Finding Bass Far off the Beaten Path

Pasturelands along lake shores also bring opportunities for off-road bassing. Cattle watering holes and trenches formed by cow traffic fill during the rainy season. When lakes swell beyond their borders, rising water creates a bridge to these fish-friendly depressions that bass enter in droves, particularly in spring. “Sometimes you go over a little hill of pastureland and then it opens up into a spot that’s 10 feet deep,” he says. “Bass move in during high water, and because baitfish settle in as well, they have no reason to leave.”

Lane also probes pasture drainage ditches, which hold bass during high-water periods, particularly hurricane season. On one occasion, he pushed his boat through a nearly imperceptible gap in a stand of willows and followed a narrow creek that led to a cut between a forested shore and adjacent pasture. At the end, a pumping station was releasing water while bass were busting shiners throughout the pocket.

Manmade Nooks: In northern waters, Felton finds potential spots along ****s, railroad right-of-ways, and highways running parallel to a lake or reservoir. “When these overpasses are built, rock or broken concrete is used to elevate them from fluctuating water,” he notes. “This tends to form a trench at the base of the riprap, since soil from the lake or river often is used to raise the area. Such pockets can be narrow but they offer a piece of ideal habitat.

“These areas may be hundreds of feet or even miles from the main channel and often are adjacent to flats with little to no water on them. This is the first level of difficulty that dissuades many anglers from trying to reach such spots. You need to spend time zigzagging the flat to find a small channel to access the area.”

Marsh Meanderings: In the sometimes brackish marshes of southern Louisiana, phenomenal bass action awaits within the vast network of pipeline canals dug by the oil industry. Some areas are privately held and gated, but there’s plenty of public water as well.

Capt. Stephen Johnston guides in East Texas, but often runs across to Sabine Lake to fish the labyrinthine backwaters of Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, along Louisiana’s western edge. Here, many cuts and sloughs meander off main canals, while Roseau cane, coontail, water hyacinth, and lily pads dress this fertile fishery. “The marsh has plenty of vegetation and there’s so much forage as well,” Johnston notes. “They have shrimp, crawfish, crabs, bluegill, and shad—everything a bass could want.”

Natural or manmade cuts in the marsh provide ambush points for bass because wind and tide usher water through these arteries, delivering food to waiting predators. “Bass hold on the backside of the cuts facing into current that pushes food to them.”

Sometimes you can pick and probe your way through irregular cuts and corridors, but other times it’s a game of brute force. Plowing through mud and matted vegetation with the outboard trimmed high like an aquatic chainsaw is often the only way to reach a promising area. If you’re concerned about prop damage from the occasional rock, probe a potential passage with a stick or net handle before powering through.

Capturing the essence of off-road fishing, Johnston says: “Because it can be hard work to reach those places, not many anglers get back there. But once you get in, it’s usually well worth the effort.”

Presentation Options

Baits and tactics for hidden bass spots don’t vary much from those used in more open areas, except that tight quarters can necessitate shorter rods for casting under obstructions and suggest short-range presentations like flippin’. Because you’re often close to the bass you’re after and many of these spots are clear, moving quietly and crouching in the boat can help keep bass from spooking.

To probe marsh arteries, Johnston fishes weedless toads on wide-gap hooks. “When you cast one into the mouth of a cut or creek you may see bass push wakes across the surface as they close for an attack,” he says.