We spent some time on a lake yesterday that has good largemouth and decent smallmouth fishing.  I bought a cheap used fish finder for this season, and it seemed to work great so we're very happy to not be totally blind and guessing from lake charts.  Bass doesn't open until here until next weekend, but while trolling for lake trout and testing out the fish finder we found a great looking bass spot.  The bottom rises quickly from about 60ft. up onto a 35-40ft. level for a bit then there’s a fairly abrupt hump that rises up up to 19ft. and looked like it had grass in on it.  To my untrained eye, it looked even better on the fish finder that on the contour map.  But, I'm not quite sure how to fish it properly.  We have no trolling motor so our "spot lock" will be to throw a marker out once we find the hump and anchor off the downwind side.  Assuming that works, how would you guys fish this spot?

 

 

That deep, I'm using football jigs, drop shot, or a jigging spoon.

Cast to the top of the hump area first. If nothing you might relocate over the top of the hump then fish coming up the sides of the hump from deeper water. 

Carolina Rig…Always bringing it from the top down as I work my way around it’s boundary until I find em. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

Carolina or Texas rig.

 

There are a lot of options here.  The ones said above or a deep diving crankbait.  With smallies you may even want to try a deep diving jerkbait.  Being this time of year that jerkbait would be fished faster then the winter.  Typically. 

I'm a dumb cajun, I always work up hill, this keeps my lure in contact with the bottom. 

 

Texas Rigs, Jig-n-Craws, or Carolina Rigs.

I'm onboard as an uphill guy. 

A few of the humps on 'Tonka are fairly small. I can park in the center and run uphill around the entire thing.

 

So ya, uphill here as well.

About any lure that sinks can be used . At that depth a 3/4 ounce Red Eye Shad is a favorite of mine . I dont know about the grass though . Some vegetation doesnt  stay anchored  when ripping a lure out .

Our grass only grows out to 17' and we have Spots and LM,  not SM. But when fishing our humps a 3/16 Swinghead Sukushi Bug/Ned, T - Rigged Hellgrammite, T - Rigged Craw, and of course a Shakey Head all produce.

I can’t work a lure uphill unless I no longer want that particular lure. 
 

swinghead sounds like a good option for the area described 

Using a anchor try  positioning your boat to one side of the hump in lieu of behind it. The reason being by the time your rope scopes out you will be too far away to cast effective around the hump. You can pull the boat forward a few yard to change casting anglers with moving the anchor.

Tom

Fish a few spots like you describe on one of my frequented lakes.  Graphed and casting landmarks mentally ingrained in my head. 

 

Wind speed and direction play a major roll in how I go about things if i find my self heading to one of these areas.  8/10 times I'm hitting it with a drop shot first to see activity level. 

 

If some of the above mentioned techniques are not producing,  don't be afraid to be patient and let a slow falling bait (senko, light ned) work through a prime area if the wind allows. 

36 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I can’t work a lure uphill unless I no longer want that particular lure. 

 

?

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

 

And the teeth marks on the weights are always a good sign . . . 

A-Jay

Anyone that has fished from shore has fished uphill.

20 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

And the teeth marks on the weights are always a good sign . . . 

A-Jay

I'm digging the whole Keith Partridge puka bead thing he's got going on....  

27 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Anyone that has fished from shore has fished uphill.

Of Course

I must have misread it 

 

 

 

Mike

36 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Anyone that has fished from shore has fished uphill.

Fishing from shore: the greatest way to lose lures rapidly. Bait monkey approved 

On 6/13/2022 at 8:05 AM, Mike L said:

Carolina Rig…Always bringing it from the top down as I work my way around it’s boundary until I find em. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

When you do this are you letting line out as It gets deeper? 

13 hours ago, Cbump said:

When you do this are you letting line out as It gets deeper? 

Keeping in mind that when I’m fishing a hump it’s not like I’m dragging a steep cliff. 
Keeping the weight on the bottom really isn’t that hard by just giving small pulls, but when more is needed just a small pull  off the reel is enough without putting any slack. 
 

 

 

Mike