I found a dropoff at one of my favorite lakes but didnt really know how to position my boat to fish it.

 

Should i start shallow and cast deep or stay deep and cast into the shallow water?

 

I just dont really know. Any and all help is appreciated.

I like casting off ledges with a 3/8 oz jig.. I let it fall all the way down.. or a big ribbon tail worm Texsposed with a a bullet weight and just let it flutter Down... I do well from shore fishing that way

Old rule of thumb is; spring up, fall down.

How steep of a drop off are you talking about and how deep water does it drop into?

Every point can be considered a drop off as it tapers down into deeper water. A verticle drop off would be a cliff or ledge, so the type of drop off will usually determine how you can effectively present a lure to the bass.

If the bass are holding on the top at a specific depth, then your casts should be retrieved paralell so the lure stays at that depth the majority of the retrieve. If the bass are deep enough where your boat doesn't disturb them, then a verticle presentation works good.

Tom

Its a point that drops on one side from 10 feet to 40 nd the other side it drops to about 20

It's much easier to work up the drop than down it as far as maintaining bottom contact. Ii will also keep you from pulling following fish into deeper water where it takes them longer to return.  I like to parallel a drop similar to fishing a weed edge, especially after finding a productive depth on it.

Thanks this will be very helpful next time i get on the water really appreciate

Well, I'm not sure there is a "best" answer...There are lots of situations that are different.

On river reservoirs there is current when water is being released. It's not always perceptable,

but still affects the fish. Generally, fish face upstream. This is a specific example some friends

and I experienced last summer:

 

We have some GPS coordinates for several holes beyond the mouth of Yellow Creek on

Pickwick Lake. We dropped bouys to set-up casting targets. What we found were zero fish

in the holes and no bites dropping off the downstream ledge. Over a period lasting about

an hour and a half, me and three friends caught 45 bass! Then they left.

 

Every fish was caught just below the lip of the ledge, retrieving the worm (Rage Tail Thumper,

Blue Fleck) downstream. We were fishing a 19' bottom with two holes, one dropping to 25' and 

the other to 28'. We tried three more spots, but never got another bite.

Drop offs?  Does the ledge follow a break line or contour you can follow?  If so, then I would casting PARALLEL to the break line, at the depth I've located, or suspect active fish.