Hey Everyone,

Curious your thoughts on this matter for hopefully a more successful trip coming up. For context I will be fishing from the bank probably throwing big soft and hard swimbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits, and drop-shot. Not familiar with the lake but my guess is fish are all stages of the spawn but leaning post-spawn.

I'll be fishing a "highland" style reservoir with long creek arms and plenty of secondary points. I'll be choosing one main creek arm to fish and probably only have enough time to travel on one side of the arm. My dilemma is I see there is a steep side, and a shallow side to this creek arm. The steeper side has a sharper taper down to 40-60 ft of water and has sharper points with rockpiles, granite veins, and submerged trees. There are less major spawning flats, but some shallow flat spots still exists.

Alternatively there is the shallow side of the creek arm. Comprised of sloping points and more gradual tapers down to about 20ft, and occassional 30ft deep channels into the shallow flats. Rockpiles and granite veins are present but less so than the steep side. The shallow side has a ton of submerged brush and trees however.

What would your approach be considering the Spawn - Post-Spawn window? Travel up the steep side on the west, or travel the shallower side on the east?

I have fished deep mountains lakes in north Georgia and North Carolina. Being a Florida Swamp Fisherman where deep water is 15 feet deep with constant pads and grasses, fishing mountain lakes has been like fishing on the moon. Some of these bodies have had depths of 50 feet to over 100 just 20 feet from the shore. I tip my hat to these pros that go from shallow to deep lakes week after week.

I would focus on fishing the shallower side first. It gives you more options on types of cover/structure to fish. Id also assume that the shallow side would have more fish in convenient locations than the deep side, and you'd have a better chance at catching more fry guarding males if a majority of those fish have completed the spawn, if you want numbers.

Opposing this, the deep side might have bigger females. I would assume that the biggest females are going to want to spawn at "penthouse" type beds that are on those "shallow flat spots" close to the deeper side of the channel if there is one, as long as the bottom comp, depth, and protection from wind or current is appropriate. Thats just instinct and they might not move like this at all. The thing that perked my ears up when you were detailing the shallow side was "occasional 30 feet deep channels into shallow flats" those areas are probably what id focus on fishing if I was going out there with you. In the end I dont think that this decision will make or break your day.

If only it was possible to fish one side, and then rewind the day and fish the other side... oh wait.. thats what boats are for lol.

Seeing that you listed big swimbaits first, they are likely a confidence bait for you. With that in mind, I'd go with the shallow side. A swimbait to cover the shallow flats and a jig for the rocks, timber and brush. With the presence of deep water in the area, if you don't run into some pre-spawn fish, the post spawn ones should be within casting distance of the deeper channels.

Shallow side sounds way more fishy but my biggest issue bank fishing big reservoirs is you can fish a big lake from a boat and fish 4 creeks that have all the right stuff and no bass and then stumble on one creek that’s going off - from the bank - it can take a long long time to make these determinations especially on really big lakes. It sounds like you have two choices though - most lakes have fish somewhere on good structure that intersects with cover.

I’d fish the shallow side and focus on the isolated veins and the brush piles and the flatter banks right up by the shore etc - but if possible - might be worth fishing both - I’ve done really well on steep rocky banks - bass figure out all sorts of ways to do their thing on those little shelves.

For what it’s worth, I think prevailing conditions during the days leading up to my fishing adventure would heavily influence which bank I started on also!

I would choose to fish the shallow side first. That's where the majority of fish are (or were) because of the period of the year (spawn). They probably did not travel far in a few days. I would try to find a place were a deeper channel comes close enough to shore to reach it with a cast.

Another vote for the shallow side. If you suspect the fish are in all stages of the spawn, they're not going to be spawning in deep water. Fish in those type of lakes also usually only come shallow for a couple reasons, to make more bass, and to feed.

Steep for me

So much good stuff on here thanks folks. I'm going to look at my day Saturday and see if I can squeak in a full day instead of a half day, that way I can hit both sides. I am a bit more interested in getting that one big bite and I'm having a gut feeling to go on the steeper side to hit the submerged trees off points or poke around in the small flats. The Gent at the tackle shop talked about his buddy catching a 9lb fish in the back of one of the small cuts on the steeper side so that sounds tempting. At the same time the deep veins leading into the shallow side really have my attention like you mention @Tugg . The shallow side just looks fishy especially if the weather is warming up. Latest Catch Thread will reveal how it all went hahaha

I would personally go shallow. Better question is where you found a lake that you have that much bank access.

Cold Water 55 or colder - Steep Side

Warm Water 55 or warmer - Shallow Side

If either of those have a transition area where it goes from steep to shallow or shallow to steep those are the juice spots