Peter Larmand Articles
Laydowns
Fallen trees are tremendous fish holders and laying logs are one of my favourites. For one thing, you can use several techniques to catch fish from them, notably jigs or plastics, crankbaits and spinnerbaits.
Spinnerbaits:
I probably throw a spinnerbait the most around laydowns than any other bait because you can do so many things with it. Don't be afraid to let it flutter down or bump the tree on occasion. Many strikes occur when you drop the bait over a limb. I prefer either a 3/8- or 1/2- ounce spinnerbaits for these occasions. I normally throw a double willow leaf spinnerbait in this case. The blades give it that slimmer look and it doesn’t disturb as much water when retrieving as a Colorado blade. I use a spinnerbait with a large hook on it. It seems to hook the fish better, which in turn increases your catch ratio.
I always use at least 20-pound fluorocarbon P-Line when I fish spinnerbaits in laydowns — you need that heavy line to pull fish out of cover. You also need a good rod with some backbone. I use the Quantum Tour Edition PT 6’10” heavy action rod.
Don’t be afraid to make multiple/repeated casts at the same tree. If you look at the diagram below, you want to cast your bait where the blue circles are first. Reason being, if you catch a fish on the outside, you can get out and away from the tree hopefully with out disturbing any others that may be in and around that one tree. Then you can proceed into working the laydown in multiple sections of the tree. Again you want to work the outside before casting into the middle of all the branches. Once you have worked the outside of the laydown you can make you way in towards the heart of the tree. Now you would cast to where all the red circles are in the diagram below. This will allow you to catch multiple fish off the same laydown.
Crankbaits:
Using crankbaits around laydowns?? You might be saying what the heck is he talking about, but a crankbait is the best real life bait imitator. Again, I would use the same rod/reel and line combination as I did for a spinnerbait. You want a crankbait that has good buoyancy and a wide wobble. A key to this is also the plastic bill on the crankbait needs to be square and not rounded. The square will allow your bait to bounce off any potential hang-ups. With the square bill you can bounce a crankbait against limbs and that is often the key to getting the fish to bite.
It may be intimidating at first to put a crankbait into heavy cover, but be confident and you'll catch fish others have missed.
Jigs and Plastics:
I would fish these baits the same way as I would a spinnerbait or crankbait with a few exceptions. Those exceptions would be tackle. I would resort to pitching and flipping. Using this kind of technique you want the tools to go with it. A 7’6” flipping stick heavy action rod with a high-speed reel (just something that I prefer 6.2:1) As for line I would use 50lbs-braided Berkley Fire Line. Again working the outside edges of the laydown first and then working my way into the centre of the branches. The fish will tell you what they want, so you may have to change weights of your bait. I would start with a 1/2 oz black and blue flipping jig with a zoom blue chunk. If I were fishing a lizard I would use a 6” pumpkin seed lizard with chartreuse tail on 3/8 oz tungsten nickel screw sinker. Again presentation is important. Always make sure that the bait enters the water quietly and always pitch/cast past the point you think the bass will be.
The location of the laydown is important. Lay downs on gravel banks are great in spring or on first opening month, while laydowns on flats are often best in fall. Laydowns next to deep water are best in summer.
I honestly believe the key to fishing laydowns with a spinnerbait (or any bait for that matter) is in the first 2 seconds when the bait hits the water. The bait has to go in the water a quietly as possible, the quieter the better. You do not want the big splash. So an overhand cast is not what you want to be using here. A short little side arm cast and just as the bait is about to go into the water you put your thumb on the spool and you lift your rod ever so slightly as the bait goes quietly into the water. This is something that takes lots of practice to do. I honestly believe the angler that can cast quietly along laydowns will catch the most fish.
Fallen trees are some of the best cover you'll ever find, and they tend to produce a lot of big bass..
By Peter Larmand April 29, 2005
