Fishing standing timber

[GoneFishingLTN]

Most summertime bass relating to standing timber. I've read this over and over but how do you fish this? Does anyone have any experiences in this? Do you just target all standing timber on creek channels?

[TnRiver46]

Weightless worm, watch the line as it sinks 

[GoneFishingLTN]

9 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Weightless worm, watch the line as it sinks 

what standing timber do you target?

[scaleface]

Channels are good . I like to target  the edges . Also the largest trees and any structure beneath such as points  A favorite spot of mine is the timber line next to a submerged road . You get the picture , look what is beneath the timber . Square bills and top waters are my favorite in deep timber . Shallow timber I add jigs , Texas rigs , and spinnerbaits .

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

what standing timber do you target?

There’s not a whole lot of timber in my area so I fish all of it.  Down in Alabama I fish cypress stumps 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

Most summertime bass relating to standing timber. I've read this over and over but how do you fish this? Does anyone have any experiences in this? Do you just target all standing timber on creek channels?

 

Fish the structure ?

 

You mentioned creek channels, look for swings, look for intersections, look for drains, look for bends.

 

If you don't have side imaging then yeah you might have to hit a lot of timber. Target larger in diameter trees, isolated trees, clusters of small trees; like with any cover look for irregularities.

[jbsoonerfan]

I fish a lot of standing timber and nasty stuff. My best advice, buy a lot of extra hooks and have them handy because if you are fishing where the fish are, you are bound to get hung up.

 

I almost always fish a soft plastic either weighted or weightless when throwing in timber. The most productive areas for me are depending on the time of the year. Right now, when the fish are out in deeper water I find that the outer most edges closest to the deep water seem to hold more fish. When the fish are up shallow (pre-spawn, spawn) the timber closest to the bank seem to be the best. All this will change if you find a channel swing with under water current or a spawning flat where there is timber near by, then I choose to throw a reaction bait to pinpoint the depth they are and go from there. In my experience, if I find one or maybe two that are isolated away from a bunch of other stumps, I will always hit them first and spend just a few more minutes there before I move along. A lot of times though, you better be ready with that first pitch or cast because sometimes it's that first cast that will get hit and then you may not get them to take it on the next 30 casts. One other thing I would add: I tend to let the fish "take it" in open water before I set the hook, in timber I swing away when I "think" they have it. I think they often sit under or behind logs, branches, etc and when they take it, they swim back into where they came from which has unfortunately left me hung up on multiple occasions.

[Mobasser]

Another good place to try is an old flooded fence. Depending how deep the water is, you may see only the treetops on the surface. Cast some weedless plastics all along the fencerow, and look for anything different. Fences run the contour of the land, creating ditches, humps, and other structure.

[scaleface]

13 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Another good place to try is an old flooded fence. Depending how deep the water is, you may see only the treetops on the surface. Cast some weedless plastics all along the fencerow, and look for anything different. Fences run the contour of the land, creating ditches, humps, and other structure.

On mark Twain there are farm fields that had rows of timber were small creek runoffs were .

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, jbsoonerfan said:

I think they often sit under or behind logs, branches, etc and when they take it, they swim back into where they came from which has unfortunately left me hung up on multiple occasions.

 

   This.   ^^^^

   Although I have used spinnerbaits weaving in and out of trunks, the most productive technique has been a weightless senko, dropped just about everywhere. A weighted worm (10" Anaconda with 1/4 oz. weight) is second.

 

   I thought I was going to make it through this year without using soft plastics. I was wrong.   ?    jj

[GoneFishingLTN]

46 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Fish the structure ?

 

You mentioned creek channels, look for swings, look for intersections, look for drains, look for bends.

 

If you don't have side imaging then yeah you might have to hit a lot of timber. Target larger in diameter trees, isolated trees, clusters of small trees; like with any cover look for irregularities.

I don’t have the confidence to idle near the timber since it’s really flooded 

[crypt]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Fish the structure ?

 

You mentioned creek channels, look for swings, look for intersections, look for drains, look for bends.

 

If you don't have side imaging then yeah you might have to hit a lot of timber. Target larger in diameter trees, isolated trees, clusters of small trees; like with any cover look for irregularities.

this is how you fish timber...........

[Bluebasser86]

Fish the areas that would hold fish if the trees weren't there.

[scaleface]

I   dont do it anymore because the heat is murder on me . This time of year ,in the middle of a hot day , I use to fish deep timber with chuggers , making as much noise as I could with them . I have a vintage Rebel Popper , twice the size of a Pop R and a vintage Pico Pop .They both  will spray water over six foot . I targeted main lake timber . Large trees and the edge of timber were best . I caught up to 70 fish a day doing this .  Mostly less than 15 inches but some would be over .

[Bankbeater]

The actual creek channel usually doesn't have a lot of timber in it.  So I use the fish finder to find the creek bed and then drop anchor in the middle of it.  From there I can cast all around the boat with plastics.

[RoLo]

20 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Fish the areas that would hold fish if the trees weren't there.

 

Simple as that.

This forces you to focus on bottom contour, the same thing that fish focus on.

As a welcome bonus, the underwater terrain isn't visible to every drive-by hopeful.

 

Roger

 

[Tennessee Boy]

I find myself fishing a lot of standing timber in the spring.  That’s the time of year that I fish the bank a lot and often my wayward cast find their way up into the standing timber amongst the squirrels.

[scaleface]

On Twain on the main lake exposed timber is much deeper than the thermocline , so there is no underwater structure to hold them there . They hang on the larger trees at the edge of the timber .Crappie fisherman seem to have better luck catching the big ones than I from  them  . ?