How do you tackle deep ledges?

[Chris]

This is a form of structure we all face at one time or another.  A ledge could be an edge of a creek channel or a deep drop off. I know that most bass fishermen are shallow water fishermen maybe this will help add another trick in your hat. How do you tackle deep ledges?

[roadwarrior]

I like deep running crankbaits parallel to the ledge,  (1) along the ledge, (2) just above the ridge and (3) below the ridge.  You cover a lot of water fishing parallel but if you find fish this way STOP!  Pull out further and work the ledge.  Cast  above the drop with you favorite lure (worm, tube, lizard, jig)  and work it until it falls off the ledge.  If you don't get bit on the approach or the drop, LET IT SIT.  One more pull, drag or hop and redo.

[AUTgrPilot]

I don't pull deep crankbaits unless I have to.  They simple wear me out.  I prefer using a carolina rig.  I will first pull and pop the bait down the ledge, then ease it over.  I'll then move in opposite the ledge and pull the bait up the ledge.

[ernel]

Carolina rig, deep running cranks and a 3/4-1 1/2 oz spinnerbait. Most times I start retrieving at an angle to the drop to cover more depth changes faster.

[Nick]

The football jig, brown or brown and purple with a cinnamon twin tail has been the ticket on the White River Lakes of Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Beaver, and Norfork. Drag it, twitch it, or even snap it off the bottom from 20-60 feet.  We're talking 3/4 to an ounce here. Works on ledges, humps rock piles, points or anywhere else.

After sizing up a ledge, hopefully I'll mark baitfish on it or near it. Then I'll fish pretty vertical or cast parallel to it aiming for the top lip.  Then I'll try dragging off the lip toward the depths. Going uphill is good,but with the football jig, it can get hung quite a bit.

[CJHooker]

I'm kinda new to this site.  I don't think that I have seen a subject covered any better than these four guys did.  Boy, if we can't catch 'em on ledges now, We should say," Yes, honey, you can sell all my tackle at the yard sale saturday." Happy fishing-GOD BLESS!!

[5bass]

The first bait I throw at a ledge is none other than a LedgeBuster spinnerbait.....the deeper the water,the bigger the bait,getting it down faster.i do this parallel of course.No bites on the spinnerbait?,I change to a deep crank,again parallel.Then a Carolina rig parallel.If no bites come from fishing parallel,I switch and pull them perpendicular off the ledge into deep water,incorporating a jig and also a senko and a Texas rig worm.Also when fishing deep,I like to have some sort of chartreuse color on my baits.And no matter what you hear,its dark down deep.The chartreuse gives your bait a little brightness to help the fish maybe see it a little farther away.

[Larry_Landgren]

1/2 to 1.5 oz football head yamamoto jigs , 1 oz spoons and if the bite is tough dropshotting. Also never rule out the good old westy worm.

[Nick_Barr]

carolina rig, deep crankbait, slow falling jig

[roadwarrior]

The Tennessee River is maintained for commercial barge traffic. Navigation buoys define the channel and by definition a ledge that runs the entire length of the river. This time of year,right now, the big female smallmouths are staging in a pre-spawn pattern. On every inside bend on the river, the buoys also define massive flats that will soon be used by these same bass.

We are drifting either side of the transition and picking up a few of these big girls. The smaller males sometimes come into play, but for the most part they are already searching the flats for suitable nesting sites.

If you fish a similar river, move out towards the middle, that's where the big girls hang. You can probably catch a few on jigs, grubs and tubes, but I catch a lot on shiners.