How do you guys fish a road bed?

[Dixon]

The fishing report always says road bed.  Me and my buddies found one yesterday and the water was 2 foot deep.  Any tactics or baits for fishing a road bed?  How do you approach it or angle your boat?

[aarogb]

    Don't fish right on top of the road bed, fish in the ditches beside it.  You can fish the ditches with any bait you want like a Carolina rig, jig, or a shakey head.

[WRB]

A road bed by itself may not be a good structure element. The hard surface can be a potential for spawning. What makes a road bed good bass fishing structure are other features associated with it; culverts that run under the road to drain a small creek for example. Old foundations that the road was near, fences that ran along side of the road. Creek or stream beds have deeper channels that undercut rocks and had trees lining them, where they meet the road bed and a culvert or bridge may still be underwater.

My suggestion is get a map and follow the road bed out into deeper water, looking for structure elements that bass like. The road bed may also create an edge to weed beds, due to the hard surface preventing weed growth.

WRB

[Bankbeater]

What WRB and Dock Master said. I like to throw the bait across it, and not parallel. This way you can work both sides of the road.

[fishfordollars]

I fish the cuts and ditches. Rarely just hit a bed and start fishing down it. Get a map and concentrate on anything that will change it up.

[TENNESSEE NEWSOME]

Excellent advice.  I love it when i read something on here and learn.  Thanks!

[Long Mike]

Always be sure the road bed is under water.  I tried fishing across I30 once and the trucks kept smashing my lures.    

[Catt]

Roadbed Defined: The surface of a road can be dirt, gravel, asphalt, or concrete. County roads, farm market roads, state highways, old driveways or logging roads will hold bass provided they are situated at the right location.

Roadbed Logic: Roadbeds provide bass with a distinctive travel route with a built in edge and a Varity of bottom hardness's. Concentrate on sweet spots that offer something different from the rest of the road. Sweet spots are usually located along the edge of a road and consist of but not limited to drainage culverts, ditches, washouts, rocks, old hedgerows, stump lines, fence lines, and bar ditches. With roadbeds there are usually several sweet spots not just one or two; look for these spots around sharp bends and road intersections.

The Best Roads: Flooded roadbeds located in the backs of major bays/creeks will hold bass during fall/spring while deeper roads on the main lake are best during summer. Roadbeds that top out 6-12' beneath the surface will always get my attention.

Running the roads: A Carolina rig is perfectly suited becoming familiar with a roadbed; after you feel comfortable with the contour and find the sweet spots any technique will work.

[Fishing Rhino]

  Quote

Always be sure the road bed is under water. I tried fishing across I30 once and the trucks kept smashing my lures.

Did you manage to land any of those trucks?  If so, did you lip 'em, or net 'em?  

[RiverSmallieSeeker]

as many have said already, fish on the sides of that particular road bed (especially when it's 2 feet deep on the actual bed). for submerged roadbeds i love to explore with a deep diving crankbait like a rapala DT 20. if possible i'll mark points on the road bed in a line down the length of the road and make casts on that line and parallel to that line but off the sides of the beds. once again that's only if it's a deep road bed. the potential for BIG FISH should keep you waiting and anxious!!