Tips for fishing brush

[Atimm693]

I fish a lot at Stockton lake in Missouri. There's thousands of brush piles scattered.

Lately I've been fishing bridge pilings and it's been hit and miss. Some days they're there and sometimes not.

From the reports I've read certain brush piles seem to produce pretty consistently. The problem I run in to is staying on them.

I try to mark them with bouys when I cruise over them but I can never seem to get them that close, so I still end up searching around for the pile.

I moved my transducer onto my bow trolling motor so I can see directly where I'm fishing. This helped some, but my boat drifts easily, and once again I end up searching for the pile.

I'm worried that dropping a bouy straight down when I'm on top of a pile will spook fish. Is that really something to worry about?

I'd love to hear your strategies for finding and fishing brush.

My sonar does not have side imaging, but clearly shows brush piles.

Additionally, how do you guys go about choosing which brush piles to drop a jig on? If fish are visible on the graph?

[doggone]

I usually get right over the pile then throw the marker like 15-20 ft away. Sometimes I am going to cast and retrieve over the brush...sometimes I am going to throw on it with a slip bobber set just right...and sometimes I'm going to vertical fish over it. That depends on how deep it is mainly and how clear the water is. The deeper and murkier it is the more likely I will fish right over it. One thing about casting or slip bobber is I can throw beyond and work it back over it...catching fish around it too.

Be aware...sometimes to catch them you need to double anchor ....sit still...get quiet...and give the fish some time.You ever squirrel hunt and when you walk in crunching those leaves you see nothing...but after 15 minutes or so the activity picks back up? Fishing is like that sometimes. You banging around and the trolling motor is whirring or you blew up within 30 yards of your target with the outboard...you need to let things settle down sometimes.

I rarely use my markers any more...but they do come in handy at times and they are a good learning tool. Biggest problem is they tip people off to a spot even more so than just being there with the boat. I hardly see anyone use them anymore...a guy complained to me the other day about people seeing him catch fish on a spot then they mark it on their GPS.

I usually start looking at the brush that is at the location and depth I figure the fish are going to be. Like sometimes I figure they will be in the main body of the lake on humps or ledges...or main points or secondary points...or sometimes further back in a cove or creek arm..so I break it down like that. Always looking to develop a pattern for the day...and watching for it to change. Somedays it won't...others they may be one place in the morning and another later in the day.

I rarely fish a spot I am not marking fish on to my liking. I have occasionally caught them when they were buried in the brush enough it is hard to separate them. But with DSI now it's easier.

[CrappiePappy]

If you intend to keep using markers, find your brushpile with your electronics (going into the wind if possible) and throw markers left and right of the pile. Then you have a better point of reference as to where the pile is, even if the wind pushes you away.

I know what you mean by "my boat drifts easily" ... mine does too. If I'm fishing any offshore cover, that is what I do.

I don't worry so much about other people seeing my markers, or even marking the spot with Side Image units ... I'm always thinking that I'm not the only one that knows about the spot, and there's no spot that "always" holds fish. I'm catching them "now", and by the time I get back to it another day ... they may or may not even be on that spot. I just mark it with the GPS coords and come back to it when I can, especially if I've caught fish on brushpiles in similar depths that day.

One other reason for not dropping a marker directly "into" the brush, aside from possibly spooking the fish, is that there's a possibility that a fish I hang will get into the marker rope ... and I may lose the fish, spook all the other fish getting it reset, or both.

Anytime I'm casting a jig into wood cover ... that jig will have a weedguard !! Period ... end of discussion. If I can safely cast by it, over it, or know the exact depth of it's topmost limbs ... I may use a Road Runner.

My DSI unit gives me clear pics of what's there, but even when I don't see what I know are fish (like in this screenshot) :



And it looks like this on the screen :



... I will still consider fishing it, because there's been too many times that I've caught fish from cover that didn't show any fish. IF I don't get bit in a short amount of time, I'll move on to another spot ... but, may return to that spot later on, just to see if any fish have moved in.

[Ketchn]

If there are fish in abundance on a pile I hit it , I like to mark the pile myself and worry none about if if will spook them , staying on piles is tough if it’s windy for sure ....lots of my buds use those I pilot type trolling motors and they do pretty well on staying close ....must drop marker when the pile is visible off the transom close to the transducer to get close in my experience

[J.M.]

Some people drop there anchor in the bush pile and then when it gets hung up in the pile they pull the pile apart and soon you no longer have a pile just some scattered bush. Not a good ideal.

[pab1981]

There are several ways to do it, a marker buoy thrown just clear of the upwind side of the cover is the most effective. It takes some practice. Spray paint them black if you are worried about others seeing them.

You can't set on a single stump, small pile, or three bucket stake bed very effectively using just GPS. Sure you can wave over it a few times but not fish it right. Markers also have other advantages on larger cover as well but I am probably wasting my breath. And I am not a beginner, all I do and have done for years is vertical fish wood on Ky/Barkley year around.

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[ozarks ranger]

Real good info here. We have put in 40 plus piles in Stockton. Once you are seen on one it is no longer yours had to fight others off while fishing one of them yesterday. Inconsiderate people if they had waited 10 min we would have limited out and been gone. Any way you have to fish 20 to find one with a good number of keepers. Last winter was crazy one day there and gone for 2 weeks. Had to run run run



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[Atimm693]

Real good info here. We have put in 40 plus piles in Stockton. Once you are seen on one it is no longer yours had to fight others off while fishing one of them yesterday. Inconsiderate people if they had waited 10 min we would have limited out and been gone. Any way you have to fish 20 to find one with a good number of keepers. Last winter was crazy one day there and gone for 2 weeks. Had to run run run



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That seems to be another issue I run into, there's so many piles, and it seems like only 10 or 20% of them will hold fish on a given day.

I've ordered a Pirahnamax 4 DI that has down imaging, so it should make it easier to see what piles have some fish on them.

[Fish on Line]

One thing to remember when throwing a marker --- the Depth -- If the Pile is in 20 ft of Water -- the Cone will be 20 foot wide . where the Marker is sitting might be 15 foot away by using extra markers it will actually locate it better between them. study underwater camera schools on U-Tube, Lots of Crappie are off to the side of the Structure.

[Mosquitopat]

Some people drop there anchor in the bush pile and then when it gets hung up in the pile they pull the pile apart and soon you no longer have a pile just some scattered bush. Not a good ideal.

Remember...ya can't fix stupid.