Fishing Creek Channel

[CMorg]

I took my buddy out today who just started fishing. I just went to look for structure. I found it. A creek channel ranging from 1' to 5' deep with what appears to have been a tree line. I was more excited with my find , then he was with the fish he caught on a chatterbait. Long story short , there were some well defined drops , and there were fish holding above the creek channel , a few feet above. I got one on a spinnerbait , he got one off a chatterbait , but there were alot more there. How do you approach them ? Crankbaits maybe , alot of trees on either side of the creek channel , the channel was not more than 10' wide. It was hard to hold the boat still in the wind.

[walkeraviator]

You say teh channel is 1-4 ft deep but ow deep is the channel itself? is it in 10ft of water? 20? I am a crankbait kinda guy so that would be my answer... but if the water is warm and they seem sluggish... drop shottin since you say they are suspended off teh bottom......

[CMorg]

Originally Posted by walkeraviator

You say teh channel is 1-4 ft deep but ow deep is the channel itself? is it in 10ft of water? 20? I am a crankbait kinda guy so that would be my answer... but if the water is warm and they seem sluggish... drop shottin since you say they are suspended off teh bottom......

18' of water. Water temp was 86 , in the lower end of the lake it was between 84-85.

[Ebbetsguy]

Jig head and plastics, I go paralell to the channel and fish it from the deepest spot out and onto the rim, from both sides, depends on the sun and what cover is around or in it.

[walkeraviator]

I would give some deep running cranks a chance.. otherwise Ebbets is right on it... shakey head, or maybe even a tube... but workin em slowly... and use small sizes in natural colors on flouro... make the bait as small and natural lookin as you can... also think about that drop shot idea...

[Ebbetsguy]

Yes SLOW is important, very SLOW at times

[carolina-rig-01]

I probably would drag a jig and a carolina rig in the channel, maybe slow roll a spinnerbait too. There really are a ton of different baits and techniques you can try in that situation.

[skeeter1804]

My question is what was the water clarity? Small baits work well in clear water but in dirtier water larger profile baits seem to work better. You would want to experiment with baits to see if they are active and willing to chase a bait like a crankbait or want something slow. I would start with a reaction bait and then go to something slow.

[WaffleJaw]

Heavy,slow...Just get it down there.
Kory pegged the two I would use.

[bamabassman]

you can also try to YO-YO a LIPLESS crank bait or spinner bait. toss a sweet beaver or paca craw. other wise a 10-12 inch worm, either c-rigged or texas rigged.