Find More Bass Offshore by Targeting Structure
Humps
You need great boat control. Period. Boat positioning over different types of structure will allow an angler to better utilize casts to draw the bass’ attention. On structure like humps, three things should be taken into consideration: current, water clarity, and depth. Positioning your boat down current and far enough away that clear water will not provide a good look at you, will help you stay in position to catch the fish on the structure. If the depth of the hump’s height is very deep, you may get away with fishing a tad closer, but that all varies based on water clarity as well.
Ledges & Channel Breaks
Bass are ambush predators and prefer to position themselves in places they can find easy meals. When you find an ideal location on a ledge, position yourself over the deep water with the current at your face. Cast your baits to the shallow water, and retrieve into the deep. It mimics baitfish heading deep, and bass frequently see this scenario play out.
Old Roadbeds
In many places with man-made lakes, old flooded roadbeds offer bass with great transition and staging points as well as ambush areas to hunt. Corners and ditches along these old roadbeds offer great hotspots for bass to focus on! Position your boat 45 degrees from either side of the roadbed, and cast upwind past the piece of structure. You can perform drifts or fish the hot zones specifically. I like fish these roadbeds in the same way I fish ledges, but with extra structure scattered around them. Great spots to target!
Hopefully this helped shed some light into some of the first places an angler should look when fishing open water. Study your graphs and scan as much as you can to locate unique pieces of cover and structure. Do that, and finding a monster bass will be much easier! Tight lines!
Colton Orbaker Author, teacher, guide, media creator...
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