I’m a saltwater guy. I have always tried to stay as far away from possible from the fish so that I don’t spook them and make long Bomb casts. I am now getting into fishing a small lake from a bass raider. I’d like to know how close to the bank I should get when fishing worms and jigs and really anything. On the YouTube videos, the lens of the GoPros kind of skew it and you can’t tell. I know I don’t want to spook fish, but it seems like they are much closer and kind of work down the bank. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

I fish less than 30-50ft most of the time. It really depends on what I fishing with, on how far I cast with accuracy.

I might fish too close, but I can make lazy cast and just work down the shore line. 

^ ya, about that. Sometimes they're close, especially if there's good cover.

 

This 2.5# hit my lure about 25' out from shore.

The pond bass tend to be shoreline hunters during warm water months and move deeper as the water cools below 60 degrees. You can cast lures up on the bank and retrieve quietly back into the water if the shallow bass are spooky. The fan cast pattern from a boat is opposite as from shore. Casting parallel from shore about 50’ off shore and working the fan pattern 180 degrees along the bank back out the opposite side. Take note where your strikes occur to determine where the bass are located. Your boat noise affects the bass more then lure splashing down.

Tom

From the bank, I just fan cast all the way around 180 degrees. I cast as far as possible.
 

Like WRB said, take note of where your bites are and you’ll figure out where they are. 

Casting toward shore, use water clarity to help you determine how close to shore you can get. The clearer the water, the farther away you like to be. Add some type of shoreline cover and you can get closer. Avoid things that will alert the fish to your presence and you should be okay.

Stealth is more important than distance unless the water is very clear. Trolling slowly and being quiet has allowed me to catch some nice big pond & small lake girls.

19 hours ago, GRiver said:

 It really depends on what I fishing with, on how far I cast with accuracy.

 

This, primarily.

 

   Plus consideration for what I have to work with under the surface.

   I cannot effectively work bluff walls and thick laydowns from 40 yards out.  Less than 5 yards isn't unusual. 

   A long, flat, tapered point might find me sitting a long, long ways off the shore, out at maximum casting range of a spook, rattle trap, bladed jig, etc.

Good advice y’all. Thank you!

I can usually get closer to the bank if there is thick vegetation, or if there is wind or cloudy skies.  On a bright clear sunny day with no wind, I'll be out in the lake farther out making long casts.

Another thing to keep in mind is if water levels have been rising i will cast closer to the new bank because there is a lot of food made available because of the rising water. Worms, bugs, snakes, frogs, lizards, will all be available because of the new water level.  A good time t go shallow.  Sometime there will be a couple of feet of open water behind the normal weed line because of this!

 

On falling water levels I will go out to the outside edge of the normal weed line it usually has a significant depth change there.  Working this depth change has been good over the years on significant falling water levels.  A depth change with current can be money!

Sometimes I’m 10’-15’ from shore when casting into water with overhanging brush. 

My rule is to stay as far away from the bank as I can while still comfortably and accurately cast to it.  This distance will change with conditions (wind, overhanging trees, etc) and the bait I’m throwing.  

I fish as far away as I can from the edge. But it really depends sometimes I work my way closer to get more distance. Always working the bank parallel and fan casting. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is line choice. Sure you can bomb a 120 foot cast. But depending on lure and line choice will it be an efficient hook set? Or will you just miss hook sets and get frustrated? Like mentioned a lot of bites come close to shore. So I usually fish close 

Not sure if I’m correct or not.  On occasion:  I’ll get a bite.  I’ll edge my kayak over the depth the bass bit.  Let’s me read exact depth on my FF.  Then I’ll cast parallel to shore so I can keep my bait at that depth a lot longer.