fishing from the bank

[shootermcbob]

I do not own a boat and , at least so far, do all my fishing from the bank. How long do you guys fish before you move to another area(provided that you are not getting any bites or catching any fish of course). Any tips or pointers would be appreciated. thanks

[joez2872-ct]

catch paralel to the bank ,use rubber worms ,or topwater good luck

I do not own a boat and , at least so far, do all my fishing from the bank. How long do you guys fish before you move to another area(provided that you are not getting any bites or catching any fish of course). Any tips or pointers would be appreciated. thanks

[Grug]

Work the water that your at thoroughly, top to bottom with faster moving type lures such as a spinnerbait to see if you get any action. If yes, what depth and speed? Keep that in mind as you should now concentrate any lures in that general range till its goes dead. If no takers after say 15 min. or so move a bit and try another style lure (i.e. crankbait type say, suspendeding). If nothing after that thing low and slow such as a jig/plastic or similar.

And no matter what hit any cover with a plastic and work that cover thoroughly.

Of course if crack of dawn or sundown, work a topwater to see if that bite is on. If you impatient use a buzzer, if slow is good use a popper till they till you how they like it.

My banks/wading waters are coverless so I work alot of weedlines/depth changes from shore...

Dont know if I will ever get a boat, just not a big deal to me..I fish almost every day so life is good.

Oh, have fun too...but thats assumed anyway.

Tight Lines..

[Marty]

I move around a lot more than other people. However, if there is good-looking cover or structure I'll fish it thoroughly, otherwise I like to keep moving and cover a lot of water until something happens. If you do this enough on the same body of water you may very well learn about more productive spots whose characteristics were not visible to you.

But my way may not be right for others. I see guys all the time staying in one spot for a long time, a spot that doesn't appear to offer anything more than other spots. My lack of patience makes that difficult.

Another thing is not to rule out any baits, since almost all lures that work from boats work from the shore.

[BigBassBob]

If I don't catch anything on the first cast, I move to a different lake Kidding aside...I usually give any good looking spot an hour, or so. As the others have stated, try changing lures, colors, and depth. Keep in mind, as the old saying goes..."If they ain't there, they ain't there :-?". Time to move on.

[FatBoy]

How long do you guys fish before you move to another area(provided that you are not getting any bites or catching any fish of course).

Depends on what you mean by "area."  I rarely make more than 10 casts from a single spot before I move down the bank.  Sometimes that move might be only 5 steps, sometimes 50 ft.  

If I'm targeting shoreline cover, I'm constantly moving to the next piece of cover.  If I'm working a drop off that's only a few yards off the bank, I'll make a cast (maybe two), then move down the bank 5 feet and try again.  If I'm working a spinnerbait, crank, or even t-rig further from the bank, I'll fan cast the area from one spot (8-10 casts), then move down the bank about the length of one cast and start again.  

Think about when a guy in a boat moves down the bank pitching to stumps or combing a grassy flat.  He's moving CONSTANTLY.  You can move as fast as I do and still be way more thorough and methodical than a guy in a boat.  

[skillet]

 I pretty much fish from the bank  and like Grug really enjoy it. My OCD kicks in and I tend to fish a good looking spot to death. When I fish from a boat, I do the same thing. That's another one of those personal preferences that everyone deals with, no matter if you are fishing from a boat or the bank...

                                                    As Ever,

                                                     skillet

[Turtle.]

How long do you guys fish before you move to another area(provided that you are not getting any bites or catching any fish of course).

Depends on what you mean by "area."  I rarely make more than 10 casts from a single spot before I move down the bank.  Sometimes that move might be only 5 steps, sometimes 50 ft.  

If I'm targeting shoreline cover, I'm constantly moving to the next piece of cover.  If I'm working a drop off that's only a few yards off the bank, I'll make a cast (maybe two), then move down the bank 5 feet and try again.  If I'm working a spinnerbait, crank, or even t-rig further from the bank, I'll fan cast the area from one spot (8-10 casts), then move down the bank about the length of one cast and start again.  

Think about when a guy in a boat moves down the bank pitching to stumps or combing a grassy flat.  He's moving CONSTANTLY.  You can move as fast as I do and still be way more thorough and methodical than a guy in a boat.  

 x2

Could'nt have said it any better FatBoy    

[jwo1124]

I do most of my fishing from shore as well. And as I stated in my article posted just above this one...it can be tough. Bass aren't always going to be right off the shore within casting range unless there is prime cover/structure. But most coverable water(the water with in the range of your cast) is not too deep, unless there is a fast drop off. But most banks/shorelines taper off slowly. Chances are you'll be casting into water around 5' -8' deep. Once the strong summer sun comes along in mid summer and roasts the surface water temps in the top of the water column heat up fast causing bass to seek cover(most times in the form of deeper water. I like to think of the saying "the cover of darkness" In this case, the deeper the bass goes, or the more water in between the bass and the sun, the less heat gets through to it. Bass are going to try to aim for water around 70 degrees. Now that seems warm but most pools get up to 80 degrees in the summer and thats still kind of cool to the touch. So when you lean down and feel the water off shore and its warm, chances are its around 80-85. This is the optimum temperature for most sunfish, thats why they are usually the only fish you see in shallow water during summer in ponds. Bass have headed out to find cover/structure in deeper cooler water.

But during late srpinf-early summer, mid may-early july when the sun hasn't been too strong for too long and the bass are comfortable in the shallows, I killed them with shallow cranks and topwaters the year. That was at night when bass are roaming away from there sun time hding spots during the daylight. But I have also had a lot of luck with spinnerbaits. As far as a method, start off at a spot that looks good i.e. any cover like lily pads, sticks, trees, a place where a bass can hide. Fan cast around that area, and work the area tight trying to cover all the surface water down to the bottom as Grug said. Make sure that if there is a bass where you are, he'll see that lure. This is going to take patience and will probably annoy you as you will most likely want to just make 4 or 5 casts and move if you don;t get a bite. But sometimes, especially on bright sunny days bass will be TIGHT to cover and won't venture out too far to hit a lure so you'll have to bring the lure to it. Plus don't pass over water just because this are no visible signs of cover above the water. You nver know what lurks below. A spot that could look liek a bad spot because there are no vegatation or wood cover doesn't mean there isn;t such things below the surface of the water floor like a brush pile or an underwater weed bed. Just start of with a topwater lure or a floating minnow and work over as much water as you can. If no luck tie on a lure that will cover a little bit deeper water. Liek ashollw crank, spinnerbait, or a soft jerk bait. If still no luck, try a deeper crank to reach the bottom, or a carolina rig which is prob the best on bottom presentation. You can also try a carolina crankbait rig which I saw Al Lindner the old host of Infisherman using one day which is nothing more than a carolina rig with a shallow running crank or floating minnow bait instead of a plastic. This will present your lure as close to bottom as your leader is. Dont try this around heavy cover though since the trebles will surely get snagged.

When you are sure you have fished through as much water as you can, then move down the bank or to another spot and repeat. Fishing can be boring and does take patience, but it pays off big when the boredom of bite-less casts gets interupted by a hungry fish.

[Taliesin]

I have fished from shore for most of my life, and my methods differ depending on the size of the water I am fishing.

Small waters (<15 acres): I'll take one pole and a few lures I think will work that day. I'll move all the way around the body of water and when I get back to my starting point I am done. Depending on the size of the water, the lures I am using, and how well the fish are biting, this can take as little as 25 minutes or as much as 4 hours.

Larger waters: Most of the time I start out the same as on smaller waters, but end up going about a mile or two, then fishing my way back.

It works for me, but lure selection is crucial here since the rest of your lures are back at the vehicle and may be up to 2 miles away. It's a great way to try out new baits. You are stuck with the bait you have, so you start to make the best of it. normally you end up catching something with it and confidence in the lure goes up. Or you may find new ways to work the same lure.

I guess you could say that I normally troll the shoreline.

[shootermcbob]

I will have some new things to try this weekend. Thanks so much to everyone for adding your input. I find the anticipation of the bite almost as rewarding as the bite itself. Almost being the key. Thanks again for all the help.