Roadbeds?

[pondfisher]

"Black bass and the spots are in 18-20 feet of water on roadbeds, humps, main lake structure, and the mouths of creeks. The key to catching big fish is still BIG. Use a BIG Carolina rigged worm in any green color combination and a large deep diving crank bait. The smaller bass are schooling all over the lake and best baits are small rooster tails and Rat-L-Traps. Look to the road beds down lake and work then over with a Carolina rig and a green large Senko."

First off, great forums and a lot of help going on in them.

Above is the latest fishing report for West Point Lake in LaGrange, GA where I fish. The question is, what is a "roadbed"? Thanks guys.

[NorthNJangler]

The roadbeds they are referring to are the ones that are submerged. Usually they are the roads that were there when the lake was built, but were submerged once the lake filled up. Get a topo map of the lake that shows the the structures under the water to find where the roadbeds may be. You will also be able to see some of the roads they will run right into the water

[jeffman]

PECK,

Â* Â* Get a topographical map of the lake you are fishing and look for old submerged roads that were flooded when the lake was impounded. Also, as you are fishing along the lake, keep watch of the adjoining banks and you will be able to see where old abandoned roads ran into the lake. Look across the lake and you will probably be able to see where the road came out the other side. Then use your electronics to find the hump of the roadbed and follow this contour across the lake, fishing the road as well as the ditches on both sides.
Â* Â* The good part of having a topo map is that you will be able to locate any cross roads or demolished bridges the are covered. That is an excellent location for bass. You can fish these with a C-rig, or you can use a jigging spoon to jig the roadbed.
Â* Â* Use your electronics to locate any large schools of shad or minnows, and the bass should be laying underneath the schools feeding on the shad.

JackL

[sabass]

also some reservoirs have high and low water boat ramps. When the water is up, the road to the low water boat ramp, and the low ramp itself will be under water. When water levels are lowered, the road is revealed along with the "new" boat ramp while the high water ramps are sitting high and dry. Is the road bed is in 1-5 feet of water, they're typically great spots for bedding bass as they typically use limerock down here for the roads, so not much grows there, just a sandy flat area. If you can find submerged road beds near an original river channel, fish it, should be some big bass feeding in that area as well.

[jglassguy]

What bass and cat fishermen like about road beds is that where they go from land to water, the edges get cavities along them that can go back aways, perfect place for my whiskers to hide..
Plus as everyone has mentioned, some man made lake-reservoirs have roads and ponds in them, as I have posted before , Brookville Lake in Ind is my home lake and has several building foundations, and old cemetary
(they moved the coffins etc), roadbeds, ponds, and whatnot underthem, alot of times the foundations are only a foot high but they hold walleye and sometimes bass..
Any time you get a chance to fish a lake you should try to find topo maps to locate man made brush piles, roads, and depths..I always go to the DNR site for any state and type in topo maps on google.
In ohio for instance they have all the lakes listed as so:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/...maps/lmaps.htm

[sabass]

at rodman, there are underwater roadbeds, indian artifacts, indian burial grounds, ponds, streams, springs, spoil berms from an area they dredged, flooded forest, makes prime bass territory. All this stuff becomes apparent when they draw down the lake every 3-4 years. Its a good time to visit the lake so you can see the actual topography while the water is down.

[Fishin4theday]

Road beds are exactly what the name represents. they are old roads that were built prior to the lake being impounded. Often the bass will use them as migration routes to and from deep water or they will use structure locate along the road itself.
Depending on how old the lake is the roads can be old highways that are paved to old gravel rural roads or wagon roads. Look at a road in the country where you live. You will see that the road has several fish attracting features.
Often old roads will be lined with trees. That means that often submerged roads are linned with stumps or standing timber.Many roads have gutters or drainage ditches along the sides. This makes additional cover.Roads located on hill sides often have a drop on the deep water side.Look for possible creeks that intersect the road. That will often mean some type bridge was there.Last but not least look for bends in the old road and foundations located along the road. These are all potential bass holding areas.
Road beds ,especially old gravel road beds can be a gold mine. Always check them out. Fish2win

[FishinMommy]

When fishing a road bed they will either be on top or off to the side on the broken asphlat. WHats crazy is when you can feel your worm crawling through the asphalt.

[macgyver]

Fish every roadbed you can find, and when you're done, go back and fish them again. They are one of what I like to call the replenishing spots. Fish move up and down, and on and off of them constantly. One of the best places to fish, especially when fronts are playing havic with the weather.

Lizards

[zman]

Rob, only in florida would an "indian burial ground" be considered fishing structure! Do you ever nightfish those sacred spots?

[pondfisher]

I want to thank all who contributed to my question! I appreciate the help. I'm looking forward to fishing this weekend with the new knowledge. Thanks again.