| Boat Positioning |
| — By Roger
Lee Brown |
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| When it comes to
bass fishing, boat positioning is probably just as important as having your rods and reels
on board with you. |
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| Using your boat
properly while bass fishing can definitely make the difference between catching bass or
not catching bass, especially when certain circumstances prevail during the course of the
time spent on the water. |
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| For example, let's
say that you were fishing for bedding bass during the Spring. Many anglers are aware of
the sensitivity nature of the bass during this time of the year, they can be very skittish
and frighten (or you can spook them) very easily right? — Now, you certainly wouldn't want to motor
the boat right up on top of the beds and scare the bass before you had a chance to fish
for them would you? of course not! — In this article I hope to help you understand the importance of boat
positioning by giving you a few scenarios that many anglers encounter during the course of
their time they spend on the water. |
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| Many of my Bass
Fishing School students are amazed when I teach them the importance of boat positioning,
especially when they're actually shown How and Why one would position his or her boat a
certain way while learning to fish the many different environments offered by many bodies
of water. |
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| As important as I
feel this subject is, I always teach my students how and why I would position my boat
certain ways when fishing: drop-offs, fall-downs, gradual slopes, rip-rap, steep bluffs,
current conditions, vegetation, channel contours, rocky areas, points, windy conditions,
etc. just to name a few, and when the students begin to start understanding the whys and
hows of boat positioning, they can't help but to increase their angling skills,
confidence, and ability to become better anglers. |
|
| • Fishing beds |
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| Now, let's go back
and start with the Spring beds (or Spring bedding bass.) — Many anglers that fish bedding bass
usually will have trouble fishing them because they really don't understand how to
approach these beds when they do find them. |
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| There are several
factors one might consider before making a approach before fishing these bedding bass such
as; what the daily conditions are (sunny, overcast, windy, calm), what the water depth is,
how much vegetation (and types of vegetation) is in the area of the beds, what types of
structure or obstacles may be in these areas (such as rocks, pilings, docks, etc.) and
there are more, but lets just take a few of these factors I just mentioned and try to draw
a picture of why boat positioning would play an important role when it comes to fishing
beds. |
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| First of all we'll
need to find some of these areas that you would normally find beds in. Most of the time
these bedding areas would be located around: shallow water, structure (usually found in
the more shallow water areas), shallow vegetation areas, sandy or hard surface bottoms
areas, and especially the warmest shallow water areas you can find. |
|
| As I mentioned
earlier the bass get very skittish during this spawn period and you certainly wouldn't
want to do anything that would spook the bass before you had a chance to fish for them. So
first, we'll start with the daily conditions. Let's take a brief moment and think about
what the best approach would be for bed fishing if the day offered a bright, sunny sky
with no cloud cover. Any Ideas? |
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| First of all, I
would consider the shadow cast of the boat and myself over the beds. Don't think for one
minute that the bass won't spook when they quickly get a shadow cast around a bed area
from a boat or a person!... because they most definitely will, and don't think that a
sudden noise made from you or your boat (trolling motor, something hitting the floor,
slamming a compartment shut, etc.) in a bedding area won't spook a bass... think again! |
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| The best approach
an angler should use under this situation would be to approach (as quiet as you possibly
can) the bed area with the sun in front "facing you!" — This will avoid any shadow
cast into the bed area before you start fishing the bed, thus not spooking any bass in the
area. |
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| Secondly, make sure
you stop your motor several yards before entering the bedding zone, even including your
trolling motor. Many times anglers will carry a "Push-Pole" with them so they
can quietly push the boat closer to the beds they plan on fishing allowing them to make as
little noise as possible. Now, if the sun is at your back, try (again as quietly as
possible) to move your boat around the area to prevent the sun at your back... Get the
picture? |
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| There has been
times in the past where I have actually got on my hands and knees and approached a bedded
area using my hand to steer my trolling motor (on the lowest speed) so I could make my
casts close enough to reach the beds. |
|
| • Fishing drop-offs and steep ledges |
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| One of the biggest
problems or mistakes an angler will make when fishing drop-offs, steep ledges or bluffs is
that they will usually position their boat to far away (or out from) the contour of the
structure itself. For example, if I was going to fish along side a ledge or bluff, I'd
surely want to keep my bait where the bass are "normally close to or near the
structure areas"... |
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| Now, where would be
the most probable place to position a boat in this situation? If you guessed parallel and
as close to the structure as possible, you're right! The reason for this is because if you
make a cast parallel (or along side) of the ledge the bait would remain in a close
proximity to the ledge, especially if you added some weight to the bait (like plastic
baits, jigging spoons, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc.) right? |
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| Now, what would
happen with one of these baits mentioned if I was out from the ledge or bluff at least a
good casting distance away and made a cast as close as I could to the ledge area? |
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| The answer is that
the bait will hit the water (unless you smack it against the ledge, which we all do!) and
will start to sink, but when it starts sinking it will start moving or drifting away from
the ledge back in the direction towards your boat —kind of like a pendulum swing— and the result would be
that it would fall away from the fish area and wind up under your boat to far away from
where the fish are holding. |
|
| • Fishing point drops |
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| Points are probable
one of the best areas you will ever fish for bass on most any body of water, and they can
be fished many different ways. One of the best ways to fish a point would usually be to
fish the back side of either a current or windy point area as close as you can get to the
point itself, especially if you happen to find any structure or irregular drops on the
bottom contour. |
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| Now, keeping this
important factor in mind, 99% of the time the bass are facing "INTO" the current
or wind!, so the most logical place to position your boat would be facing into the wind or
current (more times than not you'll have to keep on your trolling motor to hold your boat
in place) on the back side of the point casting into the wind or current and retrieving
your bait across the point! Sometimes, the bass will hide behind whatever structure or
contour is offered and wait for the food source to come over the point and come up and
take it. |
|
| • Boat control |
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| There are many
different situations you will come up against the more time you spend on the water, and I
feel that boat positioning and control can really make a difference between frustration
and enjoyment. Here are a few tips that you should keep in mind to help you enjoy yourself
while on the water. |
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| Always
think safety first! Don't ever get into rough water situations with a boat that
can't handle the rough water. |
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| If fishing
during a windy day point your boat into the wind for the best control, or if
you're fishing with the wind (letting the wind push your boat) try using what they call a
"sea anchor" or a "wind sock" this is a device that's been around for
many years, you tie it to a cleat towards the back end of the boat, throw it into the
water and let it drag behind, while your boat is moving it will open up like a small
parachute and slow your boat down. |
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| Use an
anchor if you need to fish a certain spot (honey hole) always trying to keep your
boat pointed into the wind or current for the best control. |
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| There are many,
many, different situations you will encounter over the years of bass fishing and I hope
this article will serve as a starting point. As I said before, I can't stress the
importance of boat positioning enough especially to my bass fishing school students that
really want to learn more than just simply casting different baits. There are many things
to learn about the sport of bass fishing for one to become a more consistant, successful
angler, and boat positioning is just one piece of the puzzle. |
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| Until next time!
Take Care & God Bless! |
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