Tutorial needed: Fishing standing timber

[carlcmc]

I do well fishing shallow structure and docks etc. A lake I have been fishing recently has standing timber in anywhere from 10 to 30+ FOW.

How does one fish this reliably?

It takes forever to try and let a weightless worm sink down. I texas rigged worm with a weight doesn't make much noise and i haven't had any luck with that.

I caught one one a spinner bait, but that is it.

1) What type of baits/presentations do you prefer for standing timber

2) What depth of the water column are you targeting?

3) what elements do you look for to differentiate as more productive areas. (there is an entire bay of standing timber and then several shores and points.)

[Juice]

Well, you could use a Jig N' Pig with a rattle. That would give you the noise that you want and use a heavier jig to get it down alittle faster. But i would use a crankbait or a heavy spinnerbait and try to locate fish with them. ALso it helps if you run the bait you're using into the tree. That generally produces some strikes.

As for what water column i would target. I would start at the edge of the timber, casting around the outside edge with a deep crank (providing its in deep water) and work my way in toward shallower water.

Finding the productive areas can be difficult sometimes. But bass will generally either 'roam' for the prey or they will stick to an area and wait for the prey come to them. So if you can find baitfish swimming around, whether it be minnows or small sunnies. Bass will generally be close by. Im sure some other guys will inform you more. But always be aware of what you're doing and how you are presenting the bait. And analyze why that fish hit and where. Sometime you can find the pattern to the fish. Good luck!

[senkoskipper]

what lake is it btw.

[blakjack23]

Chisago? I fished it for the first time a couple weeks ago and that has more timber then any other lake I've been on. Unfortunately my boat found one of the stumps in the middle of a bay while I was doing about 30!!!

[carlcmc]

chester woods lake close to rochester

[Lunker]

That is one thing that I haven't got much of a chance to fish here in Minnesota. Not a lot of resevoirs like down south, where standing timber is a tactic much needed. Since you said down to 30ft, I am assuming this is a resevoir?

[Ray Esboldt]

Think of the impoudment or pieces of it without water. I know that's difficult, but try your best to visualize it. Think about transitions, and don't just include the trees. Think about bottom content as well. Transitions are going to be your highest percentage spots. Same stuff as a regular lake, points, humps, rocks, anything that creates a change in environment.

Presentation, that's a bit tougher. I agree with the previous poster that mentioned cranks and spinnerbaits as the right baits to throw. Unless you know the fish are bottom cruising, worms and jigs might lead to lots of unproductive time. The little time I spent on Missouri impoundments told me that pitch and wind baits were quite a bit more productive than slow crawlers.

[carlcmc]

its a resevoir built across where 2 streams converge which are spring fed and thus the resevoir has great water clarity of 4-6 feet at times. max depth of 40 perhaps.