Sharing and playing nice

Got a question for you bass experts that is probably somewhat unique to river fishing here in the midwest.

The river close to home here (Cedar) doesn’t support weed growth for some reason… never really bothered to figure out why, but there just aren’t any. No grass, no pads, no nuttin’ less’n the water is up out of the banks.

To fish cover, I’ve been pounding the laydowns. Fallen trees and overhanging brush have proven to be a pretty good pattern for the largemouths, especially in the backwaters. Laydowns on the main river, though, are always jammed with carp. These have been an utter failure for me.

Sooooo… the question is: Will bass share a location like that with the junk fish? Can I use the carp as an indicator that it’s not worth spending my time on these? Are there other factors at work that I’m not getting?

Darn… that’s three questions.

G –

I can tell you of my experience here on the Missouri. Recently a buddy and I were fishing for smallies and we noticed baitfish popping out the water, hanging in fallen brush and figured the smallies were hammering bait. They were. But, there were also Gar in there chasing bait, and carp in the background, just hanging off shore. All three species were in a very tight area (also was a current break) and we were able to get the smallies to bite without any problem. That’s just one recent example. I don’t know if that’s typical or not. On lakes, I have seen carp move into areas and it seems to kill the bass bite. Maybe it’s different on rivers???

I wouldn’t be surprised if the bass were mixed in a little bit, but i don’t think they would be loaded in an area like that. if you don’t have weeds, that has to be tough, thats been the main pattern for me lately. But you can use laydowns and rocks the same way you would with weeds. I fish weeds that have current on them, and especially when arrowheads or lilly pads or eel grass come to a point in current. These can hold good fish because it blocks the current and will hold baitfish very well too. of course, wood and rocks are a lot different than weeds, You still might be surprised at how similar your presentations could be if there is a little current present. The fish use the rocks and wood to duck out of the current and if you have a laydown on a point, it would serve the same purpose as some eel grass would: And that is to block the current.
hope this helps

Is anyone else impressed with the knowledge Cade has at such a young age?

Cade, let me know when you start fishing tournaments. I want to make sure I fish the opposite events!

I hear the term “lay-down” quite a bit on here & am sure that I have probably even seen one out on the river, but what exactly is a law-down?

Usually a tree that has fallen into the water from shore. Most are still attached to the shoreline. I also consider loggs that are completely underwater to be laydowns. Some will refer to these as merely submerged wood. But they are the same thing to me.

This is a mangle of laydowns……but it could also just be one tree in the water.

Mmmmmm… Bass Heaven

Pretty much none of the interior rivers here in Iowa support any weed growth. Probably a combination of the muddy water and the 11.2 million gallons of roundup that get sprayed in this state every May. That said, laydowns, overhanging trees, and any man-made cover will hold the fish; especially so when coupled with an island point, backwater channel, or other bottom feature.

Since I’ve always had lousy luck when carp are present in large numbers, I just wanted to see if others confirmed it. On a river like the Cedar that’s riddled with junk fish, that would help me knock out 80% of unproductive laydowns if I can skip the ones swarming with carp.

Nice picture Slop. I can’t help but looking at that picture and predict the EXACT spots I would cast to and in what order. I wonder if they would be the same as everyone elses?

I am assuming the current is right to left based on the location of the wood verses the bank. No?

I’ve caught bass in areas that were filled with carp before…it’s just hard to concentrate when they’re bouncing off the side of your boat.

On the other hand…In a tournament this year, I found an area that had good fish in it the day before the tourney but the carp moved in the day of the tournament and muddied the area. No bass to be found Unsure of why in some cases they stay and others they don’t.

I can’t help but notice how dirty that water is. Looks like a Hershey’s chocolate milk advertisement.

thanks chriss…:)

come to think of it, the only time i caught a different species when carp were present, it was a walleye…:o sheesh i guess that says a lot! caught on a senko too…
But i have a couple spots that the gar will be THICK on that still hold bass very well.
Out with slop on tuesday, we saw the same thing. There was a point, and every couple casts, a gar would chase my swim jig right to the boat. Then all of a sudden, slop whacks a bass off the point too.
I like that picture slop, is that near lawrence lake by any chance? seems like theres a lot of laydowns similar to that in the slough just east of lawrence off the channel on the min. side. Im sure you know where im talking about.

in a tournament this spring when i ran into carp in my #1 spot, i just pulled up the trolling motor and fired up the big motor and idled farther away. the bass moved to adjust for the carp that rooted up the bottom somethign terrible. my rule of thumb on the river is that if you’re all over carp, get away. not going to find many bass.

I found the same situation in a tournament on Pool 10 earlier this year. If the area had a bunch of carp and the water was muddied up, the bass were not there.

John,
If you are fishing the areas over by my place then the best structure is the rock turns, cut bank or any tree overhanging the bank offering shade. The smallies are mostly on the sandbars or just back in the deeper holes. As you know the water is very skinny so finding them is often a lesson in reading water and trying to avoid getting stuck.
jc

My outboard has been overheating at high speed, so the best I can do is idle around the ramp until I can get it into the shop for a fix, so a lot of the areas I like to fish for smallies are off limits (for the time being – they’ll pay… oh… they’ll pay).

Strange thing is that down between the 5-in-1 and Ellis harbor there, finding a smallie isn’t very easy at all. The LM are there, but cranking the rip-rap shorelines for brown bass has only turned up a few crankbait catfish (anyone know how a 19″ fish can slime your line for three feet?) and “The Mother of all Crappies” who’s eyes were bigger than his stomach.

Equipment problems suck. If my motor ran fine, I’d probably stay right where I’ve been, settle down, and fish. Unfortunately, I spend my days steaming over my outboard and fish poorly.

Interesting note: i was fishing a point on a grass bed in Pool 9 saturday that had shad activity like mad, fish busting them all over. There were about every kind of species present. i saw carp all over in there, but we were still pounding bass(brown and green) as well as a few pike and a 2 pound sauger. it was pretty nuts. not much for good size on the bass but all the fish seemed fine around each other, the carp were all over with the bass on the edges adn teh saugers out farther. just some food for thought..