Bass on the Rocks
by Mark Denney

Prefishing for a bass tournament can be a chore in itself. After the time off work, the map study, the research, and don't forget the dock talk. You need to be able to go find some fish. In the next couple of paragraphs I hope to give you a couple ideas about one of my favorite places to start looking. There are a lot of different types of structure across the United States that hold fish at different times of the year. If I had to pick one it would be rocks and here's why.

Rock provides cover and food for both predator and prey. Bass feel protected from current, wind and even sunlight. At the same time these fish are feeling protected they are hiding in an area which hold the very food sources they desire. Shad spawn on the rocks and crayfish live most of there entire life around and underneath them. What more could a predator ask for than to have cover and feel protected while waiting for his next meal to come by. It all makes sense. The Chunk rock on bridges better known as rip rap is probably the best producer. Especially if these bridges are sweetened by being located next to a marina where hundreds of tournament fish are released each weekend. You can check the tournament schedules and each lake will have one or two marinas where most all of the larger bass tournaments are fished out of. I can tell you that most of these fish will come out on this rip rap and spend some time before they swim back to the area they were caught in or until they find a new home. Fish can be found on these rocks year round with the heat of the summer being the least productive. The spring is my favorite followed by winter and fall.

How do you catch'em? Well, you have to go to your strength here. If you are a spinner bait fisherman then you need to be throwing a blade. If you like to catch them cranking then start with a plug. You need to try to catch these fish doing what you do best. This is where the confidence thing rolls in. The best overall answer is you need to be able to do all of it to some degree. When I pull up to fish some chunk rock I have a pretty good idea what the bite is going to be like after a few minutes. You have to look at the conditions. What is the weather? water temp? Is it post spawn or pre spawn? It is at this point you actually start using what you have learned from your past experiences and resources. That's why we read and do research and pre fish for tournaments. We want to be better fisherman. This is the way I see it. These fish are going to bite anything better with wind and current and the corners seem to hold the most fish. If there's some wind I'm going to hit ever rock with a blade before I do anything else. Why? It is common knowledge that fish will hit spinner bait better when there is some ripple on the water and I can catch them faster than I can with slower bait. That makes it more efficient and of course it's my confidence bait. I like to throw light wire baits on a short medium heavy rod and I will usually be throwing a Zap spinner bait or a Terminator. If I don't get bit, I am going to a crank bait to get a reaction bite or maybe even top water if the water is warm enough. When I choose crank baits I select the bait according to how deep I want to fish. If I'm fishing shallow, I usually fish small crank bait and a #5 shad rap is hard to beat. If I'm fishing deeper rock then it will be bigger bait. I will then throw a deep little N or a bait in the DT series. This usually happens in the summer. In my opinion the best rods for cranking these lures are the David Fritts series by American Rodsmiths. These rods are fiberglass and are perfect for the job. If you are fishing a heavily pressured area you may want to throw a custom painted bait. I have seen the time when it will help you get a few more bites. Lure Innovations paints my baits and they do a quality job for a reasonable price. It just helps to give the fish a different look sometime. In my opinion if your not hitting the bottom with your crank bait then your not fishing. If I catch a few fish and start looking for a kicker I'll go to the jig. I really like the Jig X for it's versatility but on these rocks I would recommend throwing the cheapest quality jig you can get. You'll notice I said quality. If you make your own that would be even better. As long as they have a sharp quality hook then you're in business. I was fishing a tournament this past weekend and a fellow asked me "What size jig do you throw on these rocks to not get hung up?" I quickly responded "They don't make one". There is no doubt you are going to lose some baits fishing like this. I would definitely recommend getting a good lure retriever because it will pay for it's self in one day. Power fishing is the usual key to effectively fishing rocks but the finesse baits have their place here too. A straight tail worm on a jig head has produced numbers of keeper fish all year long. They are particularly effective on spotted bass in medium to deep water.

One important thing to remember is the time of the year and weather conditions you have. If you are fishing in the spring and most of the fish are aggressive you can fish rock all day with success. If it is the heat of the summer then I would concentrate my efforts for the early morning areas near shallow rock and then move deeper as it gets hotter. Fall is a peculiar time for me. Maybe because I spent most of my fall mornings for the past 20 years in a deer stand instead of a bass boat. I have struggled with my fall fishing off and on as others have. In my personal opinion it needs to be checked several times a day. These fish will move up and down on the rocks feeding at different times. One person could stay there 3 hours and not get a bite and the next guy can pull up and load the boat. It has happened and believe me I have been on both ends of it. Winter is a good time for me on the rocks. I tend to concentrate on them later in the day when the warmth of the sun has pulled them up close to get warm and feed. I usually start with a jig early and then go to the crank bait as the sun warms up the rocks. Pay attention to the rocks that get the sun first. I believe the fish do.

That about sums up my rock fishing techniques but I want to leave you with a couple of more thoughts. If you are fishing rock and the fish are aggressive they will be right on the bank or on the shallowest section. That's where you need to cast. You need to throw your lure between the bank and the water. Another thing I do that has helped me tremendously is the way I position my boat. I fish parallel to the bank with my boat only a few feet away from the rocks. This keeps my lure in the strike zone instead of pulling it out deep. In doing this you will have to concentrate on keeping your boat from getting beat up. With the price of bass boats these days no one can afford to let their boat and prop get dinged up from the rocks. When the wind gets up it can double your trouble. It will take a lot of concentration to keep your boat in position while trying to fish effectively. If you are in a team tournament, your partner in the back should be in perfect position to fish if you keep the nose of the boat turned slightly into the wind. I just wanted to close by saying thanks for all the emails and kind words I received while I was deployed overseas. I am back home know and thankful to be among family and friends. Take care and remember "When the fishing gets tough, good fisherman fish in the wind".

MSgt Mark Denney is currently serving overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom. He can be reached by email at this address: mark.denney@robins.af.mil