from the bank

[rageing mule]

I am a newbie here and have been looking for tips on how to catch fish from the bank. I have no boat, YET, and am having very little success catching anything from the bank, Bass of course. Any tips WILL be appreciated.

[Infisherman1]

how big are the bodies of water your fishing? Where are they? What kind of structure and cover is there? Water color? Give us some more info and we'll gladly help you out.

[danrw84]

Zipper,
Welcome to the board! I too fish a lot from the bank. You need to make sure that you approach the water quietly so you don't scare off what is right in front of you. If you have located a spot you think will hold fish, don't stand right on top of it. Pick a spot down the bank and cast to the targeted area.

Casting parallel to the bank will probably be the most productive for you, depending on what structure is around you etc. Try to expose the targeted area with as many different retrieve angles that you can.

Of course the type of water you are fishing and you're lure selection will be a determining factor in how you 'fish'. Once we know that we'll be able to help you out with some detailed information.

Creekgeek, that's good advice and I'll second that. My first experience at bass fishing with artificial bait was on a bank and I used a pearl Zoom fluke one of my students had suggested. I was hidden from where I was casting and cast parallel to the bank. Wow, what a response. I thought it was beginners luck but then realized the fish had NO pressure. Also figure out what the bass are foraging on in that particular lake and use a lure that emulates what they are eating.

[Rich]

Welcome to the forum, zipper!

Like creekgeek said, if you give us a little more info on they type of water you are fishing we can give you some specifics.

[ryan7261]

Welcome Zipper,

Try to find dam's or rivers with current, this might get some more fish on the line, also under bridges where two bodies of water meet fish will channel from one lake to the other. This would be a fish highway!

Robby.

[mike0062466]

Welcome Zipper. I do a lot of bank fishing. I have some very general suggestions, in no particular order.

--If you have visible cover and/or structure that you can target, fish it thoroughly.

--If the above doesn't apply, or if it does and isn't producing, move around and cover a lot of water.

--Get out as frequently as possible, so that you can learn the patterns of that particular body of water.

--Try to be fishing at higher-percentage times, such as dawn, dusk and darker days.

--Don't rule out the use of any class of lures. Depending on conditions, any lure that can be used from a boat can be used from the bank.

--Follow the suggestions in previous posts, such as being stealthy and casting parallel to the bank. But don't give up on casting straight out, either. At one place I fish, parallel casting will not produce, I need to get the lure out as far as I can. But at the pond that I call home, parallel, or at angles to the shore, is the only way to go.

Good luck.

[Infisherman1]

BTW, bank fishing is getting pretty hard right now for me at least. The fish are moving away from shore and are hard to get even in ponds. I'm going to have to start taking my canoe out more to catch much, althouhg I did get a nice 5lb bass a few days ago on a grassy point.

[gallenl]

Use a spinnerbait as a search bait,white in clear water and chartuse in dingey water . Make fan casts,I try to make 12-20 from one spot.I try different speeds,half fast and half slow.Once i locate the fish,I wacky rig a senko type bait and go to work.......

still flippin4it

[macgyver]

see the post "what can you add, Bank fishing" I just bumped it up from the past.

And welcome, sorry it took so long to say howdy, but it ook me awhile to find the other post it was pretty far back. Hope you enjoy it like a lot of us do

Lizards

[bassmaster1983]

Let's say you approached the bank as stealthly as possible. How far out and how deep in clear water can the bass see you on shore? This is to say if the water is about from 0 to about 6 ft deep.

Bob

[spinnerbaitking]

Bass have an advantage the water bends the light and almost acts like a periscope letting them see motion and shapes from farther back the bank than you would think. very important to stay low. if your close enough to cast and wanna be sneaky stay back 10 feet or more and close in after the hookset. usually i only get real sneaky on small crick fishing or thickly covered quiet water areas. there eyesight isnt very good out of the water but quick movement extra noise and vibrations will give you away every time

[FloridaBassAssassn]

One thing you might concider is a poor mans boat like I fish some of the small ponds here that I can't get a real boat into. I just went out and got a $20 2 man inflatable boat, get one that has at least 2 air chambers for safety and you should also only use it in good weather and be a good swimmer. OR in 2 words LIFE VEST,
Anyway what I do it cut a piece of old 1/2" or 5/8" plywood into the pattern shown here, mount some type of seat to it, (I used and old plastic boat seat)


You just set the plywood on top of the raft and you got a poor mans bass boat. My latest design is more of a squared off circle cut out of the middle of a piece of plywood with it cut in on the sides where the oars go. I also put a couple velcro straps on each side to hold my extra poles then not in use. That can handle 4 rods and my big tackle box I set at the other end near my feet.
Made this way you have a pretty funtunal boat that has a platform that you sit up off the water just enough to make it fishable and the plywood top gives you plent of room for your tackle. I have caught 1000's of bass from mine and I just buy a new cheap boat to put under it every other year or so.

[angelus40]

fish can hear as well so walk softly

[Chiefton]

I fish from the bank alot myself. I mainly use a worm, spinnerbait or topwater lures. I wanted to try a crankbait but was hitting bottom alot. So I went out and got a shallow diving Mann's 1- minus crank bait. It has worked really well catching many bass and doesn't hit the shallow bottom.

[zooker]

who dragged this thread out of the basement??

zooker

I am a young fisherman and fishing ponds is what i do. What i have bee most
productive wth is small road runner jig heads with a small grub on the back. Normally i use chartuese but red and white also have been good colors.

[KH.]

c-rig is good for me on the bank.i go bank fishin about every day for 30 minutes or sometime in the day.i have 35 acre lake in my backyard!!!i like crankbaits and c-rigs
and you cant forget that tiki

[angelus40]

Originally Posted by zooker

who dragged this thread out of the basement??

zooker

i did it was a pain moving it

[KH.]

why you do that