Yep ya nailed it. Can't see the Forest for the Trees. "Fish a Jig" is a great common denominator that transcends generations and software. Thanks for the vid, good info.
A lot of Texas reservoirs have tons of timber and they hold catchable bass, the tough part is finding those particular trees or areas that hold the better quality fish. I think your principles are spot on, but it is often tougher than it sounds.
In FL I like the cypress trees and cypress knees. Favorites are topwater and dropping a neko rigged senko between the tree and the knees. Good topic, Matt.
Thanks for those great tips!!!👊🏻 I have a lake that has standing timber and wasn't sure how to fish it. Now I know what I can try!!!👍🏻 Stay Safe & God Bless!!!
Great info Matt, here in Mo we like to use big worms, 10” and work it like you said with a jig, ride it down the tree and hang on… thanks for the tips and sharing your knowledge,
Maybe I missed it, but what line do you prefer? Personally, I won't use braid in standing timber or stump fields with tall stumps. Especially if it's dense and you have a good chance of the fish getting in and around the cover.
I find fishing standing timber the most difficult and exasperating. I have to find the kind of tree the fish prefer, the location of those trees, their relation to any creek or river channel and then the presentation ( depth, speed, type of lure they prefer... ) It's enough to drive me nuts, so I almost always end up going back to the bank where I can usually get SOME action... do wish I could figure it out, because I know I'm missing out on some good fishing. I wonder if other anglers have the same problem ?
Unfortunately a lot of times figuiroing out patterns in the timber can be exhausting and take days...if not longer. But once you figure it out those spots are generally good every year and worth the effort
Hey Matt. I just got into fishing standing timber and have had mixed success. Can't seem to find a pattern. Without forward facing sonar how do you know where the fish are relating to the tree? I have decent electronics so I suppose I could just float back and forth past the tree. Does that spook the fish? And how far away from the tree should I be before pitching my bait?
As stated, part of the equation is finding the edges and stand out structure. If you have high end sonar, it's a whole lot easier. If not, try to get hints from the bank... some times you can see the tree line where it enters the water. Here in the people's republic of komifornia, the lakes often get fairly low this time of year. I like to take pictures and I walk out there to get GPS coordinate if it's dry enough. If it still has enough water, I go out in my kayak. Walking or floating, you can set way points around the perimeter and even tag the best structure. Truth be told, I've used the materials at hand to make fish holding structure when I can get out on the lake bed when it's exposed. A few stacked rocks along an edge in a vast area of nothing, or say a few rocks or chunks of wood around nice looking stumps can really change your results the following spring...
What do think of freshly fallen trees with a bunch of leafy vines laying across the creek channel I would have thought it would be really good holding grounds for bass I’ve been casting a casting jig Parallel to the tree and even up into the V lucky for me the tree top is facing towards me I’ve also tried square bills and beaver baits 3/8 oz weight pegged to the Texas rigged beaver it’s not a cedar tree I’m not sure on the type but it has just fallen about 2 days ago
I started out fishing lakes that looked more like forests. I was trying to fish every tree and not catching much. Another angler said to me, “fish the structure not the cover”. In other words, like Matt said, find the creek channels and points and the other aspects of the lake that you would hit if the lake had no standing timber at all….then fish the trees.
@@MattStefanFishing Thanks for your video but like at toledo bend there can be miles and miles of creek channels running through standing timber with hundreds of '' anamolies '' along the way, so where o where the heck do you fish ?
@@jerrylanglois7892 I think in that case I would look for the actual fish on your electronics- cruse through graphing each anomaly until you find them or the bait. You're more likely to see the bait I think- big balls of shad or schools of whatever baitfish is the local forage. Looking for hard bottom returns might help to. I'm sure Matt can help you more than me, maybe he'll answer. Good luck brother...
Man I got a lake in my area I like to fish when I can. It’s got sections that have deep standing timber that just looks amazing. But I’ve never been able to get anything going out of it.
