If there’s one thing that gets the old blood pumping when fishing new water, it’s finding spots where great structural elements combine with good bass-holding cover…
If the new water body is a man-made reservoir, a classic structure-cover combo is scattered brush on points leading to deep water shown here:
A really cool thing about the brush laden point above, the brush starts in shallow water and extends out to the edge of the shallow to deep drop-off thus providing almost limit-less ways to fish it…
Early Morning, Late Afternoon or Overcast Conditions
Under low light conditions, my first approach is to target the edges of the shallow cover (brush in this case) starting with topwater plugs or a buzzbait then either a crankbait, spinnerbait, swim jig or chatterbait for active bass. After scouring the edges with search baits, I typically spend a few moments probing the edges and interior of each pod with a soft stick bait then either a jig or Texas-rigged plastic bait…
I also start working the shallow brush pods first and zig-zag my way across the point to the deeper brush.
Mid-Day or Sunny Conditions
If starting out later in the day with the sun shining bright, I typically take an opposite approach to fishing the brush pods:
- Focus on the deeper brush pods initially occasionally testing mid-depth and shallower pods,
- Use Texas-rigged plastics and jigs to probe the edge quickly then concentrate efforts pitching or flipping into the interior of each brush pod, and
- Make a final check of brush edges and open area between pods with search-type baits (crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs and buzzbaits)…
Scattered brush on points leading to deeper water are prime areas to hold bass anytime they move shallow…
Be sure and give them adequate fishing time anytime you encounter them when searching for those elusive finny critters we all seek!