Shallow water and Plastics???

Question for all of you shallow water plastics guru’s… I have started to experiment with this method and have had some minor success but I think I am missing something. I fish wingdams mostly and look for deep drop offs from the rocks. The fish I have caught are right on top of the rocks. Should I be trying to feel the rocks with my jig? Should I be swimming the jig over the top of the rocks? Depending on how the lure (in this case, plastics) should be presented will determine boat position. I tried casting up into the current and letting the jig float over and bounce off of the rocks. The problem is I am getting snagged up a lot. A few pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Kramden,

Almost every time you try and drift a wing dam in this manner it will most of the time result in a snagged up bait, as you have already experienced with your time on the river. The #1 thing to consider when casting a wing dam is boat positioning. If you are to close you will limit you ability to efficiently fish the dam, unless you know right were the fish will be positioned which will come with a lot of time and knowing the dam you are targeting.

When I pull up to a dam I’ve never fished I’ll start with a little bit heavier jig than normal just to get a layout of what is going on, kind of just mapping things out. I will cast directly behind the boat and walk the jig down the face of the dam. My target area will be just ahead of the ripple line that is visible on the top of the water. The top of the dam will be in a different local on all dams depending on how deep the dam is. This is why I will use a heavier jig to map out a dam I’ve never fished before to give me an idea of where the top is and how steep the face is going to be.

Once you have these two things figured out you can start down sizing jigs until you can still maintain control and get a good drift. Once you get the right jig size patterned for that particular dam you will want to quarter cast the dam and slowly let your jig bounce across the face of it. By quarter cast I mean to cast at the ripple line off to one side of the boat and let it sweep the front of the dam as you slowly take up line. You do not want to cast way up stream of the dam and try and let it sweep directly in to the face, this can be productive at times but as you are learning to control your jig you will go thru a bunch more and spend a lot more time retying than actually fishing.

I hope this helps a bit. I’m sure some other wing dam gurus will help out and share how they take an approach to fishing a wing dam.

Well, I’m no guru!! Lol

As far as snags go, that life on a wingy! I will typically lose or ruin 4-5 jigs an hour. Good thing they are cheap and “They Make More” as I’m always saying…..

I actually take the opposite approach to jig size. I like to start out light and increase the weight till I’m ticking bottom. If you are not occasionally ticking rock and snagging up, you are pee-ing in the wind!

Once I find fish on a dam, I take note of the dam size, flow, depth ect, and try to find other similar dams when it’s time to make a move. For instance, If I’m getting fish with a 1/8th oz jig, I’ll look for another dam where the flow, depth, size of dam are the same and that same 1/8 oz jig should be ticking rock. I’ll actually change positions on a dam before up-sizing a jig if I have been getting fish.

When you say “I fish wingdams mostly and look for deep drop offs from the rocks”. It sounds like you are focusing your efforts at the tip of the dam. Don’t overlook the entire face and the base. All can hold concentrations of fish.

J.