A few bridge fishing tips

[ERNEST PATY]

A few bridge fishing tips.

I have observed several boats fishing the bridges recently that had almost no chance of success and thought you might benefit from my thoughts.

Tying up or anchoring outside the bridge in the sun. I know on a chilly morning that the sun feels good but the fact is Crappie love the shade and won’t move out of it to reach your bait. Catfish might but this is about Crappie fishing. Always fish the shady side directly beside the columns.

Fishing too deep. Most bridges in water deeper than 12’ have cross members between the columns. Look at the cross member at the top of the bridge and you will normally find the underwater one about 15’ below the top one. Look at you graph, it will clearly show the beam. Don’t waste your time looking for fish on the graph. (and for goodness sake, turn off that annoying fish alert beeper). If the beam is shallower than 8’ I will fish just below it. If the beam is deeper I will start fishing just above it. As a general rule I will start fishing at 11’ and adjust if the fish dictate.

Staying too long in one place. Crappie are curious and aggressive and most of the time are not in a feeding mode. When you first drop in a spot if the fish are there you will get bit within two or three min. The more aggressive fish in the school will hit first and often are the only ones that will hit. Unless it’s extremely windy I will not tie up my boat. I use the trolling motor. Fish into the wind starting at the shady end if possible and slowly work the full length of the beam to the other side column and slowly back to where you started. This should take about one to two min. Do this twice and if no fish, move to the next set of columns. If you’re catching fish stay until they haven’t bit for 3-4 min. and move on.

Over working a jig. Most rookie jiggers overwork their jigs. Holding it still will usually get more bites than anything else and you will get hung less. Also if you’re moving it you are less likely to feel the bite. Watch your line carefully. A lot of times you will see more bites than you feel. Very important to use high viz line. 6# to 10# max.

Change your line often. I use 6# high viz line on bridges. If your line is and stiff and curly you will nor feel a lot of subtle bites. I change my line every two weeks. It’s cheap. With the high viz line it’s easy to mark your line with a magic marker so you always.know how deep you’re fishing.

Sometimes you can catch fish by casting across to the other columns and letting the jig fall back to you. The mark on the line let’s you keep the jig at the right depth as it returns. If you get most of your bites after the jig gets straight down then you need to fish vertically and slower.


As with everything about fishing these “Rules” are subject to the fish’s approval on any given day.

Ernest Paty
www.Catchcrappie.com

[jem270]

I haven't fished bridges much. I may just start. Great tips.

Thanks

[Chadku]

Bridges are a great fall crappie spot....I start there every time out this time of year....shade is good, but I am a little more patient than Ernest....I will however not stay too long ...I will leave and come back in a few hours....It seems to me that they will turn on at different times of day...sometimes its early some times its afternoon after the water has had a chance to warm up a little, but the shady side is always best.

[CrappiePappy]

to try this around bridge pilons, too : http://www.crappie.com/articles/crappiepappy.htm

It's worked quite well, for me, especially around bridge pilons.

... cp

[boat49]

I used to fish the bridges of a large lake I lived by at the time. It amazed me that a rookie,(that would be me), figured out pretty quickly that the fish were always around the columns on the ends. I miss having these "go to" spots. This is also where I learned the shade vs. sun rule you speak of. When I was just learning how to fish, I grew up playing golf!, I was tied to one of the columns at the end where the shade line was and noticed then that inside the shade you catch fish and outside of it, nothing! Through lots of trial and error and reading what all you knowledgable people post on here, I can now fish about as well as I "played" golf!! and enjoy it so much more.

[jem270]

Dang it. I'm here at work and you make me want to go fishing!!!!

[father of 4]

Thanks for the tips.

[ad1974]

Good tips,I like to fish at bridges.

[skiptomylu]

Ernest knows crappie and you should take what he says and give it a try IMHO!

Skip

[Baxter1]

On my favorite crappie lake we always fished under the bridge.We could always catch something.Usually fishing the ends of the piers or underneath.Cast up along the wall and let it float down along the wall.
Haven't fished there in awhile though.used to live 45 mins.away now I'm almost 2 hrs away.That stinks.