How to fish points

[ronzo]

I was hoping you all could give my a few pointers on how to thoroughly fish points. I have always been a bank pounder and would like to learn a lot more about picking apart a point. How would you guys set up to fish a large main lake or secondary point to say, and fish it thoroughly to locate fish that may be positioned on it. What lures would you start with, would you start shallow and work into deeeper water or deeper then go shallow?

[offdtop]

To start with look at the wind direction, if it is blowing across a point get on the back side - the wind makes current in itself causing fish to position themselves facing the wind. This isn't always true but more times than not, the reason it would change is because waves smacking the bank loosens stuff up ie. crawfish, sometimes the shad are blown onto a point and migrate around it - thus the back side.

Depth - always work your way onto a spot. start deeper and work your way up, if not you could be missing where the fish are and that is what you are trying to figure out. You can start with any number of lures, Crankbaits that will go the depth you need at first, carolina rig. jig is my first assault if no takers a spinnerbait and such. as you work your way in and catch a fish look at where he's caught -note the depth/position/structure if you catch another you are on to something.

You then will know where to start on the next point, be it deeper or shallower, back side or front, bait their hitting, depth and so on. Be sure to fan cast when on a point and pay attention. The presence of baitfish is a plus. Lure colors / weights and so on is all determined by feel and by you, as Hank Parker says use the lighest weight you can get away with and still keep bottom contact.

Hope it helps

[mhall]

To start with look at the wind direction, if it is blowing across a point get on the back side - the wind makes current in itself causing fish to position themselves facing the wind. This isn't always true but more times than not, the reason it would change is because waves smacking the bank loosens stuff up ie. crawfish, sometimes the shad are blown onto a point and migrate around it - thus the back side.

Depth - always work your way onto a spot. start deeper and work your way up, if not you could be missing where the fish are and that is what you are trying to figure out. You can start with any number of lures, Crankbaits that will go the depth you need at first, carolina rig. jig is my first assault if no takers a spinnerbait and such. as you work your way in and catch a fish look at where he's caught -note the depth/position/structure if you catch another you are on to something.

You then will know where to start on the next point, be it deeper or shallower, back side or front, bait their hitting, depth and so on. Be sure to fan cast when on a point and pay attention. The presence of baitfish is a plus. Lure colors / weights and so on is all determined by feel and by you, as Hank Parker says use the lighest weight you can get away with and still keep bottom contact.

Hope it helps

This is exactly what I do with one exception. If the water temps allow it I start with topwater baits and then work my way down the water column. Of course this is all dictated by water temps and time of year. offdtop is dead on with his post though in my humble opinion.

[elnutsmalljaws]

The others are correct in their analysis. The only thing I can add is to go up on the point and work your bait from deep to shallow as well. You may get hung up more but if you use just enough weight to keep it on the bottom it is not as bad. Plus fish get used to seeing baits come "down the point" and not many fish "up the point". Love working big night spinnerbaits from deep to shallow on points for smallies plus tubes the same way.

[smljaw]

Great points, Elnut. I recently read an article about fishing swimbaits. The guy said he often goes to the bank and fished swimbaits from deep to shallow. His view was that bass will move bait from deep water into shallow water. A baitfish doesn't really stand a chance if it gets run up into shallow water.

[offdtop]

Also I forgot to mention you need to identify whether you are fishing a long point or just a corner. if you are fishing a long point be sure to parralell it and fish it out deeper till you find the point alot of times thats where the fish will hold. Also if they are pulling current be on the downstream side casting upstream past the point and bring it up and over if you can with the current.

[ronzo]

Thanks for the info guys I greatly appreciate it. I am heading to Ky lake monday morning. We always head down in April for a crappie trip, but this year I have my boat all to my self for four days so I am going to change things up a little. I'll let the other six guys catch dinner.

[Jomama]

So cast into the wind so my lure will come facing the fish... correct? How far off the point do you start... typically?

[WwiskerswW]

This is all really great information. The only thing I would add is using your electronics (fish finder). Before I start fishing on any point I take notice of the wind, then I will drive my boat back and forth on the point making a grid line across my gps. I will do this on several points.

The key here is finding baitfish. Take notice to the location of the bass relating to the bait fish on your fish finder. Also, once you locate the bait fish on a point, are they on the windy side or the back side.

A great tool for catching those fish is a crankbait. Once the bite slows you can switch to a jig or plastic work. Carolina rig works really well also.

*The point is, if I dont see any sign of life on my fish finder, I would not waist my time in that spot.

[offdtop]

So cast into the wind so my lure will come facing the fish... correct? How far off the point do you start... typically?

That generally is the idea but is also why I followed up with the "fan cast", you could have wind current on top and regular current below if you are unaware of release rates. I generally start a cast's length away, sometimes working in a clockwise/counter clockwise motion around the point.

Remember this is a starting place - the specifics are going to show once you catch a fish or two thus showing you where they are holding, so you will know how to approach the next point. The key here is to find the right kind of point then replicate that by the use of a map to save you time. You may have to fish 2 or 3 types of points to find the right shaped bank they are relating too. they may prefer 45deg slopes, quick drops, long tapered points. You and your lures will tell you that.

Mental notes, you have to pay attention to what you are doing, how fast your retrieving, how deep you are, where your cast was too. Once you practice "paying attention" you will notice great improvements.