I try to work the deep end of a laydown because I believe that's where the fat girls lie in wait. I'll work plastic/jig parallel and diagonal to the laydown letting it fall off the end into deeper water. I'll try cranking around it the same way. Burning a crank by the end of it will sometimes cause a reaction bite.

I work plastic/jig around the edges of an 'offshore' brushpile. Then maybe crank over and around it for a reaction. (When that crankbait loads up it's a beautiful thing.) If all that fails I'll throw the jig right across it and work back through it. I almost always wind up getting hung on a brushpile and either pulling half of it up or break off in it.