Thanks to the ones that had something professional to add to the topic

Here are a few words for your next vocabulary quiz... Rill, fluvial, and scour.

LMAO ^^^

So we've now got two different definitions of drain now.

1) A "ditch" of sorts that runs downhill caused by wear inning away from a higher elevation.
2) An impression running between two higher areas of land.

Yes, good synopsis. Water likes to flow downhill.

Bickering about what constitutes a ditch or a drain IMO isn't nearly as important as what they represent.......moving water or current. It may be difficult for some to visualize that few body's of water are stagnate throughout the water column. River channels, creek channels, feeders and rain runoff in lakes create a push of water or current which in turn create undercuts in the bottom contour, the more pronounced the push the more pronounced the depression and variation in contour and the longer it takes to dissipate into the mass of water its pushing against.

The important thing here is that bass love this moving water for a variety of reasons. Oxygen content, food supply, ease of travel from shallow to deep water and visa versa and cover are just a few examples why locating these areas are attractive to the fish as well as the knot heads who chase after them. Find an attractive area with moving water that is adjacent or close to deeper water, grass, timber or any other type of protective cover for fish to use as sanctuaries or ambush points and you have yourself an area that needs to be explored thoroughly both with your preferred search baits and your electronics. Just for the record I am a certified, card carrying knot head .

I see many dunce level essays here...

Well I knew what a drain was until I came here. Now I'm not sure what my wife's name is.

this is an excellent question. i myself have tried figuring this out for a long time. i always hear "fish the channel swings or creek bends next to deep water" . i'd love to see a pic on a map of examples of this.

Drains are almost always leading to deeper water because of as mentioned above, water's natrual tendancy to flow down hill. So when you have a main river channel or a feeder creek, the drains will be what you find on your electronics as depressions or "mini creeks" leading in to shallower water off of said creek channel.

Ditches on the other hand, usually man made, don't have to have a rhyme or reason why they are where they are. there can be a bunch of ditches in the way back of a creek where the water is 3 ft deep and 6 or 7 feet deep in the ditches. They don't have to be characterized by their tendancy to lead to a deeper source of water like drains are.

This is what I was taught and what I go by when I find these types of structure on the water. Hope this helps!

Well put, Jay...that is what I was taught as well. ....and Jay nailed it also....walk a creek bed and you will obtain visual evidence of what a drain is...on s smaller scale...but these will help you to visualize them on a larger scale on your body of water that you frequent. ...

Drains are more naturally occurring. ...with help from gravity. ......ditches, not necessarily

Image of a man made ditch with resulting drain from water flowing downhill

I fished storm sewers a lot at home.....we often referred to them as drains........

Some ditches, all sewers, some pipes, and most channels are drains. All creeks and all ditches have channels. Some ditches and all creeks provide drainage.