One of the best places to start your search for bass are laydowns. Laydowns are the term for when trees fall into the water from the shoreline, and if you fish enough of them, you’re almost guaranteed to get at least a couple bites.
Come across a laydown and it will definitely pay to camp out for a while and pick it apart with a lure. Here are three tips to help you do it more successfully.
Try Moving Baits
Flipping a jig or soft plastic bait is, without question, the bread and butter of laydown fishing, but there are several faster moving bait techniques that can pull fish from a laydown. For instance, both square bill crankbaits and spinnerbaits can be deadly around laydowns and can easily out-fish a flipping presentation when the bite is on. Try working a square bill like Strike King’s KVD Rattling crankbait through an area of downed timber first and then if you don’t get a bite, come back through with flipping baits.
Work the Edge
Once you’ve found a good laydown, your best bet is to start by working the outside branches on the deepest side. Tie on a jig and focus on holes in the limbs and the outside edge of the cover. Odds are the most aggressive bass will be out on the edges feeding and you’ll hang up less on the outside, which prevents shaking the timber around and spooking any fish in the area.
Work Inward
After sufficiently probing the outside of the laydown, make several pitches to the shallow side and the interior. Focus on the main body of the tree where major branches split off. The main trunk of the tree provides the most shade and pressured bass will most commonly hang in the thickest portions. Don’t be afraid to make a number of pitches to the thickest areas, as sometimes you’ll need to make several casts before a bass will bite.
Photo credit: Pixabay
