Fishing around Timber

[apb]

Been fishing the Cave some for bass recently. Some days I do fine, others, its tough. Part of the trouble is possibly the amount of timber in the lake. I'm used to Cumberland where you can fish 300 yards of bank, see one lay down, and usually catch a fish off it (or at least get hit). Some areas on the Cave its almost like a forest in the water. On lakes with a lot of timber, what methods do you use for bass? How do you narrow down what timber to work, and what to pass by? Other stuff that I should consider?

Andrew

[apb]

Anyone got any ideas?

Andrew

[RA]

I can't really answer your question from my own experience, but they did have an episode on this on Bass Master University a few years ago. The pros suggested targeting isolated trees and structure, i.e. if there is forest of trees, look for the one that seems to stand off by itself. I run into this problem muskie fishing in the Creeks at Cave Run. The only time I fish these large timber areas is with a fast search bait like a spinner bait.

[chasmo]

I think RA is on the right road. In the places on Cave Run that have the forests of standing trees, I have always seemed to do better on the tree or trees that are bigger than the rest in an area or somewhat isolated or the ones that slant more or the ones that have laydowns next to them-usually regardless of depth contours. Just a subtle difference is all it takes sometimes there, if the fish are in the stickups!

[mhall]

Find a new lake there are only 14 bass left in that lake and you've sore mouthed at least 10 of them in the last few weeks.

Obvisouly I know next to nothing about that lake but on others I have fished and had some success on with standing timber is this. As the summer progresses and the water warms to uncomfortable temp levels bass will go deeper but usually stay above the thermocline. Most lakes in our state will set up a thermocline, with The Cave I'm not sure where that is. Bass will pull out and postion themselves on the outer two thirds of the timber. Early in the year the better fish are closer to the bank and later pull back. Alot of the guys that catch alot of fish at Taylorsville in the standing timber fish only the outer edge this time of year and usually less than 20 foot deep. Try the outer edge especially areas where the channel wings near by or runs parallel in the wood for a stretch. As trhe other poster eluded to also any irregulatey in any area of wood will also hold some bass. Good luck ole buddy, that lake has gave you one pig this year, you'll probably end up with another before the snow fly's.

[Cobra190]

I have known several people to have good luck at Cave Run by using wiggle warts and bouncing them through the standing timber. May have to play with your retrieve a bit, hit and stop or just let it kareem off and keep it moving. Work from the inside out and most of the time you will be able to find out what area of the timber they are holding and concentrate your efforts there. Good Luck!!

[Tim_T]

I would look for something different than the rest of the timber, an isolated piece, or a piece of timber that is in deeper water than the rest, or maybe a ditch running through the timber. It seems that the luck of had around timber there was usually something making this piece or that piece stand out from the rest.

[zimmy]

I've fished the Cave quite a bit over the years and most success has come from finding the laydown trees in among the standing timber. Working a brushhog or similar soft plastic around and under the trees that are down has produced the most hits for me. If you try and fish around every tree thats standing you can spend half the day on 100' of water!
Hope this helps a little.

[mhall]

I've fished the Cave quite a bit over the years and most success has come from finding the laydown trees in among the standing timber. Working a brushhog or similar soft plastic around and under the trees that are down has produced the most hits for me. If you try and fish around every tree thats standing you can spend half the day on 100' of water!
Hope this helps a little.

He won't fish plastic, it's Taboo, lol.

[apb]

Appreciate the pointers. Will give me something to work with next time I'm out there. This past weekend I was running buzz baits over top of lay downs and standing timber that was just below surface. Also ran cranks and spinnerbaits along side. Tried to make all of those run into the timber whenever possible. On the lay downs, I would hit the wood with the crank, and pause it, then try to hit the wood again. Spinnerbaits, hit the wood, slide over top, then drop a few feet before starting again. Figured I needed to find some way to isolate the productive stuff from the non-productive ones. Probably should get my depth finder fixed so I can locate the timber next to the deeper water....

He won't fish plastic, it's Taboo, lol.

I bought a pack of senkos this weekend. I had the distinct taste of vomit at the back of my mouth when I paid for them At least they were on sale.

Andrew

[mhall]

Appreciate the pointers. Will give me something to work with next time I'm out there. This past weekend I was running buzz baits over top of lay downs and standing timber that was just below surface. Also ran cranks and spinnerbaits along side. Tried to make all of those run into the timber whenever possible. On the lay downs, I would hit the wood with the crank, and pause it, then try to hit the wood again. Spinnerbaits, hit the wood, slide over top, then drop a few feet before starting again. Figured I needed to find some way to isolate the productive stuff from the non-productive ones. Probably should get my depth finder fixed so I can locate the timber next to the deeper water....



I bought a pack of senkos this weekend. I had the distinct taste of vomit at the back of my mouth when I paid for them At least they were on sale.

Andrew

Come on over to the dark side....''You Can Do It"......

[keepersize]

I have had a lot of luck on soft plastic jerk baits (senko type lures ) I like the Team Supreme brand and the price is right I know what you mean about the price of Senkos.