Fished a creek channel through timber last week with a jig. Tried to follow it the best I could with my graph/gps. Couldnt really see a clear path through the stumps. Caught some nice fish but lost some also. I know for sure some of them were at least 5 yards off the edge of the creek. Sometimes after I got them in I wasnt sure if I had pitched into the channel or up on the edge. Interesting thing is I hit my waypoint button on a 7# and a 4# I caught and later in the day when looking at the chart noticed that both were caught on channel bends. Now everyone knows channel bends are a key area but how do you approach them. Do you cut right into the timber and head right to the channel bends to fish (almost having a milk run of channel bends) . Or do you try to follow the creek channel fishing as you go and spend more time in the bend when you get there. It was my first time fishing this way and was fascinated with it. How do you approach creek channel fishing?

A creek channel is a natural highway that bass use to move around a lake at all times of the year. Where and how they are related to the channel depends on many things, but it is almost always a good place to start. Finding bends, points, structure, and any other place where there are transitions from shallow to deep, mud to gravel, and many others will help to put fish in the boat. Learning seasonal patterns to understand how fish use creek channels will definitely make you a better fisherman. Go to the Articles section and you will find much information on this. Good luck.

How you fish a creek channel depends on how it is used in the path to the spawning grounds. If it is a main channel that bass use as a deep water home during winter you would probably want to start at channel bends, sharp breaks, or feeder creek intersections that have a path of breaks leading from them to the spawning areas. If it is a feeder creek leading into a cove or down the side of a point it could be used as a highway to the shallows and the fish could be scattered along it. Generally though, they would be positioned on different breaks along that channel. It takes some time on your water to determine how a channel and its breaks are being used or whether they are used at all.

You sure it was a creek channel with all those stumps?  Doesn't make sense to me.