Are you a bank or open water angler?

You could be both which is what I consider the best of both worlds.
Myself, I am much more comfortable beating the banks. Lay downs, docks, rocks, rip raps and the such. I will fish offshore humps and brush piles if I can find them but my confidence in catching bass are much lower.
My favorite depths to fish are 12' or less. It seems I can use so many different baits/lures to try and figure out what they are biting for that day. In deeper water, I will try throwing a Spro's DD crankbait around the 25' depth, maybe crawling a C-rig and then throwing a shaky head. Other than that that's pretty much it for off shore fishing for me.
I fish the banks about 80% of the time, open water the other 20% of the time.
What I might consider an in between is a creek leading into the main river section. It might be 50' from the bank but I am within 10' of shallow water that drops off to deeper water. If I find bass in that area it does seem that are stacked and I can catch a good amount in that area.

primarily, im a bank fisherman. dont go much off of it, but recently my interest has been piqued by wade fishing in creeks with UL gear. definitely much more fun than bank fishing, and I think I'm going to end up sticking to that much more than regular bank fishing. it gives me so much more access, and not to mention I don't get as hot while I'm in the water

I have more confidence casting & flipping cover I can see. Just upgraded the electronics this year and am really going to work on off shore. My confidence is low out there, I can catch one or two, but never get into the school like some guys talk about in these offshore spots. Not sure what I do wrong, but am determined to figure it out this year.

Bank beater here. Love fishing heavy cover, stumps, pads, reeds & grass/weed lines. I feel bass are creatures of habit & have busted many a big ol girl beating the banks even in the winter. 12' or less works for me all the time.

I'm a bankbeater

Bank beater learning offshore this year

I fish out of a kayak so I fish shallow but if I get to fish out of a boat I do enjoy fishing deep

You need to try a 3/4 football jig offshore.

I’m a super shallow water guy. If I ain’t kickin up mud, I aim towards the bank a little more.

Offshore for sure, love throwing 10xds and big ribbontails on piles offshore.

I will throw a football jig sometimes, I do throw a swimming jig in shallower water.

I generally try to fish where nothing will bite.

My confidence lies in open water hydrilla. Except durning the spawn even then transitional offshore routes are targeted first.

I have been a bank beater but am starting to gain more confidence in offshore fishing.

I'm a little bit of both but love to throw a A- rig. There is a certain lake I love to fish offshore. The majority of fish will move offshore for the summer and I love it. We catch some of our best fish and highest numbers there. The best day was 96 off 1 point.

Both, but I prefer the bank.

On Buchanan there is a couple of man made Boulder humps from back when the lake was being built. I don’t think they are on any maps. Anyways when guiding Striper fisherman we would freeline/stroll big gizzards over and around the boulders. There was no telling what what you were going to catch. I know we caught several DD bass of them. Told my folks any bass over 2lbs gets released. Most were fine with it. Depending on lake level those humps can be anywhere from 15ft deep at the top down too 40ft. 25ft seemed to be the best. But I prefer to hit the banks.

Both....but the days you catch 50+ Great Lake SM off one spot ! That's some amazing fishing

both, i prefer offshore if they will bite. nothing beats that jig bite

I beat the bank until I’ve whipped a foam on it like a draft beer, then I move out and graph for about 5 minutes, lose interest and back to the bank. At the end of the day when I load the boat I look at that live scope that I didn’t even turn on and think what a sucker I was to buy that!

Most bass fisherman are bank beaters and have average days on the lake because of it. I like to fish where I don’t think most are fishing, and love finding the little offshore juice. However, time of year hampers that plan like spring time . I don’t always find em offshore, but when do, it beats any bank beating day, not even close.

Bank.

I like offshore but fish where I can get the most bites. Offshore will be heating up on Conroe.

I'm a bank beater... Dan

Bank for sure!

From June to October it seems my bigger fish have all come from off shore fishing or deeper water. I am gaining more confidence every year fishing off shore. I will never leave the banks as my primary fishing spots but I am getting further away from the shores more often now than i use to.
The key for me is getting to fish off shore before the masses hit the lake for the day. It is near impossible to fish off shore after 11 am because of the boat traffic.

Nothing against deep water but a lot more to see nearer the bank.

I think that any of us over 50 started out beating the bank. Along comes Dance, Martin, etc. and they say that if you are beating the bank, 90% of the fish are behind you. I was in my teens when that happened, and I have slowly gotten away from the bank and started looking at the bottom for fish. I prefer to fish structure vs cover, but I will beat the bank if the situation warrants. Drop Shot has been the best technique for me fishing structure, CRig, shakey head come into play too. For some reason, and it was how I learned to fish soft plastics.. I just don't like to fish a Texas rig.

Bank for me. I will fish offshore if moving a bait. If it turns into C-Rig or Football jig day I'm out. I've tried but don't have the patience.

What do patients have to do with fishing offshore? Aren't patients in a doctor's or dentist's office?

When I used to bass fish, it was normally Lake Fork. Early morning I would be pitching the banks. By noon I would be hitting the stumps with a jig in 10-15ft water. By 3 I would be fishing deep water humps, road beds and points. My biggest fish never came from the banks.

I do both. Have learned more and more every year fishing offshore. Though I haven’t caught many fish deeper than 15-20’

Your rite. I will corect imediate.

LOL, you mean korect?

Sshhh. That's my secret too.

Do y’all put trailers on the football jigs for fishing deep?

Side note, when pitching shallow, do you t-rig the trailer onto the jig?

Deep water jigging I usually have a trailer on but not a big one. Reason is I will not throw a jig for deep water less than 3/4 oz so the body is big enough, I just want a small trailer to be presented.

Do you hang up often?

Think of how many more casts can be made on a fishing trip when you aren't slowed down by having to fight fish back to the boat and unhook them!

Not really....
Football jigs with the way the head a made makes it fairly easy to hop it over rocks and limbs. Not saying I won’t get hung up but it’s not a problem in general.

I do both equally. I really don't have a preference and prefer to do whichever one leads to the biggest fish

Run the banks all day. Run grass lines and boat houses and docks. Always see guys out in the open, figured they were crappie fishing, but I guess you could catch a couple of bass if you're in the right spot. Finder always says there's some in the deep, but I just pat it on the head and say thank you. LOL