How do I Fish a Point?

[RenzokukenFisher]

Normally I am in small lakes or ponds in my yak and can do pretty well, but what about a deep reservoir? Usually I cast generally around a point and can can pick up a few bass but I'd like to learn how to really target a point. Specifically if anyone is familiar I am planning a trip to lake Berryessa, a deep mountainous type lake.

 

For example, lets say Im fishing a east (shore) to west point, with wind blowing over it from south to north, where do I position and where should I cast? Do I drag a jig for example down the length of the point? Or do I cast over the point and work it up and over south to north? Maybe a little bit of everything!! 😂

[Pat Brown]

Let the fish tell you what they want and yeah usually these days a point might be good for a cast or two maybe but with the way lakes are hammered most places you gotta let em rest and hit other stuff - then return and check when you feel they've had enough time.

 

Unless you got a farm pond or something - then all bets are off.

 

Points are like any sort of structure or cover - sometimes the fish are there and sometimes they are NOT there.  Can't force em to be on points if they're not.

 

When they are it can be fun to fish points!

[Catt]

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/78422-fishing-points/

[PhishLI]

 

[slonezp]

Do you have electronics with mapping to determine how far the point sticks out underwater?

 

If a lot of the point is underwater, and wind is blowing south to north, I'd start on the north side of the point casting into the wind and allow the bait to present itself on both sides thinking bass will be positioning themselves to feed on bait being pushed into/over the point.

If there is current involved I would concentrate on the inside and outside drops dragging baits the same direction as the current. 

 

 

[WRB]

1 hour ago, RenzokukenFisher said:

Normally I am in small lakes or ponds in my yak and can do pretty well, but what about a deep reservoir? Usually I cast generally around a point and can can pick up a few bass but I'd like to learn how to really target a point. Specifically if anyone is familiar I am planning a trip to lake Berryessa, a deep mountainous type lake.

 

For example, lets say Im fishing a east (shore) to west point, with wind blowing over it from south to north, where do I position and where should I cast? Do I drag a jig for example down the length of the point? Or do I cast over the point and work it up and over south to north? Maybe a little bit of everything!! 😂

PM your email and will send you a detailed sketch as part of my In-Fisherman article Horizontal Jigging.

Tom

[RenzokukenFisher]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/78422-fishing-points/

Dang I gotta make sure to check whats already been written before posting these things 

And also Thank You @Catt!

[Catt]

@RenzokukenFisher 

In Google type in points bassresource.com or any subject you will get better results than searches here.

[Choporoz]

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/217261-lmb-on-long-deep-points-up-down-or-across/

[Functional]

If I believe they are on points and I blank out on a point I'll move ONTOP of the point in the shallow part and cast out deep and bring the lure in from deep to shallow. This year in particular I've had better luck sitting on top of the point and casing out. 

[A-Jay]

Points – Mr. Perry defines a point as “an extrusion in the shoreline that extends into and under the water” – and I’m good with that. 

 Either way, ‘points’ can be total bass magnets - all year round. 

Like all structure, there’s some that are better than others. 

IME, the same factors that make a point attractive to bass are often very similar to what makes most any good bass holding structure.

 If deep water access is close enough – bass can be close to or on a point all day. 

If not, they may only use it briefly throughout the day to come & feed. 

  So when fishing a point, where the fish may be located on it can be dictated by a few things; the season, the wind, the sun, the type of prey they are looking for, of course, the type of bottom composition, what type of cover may be on it (if any) and lastly the depth of water on & around it. 

  I almost always prefer to approach any point from its shallowest or nearest to the bank end. 

I’ll fish the ‘inside turn’ before I get to it as not to ‘burn’ (spook off) any bass that might be up there. (the inside turn at the base of any point can be a good spot and even a pattern at times).

If the light is low enough and there’s sufficient water on top of the shallowest areas of the point,

I’ll fish that first.   If that’s the deal I’ll stay off it and keep catching. 

If not, I’ll move up onto the point and position my rig to fish the sides & eventually, off the front.   On some Big points, the ‘Top’ can be pretty massive and by covering it all,

there could be may fish to be had. 

So there’s no need to hurry through it all looking to fish deeper if that’s where they are. 

    OK so now it’s time to approach & fish the ‘sides’ of the point. 

Let’s take a second and discuss a few things.   Much of the water I fish here is clear;

add some sun and a boat shadow – there’s plenty going on here that can alert the fish to my presence well before I make a single cast. 

And that’s The Last thing I want to do, is ‘burn’ the spot – especially after I went through all the time & effort to ‘sneak in’ from the bank. 

So, if I don’t need it, I turn off all my electronics. 

May not help, but if the unit's are off or at least on stand by, they definitely can’t hurt.  

I’ll go easy on the Fortrex – and even using the wind a bit if it can help get me where I want to go.   I’ll often make the choice of where to come up on the point based on the wind. 

But that can work two ways; it can help move me up and along but it can also blow me onto fish I don’t want to burn, so choose wisely Grasshopper.  

This is where the Talons really earn their keep. 

I think you can see why.     

     Points that have cover (weeds, wood, just about anything that offers bass or even better, a whole school of bass, a place to relate to), can be money.

  Often the bigger or more cover is better, especially if it can & does hold bait. 

But sometimes one rock or one dead tree or one 10 ft square weed, grass patch,

or even a 1 foot depression in the bottom, can hold several very respectable bass.

We just never know.  Bass have some pretty decent camo going on, so they all but disappear on it.

 Finally I'll use much of the above mentioned tactics, 

regardless of the 'size' of the point.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

A-Jay

 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

Only thing I have to add is that there is often a sweet spot on the point. It might be a brushpile. Might be a rock pile. If the whole thing is covered in grass, then it might be a hole in the grass or a grass line. Might be just a stretch of harder bottom. Might be a shell bed. There is usually something that the resident fish want to relate to, and it’s our job as fisherman to find it. Once we find it, it might take a few different casting angles to get the bass to bite. Structure fishing is detail-oriented and intensive but can be incredibly rewarding. 
 

Everybody fishes points for a reason. They are really good homes and stopping places for traveling fish. Channel swings are less fished and usually if I find fish on a channel swing, they cooperate a whole lot easier than point fish. Point fish just get hammered, especially if it’s a good point everybody and their mother knows about

[scaleface]

My method is pretty easy . If I can fand the depth most of the life is at in open water on my depth finder, that Is where I start on the point. I'll fish there  out to the thermocline , if there is one, and all the way to the shallows. Any bottom hugging lure can be used. I'm partial to texas rigs, Carolina rigs, jigs of all kinds, tubes... Cranks are good and the Red Eye Shad hopped on the bottom has been excellent for me.

[Catt]

My favorites are underwater points, the ones that do not connect to the shoreline with deepwater near by.

 

[LrgmouthShad]

5 minutes ago, Catt said:

My favorites are underwater points, the ones that do not connect to the shoreline with deepwater near by.

 

Good gracious that is just awesome. Points + channel swings up against them + feeding flat + draw leading up into it

[Bankc]

I'll usually run over points in a criss-cross pattern with my sonar to figure out what the point looks like and where the good spots are, and then come back a bit later to fish them, as I've probably disturbed the fish.  The good thing about points is they usually produce well later in the day compared to shallow water.  At least on the lakes I frequent.  Having said that, bass will often move up or down a point throughout the day,  especially in the early or late hours, so I'm not committing to just one spot, but rather trying to get a feel for what's happening under water. 

 

As for what or how to fish; that all depends.  If it looks like they're holding up on the transition zones, I might anchor in the shallower water at the tip of the point and just fan cast around into the deeper water.  Maybe with a jig, deep diving crankbait, spoon, who knows.  Anything that will get down and kind of follow the bottom contour and as it moves up and back to me.  Though sometimes I'll follow around the point out in the deeper water and cast onto the point and target the bass that waiting on the edge of the deep water.  If it looks like they're holding on the flat above the transition, I might anchor a bit off the point and cast onto it.  Or, sometimes I'll anchor in the shallow water, further up the point, and cast towards the point itself.  I might go with a trick worm, T-rig, medium diving crankbait, or whatever the situation calls for. 

 

It's different almost every day.  But my approach is to first find out where they are.  Then find out where to position to get to the fish, without disturbing them.  The wind or current will often affect my choice.  Then, knowing where they are and where I need to be, I try to pick lures that will get to them from where I am.  From there, I refine my lure selection to find the ones that run at about the speed or action the fish are looking for.  So it can take a while to figure out the pattern on a single point, but once you get that down, you can hit other, similar points with the same technique, and then come back to this one again later. 

[king fisher]

I like to go over the point and mark cover, bait fish and or bass with my down imaging.   Once I find what I think will be the best spot, I throw out a marker buoy. If the place I marked was 15 feet deep or less, I may have spooked the bass while going over the top of them, so I will leave and come back later.  I am fairly stealthy in my kayak, so if it is 15 feet or deeper I will assume I didn't spook any bass, and will back off and make long casts at my marker from every angle with a crankbait.  If I catch some fish and the bite stops I will switch the color of the crankbait.  Before I leave I will drag a Carolina Rig to pick up a few more bites.  If I catch some quality bass I will fish the whole point looking for a few more.  If the C Rig produces more than the crankbait, the next point I will start with the C Rig, and follow up with the crankbait.

 

If the point produces well I will leave my marker, and come back later to try again.  I am fortunate enough to fish lakes where I can leave a marker buoy out for a three day weekend and not worry about someone fishing the spot.  I know I can just put a waypoint on my plotter and forgo the marker buoy, but I prefer to cast at a visual target. 

 

One time I put out a marker on a small hard to find place.  I landed some bass off the spot and left to fish another place.  A commercial gill net fisherman saw my marker and thought he would do my a favor.  He picked up my marker and rowed across the lake to give me my buoy, he thought I had forgot.  I thanked him and later that day spent a half hour trying to locate the small piece of cover again.   Even with a waypoint marked on my fish finder, it can be difficult to find a single rock or other small piece of cover peddling a kayak in the wind.

[Bankbeater]

I'll start fishing a point where it meets the main shoreline.  I work my way out to the end and then back to the shore again just in cast the bass want the bait from a certain angle. 

[Bazoo]

I appreciate all the insight offered here, and from the links posted. Thanks all.