Cover Vs Structure

[BassMaster_1]

Ok continuing from the question on secondary points.  We were talking about cover and structure.  Please list types of cover and types of structure, because i didn't know that the 2 were different.

[mike90]

i always thought cover to be something like a down tree and structure something like a boat dock

[Shad_Master]

NO, a better word for structure is contour.  The changing depths of the lake, pond, whatever.  Cover is anything in the water that fish can relate to:  grass, rocks, weeds, laydowns, etc.  The term "structure" refers to the structure of the body of water.  Bass will find the depth that they feel most comfortable with and hold there, but there will almost always be "deeper" water nearby so that they have an avenue of escape if needed.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

I don't get too caught into the defintion of structure and cover. They are both something that a bass will relate to.

Here's what I go by:

Stucture- Slope/contour of the bottom of the lake

Cover-Anything a bass can hide in or by (grass,weeds, docks, laydowns)

Now here's a question?

Docks provide cover for a bass, but are they structure as well?  Or does it really matter what you "call" it?  A bass will relate to it one way or another.

[Glenn]

A good way to look at it is this:

Structure is anything that is part of the lake bottom - a feature such as creeks, humps, depressions, sandbars, roadbeds, ledges, and drop-offs

Cover is anything that isn't the bottom (but may be ON the bottom) such as stick-ups, tree lines, stumps, rocks, logs, pilings, docks, weeds, boathouses, duck blinds, bushes, brushpiles, etc.

[Marty]

Or does it really matter what you "call" it?

Much of the time it doesn't matter because people understand what you're talking about. But it can be misunderstood at times. You could ask what some good structure to look for is, and someone talks about ledges, humps, creek channels, etc., but what you really wanted was good cover to look for, like lily pads, docks, boulders, laydowns, etc.

[George Welcome]

Backing up Glenn's response:

Structure is impenetrable.

Cover is penetrable