The Key to Fishing Vertical Structure
When the bass are hanging on structure that is at a 90 degree angle with the bottom one can assume the fish are very difficult to catch and the vertical structure is difficult to present with bait. You see when the fish are around vertical structure they are generally suspending and most fishermen find it very difficult to get a bite. There are ways however to catch fish when this occurs.
I believe it's time to get creative, and use baits that are capable of dropping vertical and still entice the bass to bite. It's also the only time of the year I would consider using a spinning out fit because bait fished with a spinning rod will drop vertical just by the loose line drop a spinning rod gives you. The few types of bait I would use are first of all small, capable of dropping slowly and precisely around vertical structure.
My first choice is a wacky rigged small jig head, the wacky style worm is very enticing and the jig head allows the worm to move slowly with precision through vertical structure like wood or rock. The key is just slow decisive fishing, feeling every twitch and movement of your bait. The key to getting this rig deep is the jig head sometimes I will go as light as a 1/16 and sometimes I might fish a 3/16 just depends on the depth I am trying to achieve.
My next choice is a shaky head, the concept remains the same, the bait falls vertical and the weight of the head controls the depth. The difference is a shaky head will fall very quickly when the worm is traditional rigged, so start extremely light in weight and see if the bait is getting to the bottom in a vertical fashion. It needs to fall just fast enough to drop yet slow enough to entice a bite. Vertical structure is tough but creative fishing will be the key to over coming it.
Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service
www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com
Email: bassguide@comcast.net
Call: 256 759 2270
Captain Mike Gerry