f loc r a s t p in ri g n ® g & b fi a s s h s ing
Spring 2021
DITCHES
By Glenn Walker
T
he intricate contours and makeup of a lake
or river are something bass anglers love.
Successfully figuring out where that next fishing hot spot will be is what will put out that big bass, or a big
tournament winning limit in the box.
In the spring, as bass move through the spawning
phases, one common theme across the country is that bass
will use ditches to move and feed.
Whether it is a lake or river, bass will search out and
use the deeper water of a ditch, depression, trough, etc
as a highway. These highways give the bass a sense of
protection as they move from one spot to another across
a flat and look for food. Many times, bass will sit in these
ditches and use them to ambush bait.
DEPRESSION: On the flip side, a less pronounced ditch, one in which I would call a depression, may just be a few inches difference than the rest of the flat and maybe only 12-inches wide.
These less distinct changes in the lake bottom could be formed by a trickle of current running through a slough in a river system.
A depression may also have been manmade. Boats running across a sand or mud flat will create a path, one that will be just slightly deeper than the rest of that flat. One slight depression that bass will seek out in the spring to hide in and may eventually use to begin their bedding process is the ones created from the prop wash by an outboard.
DITCH: A fishery may have ditches that are several feet or more deeper than the rest of the flat.
These could be an old creek channel, or the bottom may have been eroded out by runoff from the shore or on a river system. The current will change and deepen sections of a flat based on it is natural free flowing path.
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Photo: All-Terrain Tackle