Question on humps. I have tried fishing plenty of humps with little success. What do you guys look for in a hump? Does it have to be near a creek channel or the river? Or will just any hump have the potential to hold fish due to it being a change of depth from the rest of the surrounding water?

I have lots of success with humps. All are different. Those with deep water and cover close by or on top seem to do best but I do have some that work that are very smooth.

If they have gravel or rock a big plus as well as big wood is good. Timing is probably the biggest issue I have with them. Look for them to be better with wind blowing into them in the shallower range.

This does not seem to matter much with the deeper ones. I also am real careful when I graph them cause lots of times you spook them before you ever get to take a look at the fish.

I normally throw crank baits first to pick up the more aggressive fish then switch to a Carolina rig or jig or big worm/craw. Humps near channel bends are always a good place to start and just keep checking cause it is more about timing to find them there. IMO Hope that helps you a bit.

Thanks for the informative reply Marc. Coincidentally you took a long time buddy of mine named Kim on a guide trip last week. He had nothing but good things to say about you.

We had a blast. Fun guy to fish.

+1

Timing forsure i can fish one for a while with no luck then come back later in the day and gettem

Marks info is probably better than mine, but I really look for rock of some kind anywhere from gravel to large chunk rock. Also looking for bait, it bait is present and a good depth change on the hump I look for fish either hugging in drop off or right on the top. These seam to be the fish I can catch consistently. Fish out suspended off the sides are really hard to catch for me. I am the same as Mark I usually make one pass off to the side of the hump using side scan and if I see bait present I'm going to make a few cast. I always start with a crankbait that will dive a few ft deeper than the highest part of the hump, so I can really crash it into the rock and get some really good deflection. You will normally catch the aggressive fish that way and if you catch a few follow if up with a crig or fb jig to target the other fish. Make sure to keep track of your casting angles and if you catch a fish to try and duplicate the same cast several times. Usually for me if I catch one fish I can catch 2 or 3 more back to back repeating that same cast.

Casting angles are also very important and you have to figure out how the fish are postioned on the structure, so keep moving around the hump until you figure that out.


Hopefully this helps a little, main thing is to spend the time on the water to really learn fishing off shore. Once you figure it out you won't want to go.back to the bank.

Good info guys. I appreciate it.

Under water humps are one of the best spots to get the big bite. I always start deep to avoid spooking the shallower fish if they are up there. You will see suspended fish on the down scan. Those fish will follow each other to connect to the hump at the depth they are feeding. If I am seeing suspended bass at 10 feet out in deep water, that will usually be the magic depth on the side or point of the hump.

I drag a Crig. around the hump spending more time on the points of the the hump. Somewhere on that hump will be a sweet spot or irregular feature holding bigger fish. I try to find this deep water spot first, avoiding getting up in the 10 foot range. If no takers after I circle the hump and work the points running off the hump, then I move in to the casting distance to reach the 10 foot mark throwing crank baits and lighter Crig. with flukes and 10" worms.

If the hump has some brush and grass on top them that will be last to cover unless I have already established that this is the pattern for quality fish. If this is the pattern then I will go straight to the top and not take the time for the deep water search. I always leave the hump by dragging off the points to deep water. I am looking for that huge Bass that has left the feeding area and holding up on a piece of cover or bush on the point in deeper water.

Side scan is one of the greatest things ever invented for scanning and fishing humps. Like Marc said, a LOT of guys spook the fish off of the hump when they're trying to graph it. My best advice is to do everything you can to not disturb the fish on the hump. It took me a long time to figure that out. . .but now that I know, I approach them quietly and fish the edges first and work towards the top. And just like Marc, I'll crank it first, then move to a c rig, t rig, or jig.

Side image them and look for bait. Look for bass positioned on the ledge of it or at the bottom of the drop. If there is wind/current. Fire a crankbait across it to catch the ones positioned to Ambush bait coming across the hump. Hit it from different angles. If the water is stained and 10+ foot on top of the hump you won't spook them off it by graphing over it. Sometimes it will spook the bait fish and start the bass feeding.

Crank it first

I don't understand how you can crank it first without disturbing bass that may be holding in water that the boat will be sitting over. I do not want to pass over bass that are holding in any less than 20 ft. with the wind blowing and the trolling motor running trying not to disturb them.

I understand deep diving cranks and long cast. Is there any other techniques that I am missing here if the side image is showing fish in 20 ft. of water all the way up to 10 ft.. Time can be a factor sometime in a Tourn. causing you to make that decision. It has just been my experience if you want a shot at all of them then you better circle the hump deep and work your way up if the bass are present.

I use the SI for locating the fish on the hump from about 60-80 ft away.Even though I do fish it 360 and I do not go over them.

I have found that by throwing a crank bait, the fish that are aggressive will run a bait down while others are just not chasing and want a slower moving bait.

One thing I notice time and time again is you can fire up a group of fish easier with a crank bait that you can a bottom bait IMO.

Thanks Mr. Mitchell. I appreciate the reply.