working along bluff banks, I finally wised up. Working the ends of each bluff was the ticket,

and of course, any prominent juts or gashes in mid-bluff.

 

Roger

[Dens228]

The slightest change in a long bluff has a chance to hold fish.  I slight change in angle, a small outcrop.

I fish a lot of quarries, probably mostly quarries.  On one there's a long bluff, starts about 10 feet above the water and drops to 12 feet below the water.  I usually catch bass at various locations along the bluff, there's one spot where the bluff wall cuts back about a foot and continues on.  THAT is where I catch the biggest bass along length. I have my best success casting a jig right into the wall just above the water line and letting it drop straight down. I use craw trailers with big claws to slow the drop. Most of the time the bass inhale it before it gets to the bottom.  Watch your line...

 

 

[TnRiver46]

I fish the entirety of every bluff I go by, not just the ends. Fish like them!!

[Tennessee Boy]

I love bluffs in the winter.  I don't have much luck in the summer.  I must be doing something wrong.

[RoLo]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I fish the entirety of every bluff I go by, not just the ends. Fish like them!!

For sure, a fish may be taken anywhere along a drop-off bank, but there are only so many hours in a day.

The angler who targets the high percentage areas, will probably be halfway to the dam,

before you or I can saturate one 300-yd long bluff... 

 

Roger

[Bluebasser86]

Some timber in the middle of bluffs or something different in the middle can be a gold mine. Otherwise, fishing a long bluff bank is usually a waste for me. The ends are where I concentrate and skip the rest unless it's winter time.

[jimmyjoe]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Some timber in the middle of bluffs

 

   Yes. The roots shelter niiiiiice bass. One place in particular merits a quiet spinnerbait every time I go past it. Gets hit on the drop 50% of the time.         jj

[scaleface]

On 7/16/2020 at 12:13 PM, Adam Markley said:

Weeds sprinkled in, not much brush or other cover. Starts in about a foot-2 feet and drops off sharply to 10-15

Those are not very big bluffs . Ignore my previous reply as I was thinking deep highland reservoir bluffs . I have caught some big bass on this type  of structure. The number one lures are deep diving crankbaits . Parallel cast the walls as close as you can . Also Texas rigs and jigs are good . Still keep a look out for  any irregularities .

 

   Heres one I caught back in the 80's on a bluff wall like you describe using a Bomber Model A crankbait .