The cover you cannot pass by

[papajoe222]

On the lake I cut my teeth on, it was the rip rap along a 1.5mi. causeway and anytime I see that type of cover, my expectations soar.  On my home waters, it's downed timber on steep shores.

[Deephaven]

Slop 

[Bluebasser86]

Rocks, especially riprap where there's some kind of change in the shoreline, but a transition in natural rock, like chunk rock into pea gravel, is also impossible for me to pass up. 

[Hammer 4]

Every type, but my favorite is standing timber. Rip rap would be next.

[gim]

Traditionally I would also say a nice mat of lily pads with some holes mixed in which means a hollow body frog.  However, I can't buy a bite with a frog, so my confidence is very low.  I always have one rigged up in case I see a location that looks like it will work.

[redux]

Any kind of wood. Docks, sticks, stumps, laydowns, whatever.

[InfantryMP]

Skippin docks and boat lifts are my mine as of right now. Had good luck with it already this year, and I think as it warms up it will continue to do well. 

[fishingtx]

lily pads next to hydrilla next to hay grass next to drop offs

[Mike L]

5 hours ago, gimruis said:

Traditionally I would also say a nice mat of lily pads with some holes mixed in which means a hollow body frog.  However, I can't buy a bite with a frog, so my confidence is very low.  I always have one rigged up in case I see a location that looks like it will work.

Don’t give up on it. 
 

With due respect, may I offer a suggestion?
After you identify one of those holes, don’t try to cast into it. 
Throw past it about 10-15ft bringing it toward the hole with small straight line pulls between 2–4 second pauses. 
When you get to it, walk it inside before you move it out. 
If no hit, identify another and do the same all the way back. 
 

Unless there’s one directly under the first hole, be ready by the time you get to the 3rd or 4th. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[J Francho]

Docks and fallen trees.

[MIbassyaker]

Cabbage (clasping-leaf pondweed) on a 5-10 foot break that makes an inside turn.

[TriStateBassin106]

When fishing from a boat low hanging trees and parked pontoon boats, with the trees the ones where the branches hang a foot ot 2 above the water, usually you can skip something under them and the tree itself provides a huge amount of shade. If the tree is in a cove pocket it's even better. 

[the reel ess]

Laydowns, sparse patches of lilies (they grow much thicker in very shallow water, thus hold smaller bass) and overhanging trees.

[BigAngus752]

My #2 was put up here by @Bluebasser86.  The transitions from one kind of rock to another or seawall to rock are awesome.  

 

My #1, which is far and above anything else, is a concrete boat ramp.  It's a no-brainer.  Especially the private ones sitting behind a house that gets used twice a year.  They are such good producers that I'll throw at public ramps even if they are busy.  If I'm pulling up to unload and no one is waiting I'll grab a rod out of my boat and make some casts before I back the trailer into the water.  It's an all-season target.  

[crypt]

anything in the water........but here in Fl. Grass is king.......

[WRB]

Made early comment the thread is titled cover. So far more then half the replies are about structure.

Just for grins lets define cover vs structure.

Tom?

[MN Fisher]

13 minutes ago, WRB said:

Just for grins lets define cover vs structure.

Easy way to look at it based on above water.

Structure is the hills, valleys, cliffs, etc

Cover is the grass, bushes, trees, etc.

[Columbia Craw]

Asian bog bean

[schplurg]

For cover I like floating mats or plants, and tule/bamboo whatever along shore that looks like it could hold fish. 

 

Almost all the local fish I catch are in a creek and under cover.

 

Structure - I guess I'm not sure yet. I haven't fished long enough and rarely from a boat, but so far I like the steep ledge near my Dad's dock. Fished for 15 minutes last weekend and got me a 2 pounder third cast at 11:00 PM.

 

That dock is perfect. There's a small point within casting range with a steep ledge as I drag it back. Docks to both sides. Gets deep quickly, but right under the dock is shallow-ish. Can cast back to the seawall under some cover (bushes on the wall). And I can shoot out to water that's at least 40 feet deep with a hard cast.

 

Mix of tall grass and clear spots. And the little point creates an armpit where the wind blows stuff in (it collects at the neighbors dock so haha). I catch fish almost every trip to the dock when I'm visiting.

 

My current avatar is me on that dock with a 4 pounder.

 

Sorry, I'm rambling. I love fishing, I love talking about fishing and I love thinking about fishing.

 

Edit:

Whatever my definition of cover is I'm sure I learned it here, and probably from Tom. So, whatever he says.

[lo n slo]

brush piles 

[N Florida Mike]

On 5/9/2021 at 11:04 AM, FryDog62 said:

I don’t think there’s a more beautiful site than a pontoon parked next to a dock in 3-5 fow and the motor trimmed all the way up... You have an expanse of 5 feet between the two pontoons to skip the weightless plastic of your choice way back in. Let it sink slowly... count 1, 2, 3 and set the hook!!

This ^^^^. is my favorite.
I also love docks to skip under, drains and culverts. Isolated weed patches, Wood thats trapped whatever the wind blew in , eel grass edges...

I

[Uknowjusticemill]

Backwaters that are still water that's fed by the river with mats and bamboo, the bass here swim multiple feet into the mats and bamboo cover where there rock beds aswell.

[Fishin Dad]

MILF!  By that I mean milfoil.  I really got into pitching into milfoil last year and had a blast.  Isolated milfoil or irregularities in a weed stretch can get you bit............a lot!

[geo g]

Isolated cover on a flat is like a magnet for bass especially when the sun is high in the sky, and they are seeking out some shade.  Bass don't use sunglasses, so shade is all they have on bight sunny days.  On a flat, bass move to these isolated clumps.  You may catch more then just one or two on an isolated clump, but because of predation they may be all the same size.  If you catch a four pounder, there is a good chance another 4 pounder will be there.  A clump of grasses with more then one type of grass, is even better.  So Kissimmee grass with pads mixed in, can be magical.  The greener the clump the better, it gives off O2 also, besides providing shade.  Never pass up an isolated clump, it's always better than a huge grass field, where the bass will be scattered.  

 

A grass field next to a drop off is good.  The bass may be at the base of the drop off but will stay close to the grasses as an ambush location, and a provider of food, like baitfish, frog, salamanders in the weeds.  Never pass over depth changes adjacent to weed lines.

 

These are two places I always look for, and target when fishing new water bodies.

[.ghoti.]

Veggies, as long as they are green. Happy bass live in grass.