Thankyou for teaching me about riprap!

[PressuredFishing]

Wanted to say thankyou to all the jig fisherman and squarebillers regarding riprap and shallow chunk Rock piles. this is another animal to me because 90% of the lakes I fish are grass or dock oriented. This weekend went out for around 6 hours and while I only hooked up to one big 4lb bass because of the colder water, you guys made those six hours a lot more tolerable. I have not invested a ton of time fishing riprap and would usually throw a Texas rig or a bladebait on them. Not to say those lures don't work, but I lost a lot and it was frustrating loosing a jackhammer and a dozen Texas rigs each trip. I switched to jigs and squarebills and while they only occasionally got snagged and they usually came out, and I  only lost one jig. So again, thankyou for helping me lose less lures in chunk rock/rock piles/riprap and even wood! The jig and squarebill will now be tools in my arsenal for this type of structure!

[geo g]

Riprap especially good as these fronts move through.  They hold considerable heat long after the sun's direct rays move off the area.  Fish magnets during those cold sunny afternoons regardless of what bait your throwing.  Never pass them up.!!!!!!!!

[PotatoLake]

Now start adding a jerkbait around rip rap here in these colder months. 

[HaydenS]

13 minutes ago, geo g said:

Riprap especially good as these fronts move through.  They hold considerable heat long after the sun's direct rays move off the area.  Fish magnets during those cold sunny afternoons regardless of what bait your throwing.  Never pass them up.!!!!!!!!

X2, very important stuff to fish in the cold months

 

5 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

Now start adding a jerkbait around rip rap here in these colder months. 

Just be careful not to jerk into the riprap, as it will break your bill off.

[PressuredFishing]

13 minutes ago, geo g said:

Riprap especially good as these fronts move through.  They hold considerable heat long after the sun's direct rays move off the area.  Fish magnets during those cold sunny afternoons regardless of what bait your throwing.  Never pass them up.!!!!!!!!

I have noticed actually its 50 degree temps but the baitfish do love the riprap in the evenings and have been popping around like summer time, wish brought a jerkbait because even though they weren't busting mid day I got a bite on the same riprap on the jig 

6 minutes ago, PotatoLake said:

Now start adding a jerkbait around rip rap here in these colder months. 

I wish I thought of this, in the evenings there where baitfjsh popping all along riprap even in the 50 degree water temp, bass where not hitting topwaters but I'm sure a jerkbait would have been killer, didn't even come to mind ? 

[geo g]

2 minutes ago, PressuredFishing said:

I have noticed actually its 50 degree temps but the baitfish do love the riprap in the evenings and have been popping around like summer time, wish brought a jerkbait because even though they weren't busting mid day I got a bite on the same riprap on the jig 

 

 

Big rock still holding heat after the sun goes down, it's like throwing a quilt on the bed, Soooo comfy!!!!!

[WRB]

Rip rap to me is mechanically broken big rock piled up with lots of sharp edges knocks and crannies. 

SoCal rip rap is used to face earthen dams, water shed road ways drains. When a reservoir is under construction Hugh mounds of rocks are piled up to build dam faces and soil erosion areas. Road ways in Water run off drains are faced with rip rap to reduce soil erosion etc. Rip rap isn’t a natural rock, it’s broken up rock.

What nearly everyone over looks is the rock piles left over after the reservoir was constructed. The rocks are piles up near the dam and flooded over as the lake fills. These are isolated rip rap rock piles that attract prey and bass.

Fishing up hill with bottom contact jigs and bullet weigh T-rigs is a tackle store dream and angler night mare.

Use lighter weight football jigs and Mojo style drop shot for bottom contact or Scrounger jigs and crankbaits.

Tom

 

[PressuredFishing]

10 minutes ago, WRB said:

Rip rap to me is mechanically broken big rock piled up with lots of sharp edges knocks and crannies. 

SoCal rip rap is used to face earthen dams, water shed road ways drains. When a reservoir is under construction Hugh mounds of rocks are piled up to build dam faces and soil erosion areas. Road ways in Water run off drains are faced with rip rap to reduce soil erosion etc. Rip rap isn’t a natural rock, it’s broken up rock.

What nearly everyone over looks is the rock piles left over after the reservoir was constructed. The rocks are piles up near the dam and flooded over as the lake fills. These are isolated rip rap rock piles that attract prey and bass.

Fishing up hill with bottom contact jigs and bullet weigh T-rigs is a tackle store dream and angler night mare.

Use lighter weight football jigs and Mojo style drop shot for bottom contact or Scrounger jigs and crankbaits.

Tom

 

This is really good information, there are rip rap rock piles that I passed over and did not fish, I don't know why I did, I just was not thinking about any of this stuff. I will definitely try some of the riprap dock piles, especially the larger ones by the damns because you are right there are a lot of them I have always overlooked 

[throttleplate]

2 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

Wanted to say thankyou to all the jig fisherman and squarebillers regarding riprap and shallow chunk Rock piles. this is another animal to me because 90% of the lakes I fish are grass or dock oriented. This weekend went out for around 6 hours and while I only hooked up to one big 4lb bass because of the colder water, you guys made those six hours a lot more tolerable. I have not invested a ton of time fishing riprap and would usually throw a Texas rig or a bladebait on them. Not to say those lures don't work, but I lost a lot and it was frustrating loosing a jackhammer and a dozen Texas rigs each trip. I switched to jigs and squarebills and while they only occasionally got snagged and they usually came out, and I  only lost one jig. So again, thankyou for helping me lose less lures in chunk rock/rock piles/riprap and even wood! The jig and squarebill will now be tools in my arsenal for this type of structure!

what type, size line were you using and how bad did your line-leader get nicked up from the riprap?

[scaleface]

 Its  about angles.  Think of the rip rap as the strike zone . A long billed crankbait will remain in the strike zone through almost the entire retrieve if thrown at the correct angle , from shallow to deep  .  A 45 degree angle is a good starting point .   If  fish are being caught at a certain depth , then that depth can be concentrated on  .

 

 When fishing from bank a sinking lure can follow the contour/strike zone through the entire retrieve by going from deep to shallow .

[Glenn]

 

[PressuredFishing]

12 hours ago, throttleplate said:

what type, size line were you using and how bad did your line-leader get nicked up from the riprap?

I was using 12lb floro first and was getting knicked up pretty bad so I bumped Up to 15lb floro and it worked much better

[LrgmouthShad]

I fished a reservoir with a lot of riprap a lot last year. Jigs were my best lure, year around, day in and day out. Texas rig did not compete for me in that type of cover.

[scaleface]

I usually dont use Texas rigs or weedless jigs in rip rap . They are not needed . The lures get wedged in the rocks not snag . A worm on a jig head or jig without a weed guard works better for me . I like a fat senko style worm with a jig head that is smaller than the worm diameter , like some swim bait heads . 

[Columbia Craw]

Something to take into consideration regarding rip rap in the transition where the rock ends or what would be the deepest point of the grade.  This line of the rip rap can be very irregular, provide current breaks and if the transition is to clay or mud, will concentrate crayfish.  

[throttleplate]

9 hours ago, PressuredFishing said:

I was using 12lb floro first and was getting knicked up pretty bad so I bumped Up to 15lb floro and it worked much better

at the dam last week i was using #17 fluro leader 2 foot long allready snelled up with jig head and swivel. 

I made up 10 of the snelled leaders expecting this to happen and it got shredded after awhile so i just snapped on new leader.

I may try # 20 or #30 as i have both in seaguer blue label. I dont know if #30 would cause a problem with the fish seeing something of the line in the crystal clear water.

[PressuredFishing]

4 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

at the dam last week i was using #17 fluro leader 2 foot long allready snelled up with jig head and swivel. 

I made up 10 of the snelled leaders expecting this to happen and it got shredded after awhile so i just snapped on new leader.

I may try # 20 or #30 as i have both in seaguer blue label. I dont know if #30 would cause a problem with the fish seeing something of the line in the crystal clear water.

Yes, I just cut two feet off every 20 minutes or so and retie, I'm sure it's going to get expensive with floro, I may either go mono in shallower less windy conditions for sensitivity or floro to a mono bumper of 4 feet and cut it off and retie