Bankfishing Tips? 2024
jacob2000 reply :
Most of the time as of now I bank fish when I can, so any tips about bank fishing?
Joedodge reply :
Walk softly, fan cast, truly try an learn the waters you fish. When a bait is really working or the fiah are biting take note of the weather, baits and technique used. Remember it! And avoid letting your shadow hit the water the fish see you waaayyyyy before you see them
Senko lover reply :
Crouch down and present a bait quietly. Biggest thing I've learned over the last year. Fish that hold close to the bank are spooked very easily.
bigbill reply :
Walk softly, don't step on tree roots above the ground, don't step on rocks, be very, very, stealthy like your not there.
Handle your tackle very quietly. Wear dark colored clothes not bright ones. If you can see the fish they can see you.
Don't let the bail on your spinning reel snap shut.
Close it by hand quietly. I don't use bait casters because of the click after you cast. Be freaking quiet. It works, try it.
Don't fan cast in order, next to your last cast. Jump around. I start at the the left side. Next cast in the middle, next cast to the far right. Next cast along side your first left cast. I call it skip casting. Keep on jumping over casts. This keeps the spooking the fish down.
I figured out so many things I was doing wrong. Well let's say things I could do better.
DocNsanE reply :
Start with a finesse presentation, I like wacky but whichever you prefer. Cast to the bank before you get there and work your way out. Make multiple presentations to any structure you see. Once you have exhausted that bite, try a second finesse presentation. Then you can start thinking about a crankbait or a swimbait or something that covers more water. Finally you can go with something loud like a buzzbait or bladed jig.
Why?
Well if you start by bombing that buzzbait 50 yards and catch one at the end of the cast, who knows how many fish you may have spooked as you battle that one in. Going quietly from an inside-out fan cast will spook less fish and keep more potential catches in the area longer.
ABW reply :
Pack lightly. Bring what you have confidence in and fish those baits. If you want to build confidence in a bait, only bring that bait when fishing and force yourself to use it.
lectricbassman reply :
I try to match my clothing to the environment and i sneak around like a ninja.
BassinLou reply :
Here is an older thread for Bank fishing that received numerous posts and good tips. Enjoy the read.
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/126667-bank-fishing-forum/?hl=%2Bbank+%2Bfishing
RanndomUndead reply :
i tend to fish as far back as i can, As much as 10 ft depending on what im using.
Also, its nice to just sit down and fish on the banks, not as visible and nowhere near as many vibrations.
The other big thing ive learned come into play is color of clothes, stick to neutrals for the environment that wont make you stick out
RanndomUndead reply :
On 4/6/2015 at 9:28 AM, ABW said:Pack lightly. Bring what you have confidence in and fish those baits. If you want to build confidence in a bait, only bring that bait when fishing and force yourself to use it.
Id only do this with 30+ lb braid on, because if that bait gets snagged in a tree...ill be pulling the tree down before i cut my line with only one bait 
EmersonFish reply :
Most people spend too much time bank fishing at areas that are easy to get to. These areas get hammered by fishermen, and often are not that good in the first place. Put in the effort to get to areas that don't get fished often.
If you don't mind walking, getting dirty, getting a spider on you once in a while, and are not real terribly allergic to poison ivy, you can get to areas that boats, and 99% of bank fishermen never get to on a lot of bodies of water. You'll be surprised how shallow fish will be throughout most of the year if you go to those gnarly areas.
Learn to make all kinds of casts, because you'll constantly be flipping, pitching, and roll casting under, over, around and between all kids of things. If you have one relatively short rod, with a nice tip, but plenty of backbone, that helps. I use a 6'4" Falcon Lowrider rod that is made for spinnerbait fishing, but is great for sneaking through the bushes. Other times you might need the heavy artillery like a flippin' stick for pads and weeds, depending on what you find out there.
I never remember to use it, but some kind of spray to keep the ticks off od you is probably a good idea. Put everything you need in a fanny pack or small back pack. Travel light. Take note of anything you wish you had brought, so you are better prepared next time, but resist the temptation to bring the farm with you.
lectricbassman reply :
Another thing ive found is once ive found a place to start fan casting i try to remain as still as possible. I dont even move my feet if i can help it until im ready to move on to the next spot. Ive found that sometimes a spooked fish will come back to the area.
Brayberry reply :
I like too use shorter rods for bank fishing, mostly 5'6" rods. It's much easier to cast around trees bushes and such with less rod
Ozark_Basser reply :
Get good at casting. Accuracy is of course important, but get good at your backhand and skipping. It really helps you get to places other bank anglers don't.
Heron reply :
I like to match the hatch, so I try to stick to wearing clothing that has neutral colors with baitfish printed on them.
Ozark_Basser reply :
Also learn to fish a dropshot.
Mccallister25 reply :
With all due respect, some of this sounds crazy to me! I bank fish exclusively, and don't take a great deal of "precaution" when hunting these fish.
I assume your not fishing for money, etc. when bank fishing. Just for personal enjoyment.. Just fish! I catch plenty when walking normally, talking to buddies, standing with my shadow in the water, stopping to throw a dip in..
Seems to me the fun is lost when I have to start worrying about my reel clicking, or having a certain piece of clothing I'm obligated to wear.
Just go out, leave the world behind for a bit, and fish.
Heron reply :
On 4/7/2015 at 8:16 AM, BigBlock496 said:With all due respect, some of this sounds crazy to me! I bank fish exclusively, and don't take a great deal of "precaution" when hunting these fish.
I assume your not fishing for money, etc. when bank fishing. Just for personal enjoyment.. Just fish! I catch plenty when walking normally, talking to buddies, standing with my shadow in the water, stopping to throw a dip in..
Seems to me the fun is lost when I have to start worrying about my reel clicking, or having a certain piece of clothing I'm obligated to wear.
Just go out, leave the world behind for a bit, and fish.
Im going to have to kinda agree with you on that.
Every situation is different, but Ive found no evidence so far in my areas, that suggests using a great deal of precaution will allow you to land more fish. Sure you can minimize it, but fish get spooked...thats just how it is, its in their nature, and at times, it is unavoidable.
Just fish and be merry.
Heron reply :
If you do fish at the bank, be very very careful, not to foul-hook one of the bank tellers. she will not be happy a'tall.
QUAKEnSHAKE reply :
On 4/7/2015 at 8:16 AM, BigBlock496 said:With all due respect, some of this sounds crazy to me! I bank fish exclusively, and don't take a great deal of "precaution" when hunting these fish.
I assume your not fishing for money, etc. when bank fishing. Just for personal enjoyment.. Just fish! I catch plenty when walking normally, talking to buddies, standing with my shadow in the water, stopping to throw a dip in..
Seems to me the fun is lost when I have to start worrying about my reel clicking, or having a certain piece of clothing I'm obligated to wear.
Just go out, leave the world behind for a bit, and fish.
X3 on this My bright yellow shirts seem to be an attractant clear water sunny days 
deep reply :
Pick a reservoir where your casts can reach structure that fish might be using depending on the season.
cbadra2 reply :
Go weedless! It'll make your time and effort worth while (not to mention saving money on baits). Texas rigged soft plastic, senkos, weedless swimbaits and flukes are awesome. My favorite is a split shot rig with a small 4 inch Texas rigged finesse worm. It's tricky to throw in some areas (it's a long finesse Carolina rig), but is killer from shore! I use a 10 pound braid main line with a 12-18'' 6-8 pound test floro leader, I pinch on a bullet shaped 1/8 to 1/4 ounce split shot above braid to leader knot and use a no.1 strait shank light wire offset worm hook. You can cast it a mile and cover tons of water. Just drag it slowly back to shore and hold on! I fish some golf course ponds in FL and all of the above are productive. Here's a video where I use Texas rigged plastic, and a weedless swimbait from shore... Go get "em!!!
Drew03cmc reply :
I have taken to using a weedless Ned Rig from shore lately with 15/4PP and a Seaguar 8lb leader. The results have been five bass in an hour or so fishing the last few days.
Dogmatic reply :
Pack out more than you packed in...nothing ruins the reputation of ALL fisherman more than the garbage(Styrofoam containers, cans,plastic wrappers, line ect.)left behind by a few inconsiderate bank fisherman.
Matthew2000 reply :
Well fish the cover well make Parellel casts to the bank some people often forget to do that. Don't get stuck using one retrieve.
FishWitWiz reply :
By all means, do not wear a bright orange University of Tennessee hat. You will catch zero fish guaranteed.
Matthew2000 reply :
On 4/8/2015 at 7:30 AM, FishWitWiz said:By all means, do not wear a bright orange University of Tennessee hat. You will catch zero fish guaranteed.
Maybe if you try a Ohio State hat you will catch fish. Or maybe a Nat'l championship ring..... Maybe both
Mccallister25 reply :
On 4/8/2015 at 7:30 AM, FishWitWiz said:By all means, do not wear a bright orange University of Tennessee hat. You will catch zero fish guaranteed.
.. Don't wear one of those, period. Go Dawgs!!
FishWitWiz reply :
On 4/8/2015 at 8:28 AM, Matthew2000 said:Maybe if you try a Ohio State hat you will catch fish. Or maybe a Nat'l championship ring..... Maybe both
Over your head my friend.
tnt2671 reply :
On 4/7/2015 at 8:16 AM, BigBlock496 said:With all due respect, some of this sounds crazy to me! I bank fish exclusively, and don't take a great deal of "precaution" when hunting these fish.
I assume your not fishing for money, etc. when bank fishing. Just for personal enjoyment.. Just fish! I catch plenty when walking normally, talking to buddies, standing with my shadow in the water, stopping to throw a dip in..
Seems to me the fun is lost when I have to start worrying about my reel clicking, or having a certain piece of clothing I'm obligated to wear.
Just go out, leave the world behind for a bit, and fish.
I always try to start my initial approach at least 300- 400 yards away then low crawl the 300 yards in my ghillie suit , always stopping 17.546 to 18 feet back from the waters edge with the sun at a 63 degree angle to my east as not to impede any ultraviolet rays that the fish may be monitoring on any given day. i then just lay there taking shallow breaths so i don't spook the fish, see the problem is i have not figured out a way to actually present a lure in the water for fear of when i do cast all the fish will see me (who is cleverly disguised was a large lump of mossy vegetation) make an unnatural move and if they don't catch on to that( which i'm sure any fish would) but hypothetically speaking IF i was able to fool them even just once they would never miss the plastic thing that resembles a worm flying overhead and land in a bellyflop style dive into their domain therefore destroying any chance at all of catching anything. Then after years of laying by the water dressed as a fern not breathing one day my suit got caught on a root which made a noise and exposed human flesh, at this point i knew my cover was blown so i just backed my truck up flipped down the tailgate all while drinking a coffee and listening to the radio threw out a line and whatta ya know fish aren't that smart. long story short don't over think it!!
SirSnookalot reply :
On 4/7/2015 at 8:16 AM, BigBlock496 said:With all due respect, some of this sounds crazy to me! I bank fish exclusively, and don't take a great deal of "precaution" when hunting these fish.
I assume your not fishing for money, etc. when bank fishing. Just for personal enjoyment.. Just fish! I catch plenty when walking normally, talking to buddies, standing with my shadow in the water, stopping to throw a dip in..
Seems to me the fun is lost when I have to start worrying about my reel clicking, or having a certain piece of clothing I'm obligated to wear.
Just go out, leave the world behind for a bit, and fish.
Pretty much my approach.
Fishing every day I feel there is only 1 absolute factor I need to know, dealing with the moment at hand.
If there is one thing I try and do is fish with my eyes and ears, I'm opting to cast where there is activity vs blind casting. I try to avoid long casts, sometimes you have to because that's where the fish are. So many times my lure is so far out then I have fish busting just a few feet away, can't get my lure i fast enough before the fish are gone. I move a lot when I fish, I use but 1 rod.
Mccallister25 reply :
On 4/8/2015 at 1:45 PM, tnt2671 said:I always try to start my initial approach at least 300- 400 yards away then low crawl the 300 yards in my ghillie suit , always stopping 17.546 to 18 feet back from the waters edge with the sun at a 63 degree angle to my east as not to impede any ultraviolet rays that the fish may be monitoring on any given day. i then just lay there taking shallow breaths so i don't spook the fish, see the problem is i have not figured out a way to actually present a lure in the water for fear of when i do cast all the fish will see me (who is cleverly disguised was a large lump of mossy vegetation) make an unnatural move and if they don't catch on to that( which i'm sure any fish would) but hypothetically speaking IF i was able to fool them even just once they would never miss the plastic thing that resembles a worm flying overhead and land in a bellyflop style dive into their domain therefore destroying any chance at all of catching anything. Then after years of laying by the water dressed as a fern not breathing one day my suit got caught on a root which made a noise and exposed human flesh, at this point i knew my cover was blown so i just backed my truck up flipped down the tailgate all while drinking a coffee and listening to the radio threw out a line and whatta ya know fish aren't that smart. long story short don't over think it!!
Intense
Mumbly reply :
On 4/7/2015 at 7:46 AM, hoosierbass07 said:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbKCfbfM6cI
The first video is what i was going to link. Great vid with some really good info, just what you'd expect from Gene. The 2nd video I turned off right after the guy dragged the fish across the gravel.... 4 secs in.
hatrix reply :
I don't really take a lot of precaution about my movements on the bank unless there is a specific spot I want to target and give my self the best chance at a possible big one I think is sitting there. I generally cast ahead of me and work my way around and most fish are caught paralleling the bank rather then straight out. Well for me usually. One tip if yu fishing back woods spots is buy a machete so you can get to the fish. If you trudge through some gnarly trees and such hold you rods butt end first and not tip. You can plow right through stuff that way and rod sleeves work great to keep stuff from hooking around eye or your line and you make your way.
scaleface reply :
I always fish quietly. I dont wear bright colors , I dont stomp, and I dont let my shadow hit the place I'm fishing. I take the same precautions in a boat .
People do catch fish stomping around , making all kinds of racket wearing bright shirts, I will not argue that. There is no doubt in my mind , though ,that more and bigger fish will be caught if the fish doesnt know you're there .
RanndomUndead reply :
Something i just noticed on my trip today, Cranks with rattles have been producing a lot more than ones without, and this is with me stomping around on about a 50-60 yard dock system. Maybe its the extra distraction, who knows
scaleface reply :
Now on the other hand , I have fished places that the bass have never seen a lure. They followed me around like a dog. If I let a lure dangle in the water fish would grab it. Places that are noisy all the time , the fish get use to that noise. Theres a lot of variables involved in bass fishing . No set rules .
RanndomUndead reply :
On 4/9/2015 at 1:25 AM, scaleface said:Now on the other hand , I have fished places that the bass have never seen a lure. They followed me around like a dog. If I let a lure dangle in the water fish would grab it. Places that are noisy all the time , the fish get use to that noise. Theres a lot of variables involved in bass fishing . No set rules .
Reminds me of the mind wrecker that is transitioning between stocked ponds and lakes...
kingmotorboat reply :
On 4/8/2015 at 1:45 PM, tnt2671 said:I always try to start my initial approach at least 300- 400 yards away then low crawl the 300 yards in my ghillie suit , always stopping 17.546 to 18 feet back from the waters edge with the sun at a 63 degree angle to my east as not to impede any ultraviolet rays that the fish may be monitoring on any given day. i then just lay there taking shallow breaths so i don't spook the fish, see the problem is i have not figured out a way to actually present a lure in the water for fear of when i do cast all the fish will see me (who is cleverly disguised was a large lump of mossy vegetation) make an unnatural move and if they don't catch on to that( which i'm sure any fish would) but hypothetically speaking IF i was able to fool them even just once they would never miss the plastic thing that resembles a worm flying overhead and land in a bellyflop style dive into their domain therefore destroying any chance at all of catching anything. Then after years of laying by the water dressed as a fern not breathing one day my suit got caught on a root which made a noise and exposed human flesh, at this point i knew my cover was blown so i just backed my truck up flipped down the tailgate all while drinking a coffee and listening to the radio threw out a line and whatta ya know fish aren't that smart. long story short don't over think it!!
Rich and compelling. Left me wanting more
Matthew2000 reply :
I got the joke but just wanted to poke at some football fun.On 4/8/2015 at 11:18 AM, FishWitWiz said:Over your head my friend.
Bill77 reply :
I have been fishing banks forever and I have found that the most important thing is that you need to be able to find cover such as rock piles and logs because they love to hide up in them. Make sure you have an accurate cast so you use this cover wisely. I have also found that you can make plastic baits work in almost any conditions. Keep fishing!!!
,Bill
Drew03cmc reply :
What is your favorite rod and reel setup, length, power, line, etc?
macmac reply :
A fanny pack was mentioned and is a great idea. Another good one is to get a nail apron and dye it either dark green or a mediium brown. Both work well and provide ample storage for your gear. Each requires a minimum of movement when changing lures or rigs.
If you get into wading, take an old pair of sneakers and use Construction Grade Liquid Nails to secure carpeting with a good knap to your sneakers.....I like to trace them on the carpeting with a marker and make them three to four inches too long, I bend the carpeting up and over the toe and tie the carpeting on with rags until the Nails dry thoroughly. The toe wrap protects your toes when accidentally smacking rocks or submerged logs. The knap prevents slipping on rocks and provides sure footing as well as a cushy walk.......very quiet both in the water and on dry land.
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