Photo: Tyler Mohr/Providence Marketing Group
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Winter 2020
bridge, both upstream and downstream. As I’m idling along, the Spot-lock feature on an Ultrex Trolling Motor to hold I’ll keep my eyes open looking for baitfish activity and rely on positioning. This is important when current and boat wakes my Side and Down Image returns on my Humminbird SOLIX can easily move your boat off the key fish holding position.
units. What I’m looking for is that last rock or sharp into the
I would suggest positioning your boat in a way to hit
channel, as many times this is a key feeding spot.
both directions at first, as sometimes the bass will want the
I’m also looking for an isolated structure that a school of bait presented at a certain angle for them to bite. They may bass may using as cover, such as a brush pile, boulder or fish want it coming up from deeper water to the shallow water crib. Another feature I’ll use my electronics to determine is lip, or they may be suspended over the deeper water and how far out from the bank does the riprap go? Knowing this want your lure in that strike zone the whole time.
will aid in your boat positioning and bait selection.
Being that bridges and rip rap go hand-in-hand and that
Being that a bridge on a lake or river signifies a
the water depth can go from inches to several feet deep, a
connecting point of some sorts, much like on a highway, it
crankbait can be a great presentation. With just a crank of
is no surprise that there is boat traffic traveling underneath the reel handle, you can cover water effectively, target the the bridge. At times, this can spook the bass and push them key depth range and mimic the forage the bass are feeding
deeper.
on. You can also quickly change up the style, diving depth
How long they stay deep will depend on the lake and
and color of your crankbait as the fish dictate.
how much pressure they are getting from above, but it may take 10 to 15 casts at
that sweet spot to get a bass to bite. But
Photo: Tyler Mohr/Providence Marketing Group
once one goes, it is likely the school will fire up, so getting your bait back out there is paramount.
Keeping your boat in precise position is key when fishing bridges as many times the sweet spot is small and you’ll need to make the same cast to get your bait to hit the ‘X’ to be successful.
With today’s technology, an angler has two options, the first being that if you are positioning your boat on a shallow water shelf and casting to deep water, you can deploy shallow water anchors, like MinnKota Talon’s and hold in place.
If your boat is sitting in the deeper water and you are casting to areas underneath the bridge, you can hit
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