This Week @ Bass Edge

Fishing out on the ledge

The line jumped as Cindy Hill’s football jig slid down the face of the original river channel. Wasting no time retrieving slack line, the WBT competitor snapped her rod back and turned her reel handle at warp speed.

“That’s ledge fishing” she said, “You just never know when the bass will strike.”

Following the brief moment of uncertainty, Hill quickly seized control and coaxed the feisty bass to the surface.  Her face beamed from the sudden rush of adrenaline, as she glanced over at her fishing partner. “Isn’t this fun?”

Known for its diversity of both bass habitat and species, Kentucky Lake is perhaps most notable for its abundance of offshore ledges. Numerous points hidden below the surface line both sides of the flooded Tennessee River. Topographical maps quickly place anglers in the vicinity of the contour lines that hold bass.  Further observation with electronics reveals the subtleties “Old Man River” has etched in the face of time.

During her preliminary map study, Hill looks for long points extending out to the main river in close proximity to a channel bend.

“I prefer points facing the down-current side, they don’t have to be a steep drop but they must intersect the old river channel.”

Citing the presence of baitfish as an added bonus, Hill believes the brakes in current from the water generated from daily locking activities offers the bass ideal ambush points.

Hill uses the graph to position the boat as far from the ledge as possible, yet still able to reach the top of the point or ridge with her jig, plastic worm or deep-diving crankbait.

“A lot of times local anglers plant brush piles, and the bass will really stack up.”

The only caveat to this favored approach is when the bass are holding near the deeper portion of the ledge. Simply reversing boat position and casting into the deep water, allows her to work the bait up the ledge, often times enticing finicky bass into biting

With the aging of Kentucky Lake, much of the pole timber and lay-downs have deteriorated. Home lake expert and FLW Pro Terry Bolton said: “As the lake has gotten older, it has become more clear pushing the bass to deeper water.” 

In addition, with the increase in skill of the average angler, many of the shallow dwelling bass have become pressured causing them to find residence offshore.

While Bolton does believe there are always fish in the skinny waters, he prefers homesteading offshore and exploring the hidden areas in lakes absent of pressure. 

“There are schools of bass that have not seen the shoreline or a lure based upon where they live,” Bolton explained. “Take Lake Guntersville (Ala.,) bass there will spawn in the middle of the lake on top of a grass hump.”

A technique born on Kentucky Lake and very effective throughout the county is “stroking a jig.” Armed with an extra-heavy action rod, Bolton allows the football jig to hit bottom, brings his rod to the 12 o’clock position then quickly drops the rod tip back to 9 o’clock, throwing the slack back in the line.

“A lot of times you will never feel the bass hit because it strikes on the fall and you must be able to get the slack out.”

Bolton uses 10- or 12-pound fluorocarbon line. 

“I use it for increased sensitivity, and the smaller diameter line combined with the sinking properties of fluorocarbon allows the jig to fall more vertical on a slack line.” 

Hook diameter is another important detail.

“I want a light wire hook with a small diameter so that it does not take as much force to drive it through its (a bass) mouth.”

Much like Hill, Bolton will employ a deep-diving crankbait when targeting ledges, but his reaction bait of choice is a ¾ oz. spinnerbait.  His top combinations for blade choices are a No. 2 Colorado on front and No. 5 willow on back or a double willow with a No. 2 on front and No. 5 on back.

“The No. 5 willow on back is a key component for slow-rolling deep ledges,” Bolton said.  “If you go any larger without increasing your head size, the blade will not make a full rotation reducing the action of the bait.”

Further tweaking comes in the form of a trailer. He keeps it simple opting for either a split-tail or ribbon-tail trailer to add profile to the bait.  When asked about the use of a trailer hook, Terry politely paused and replied: “They either want it or they don’t.”

Bolton works his crankbaits to keep them in the strike zone longer.

“As the ledge tapers off, I will hesitate just a few seconds, allowing the bait to float right along the edge of the break staying a few feet off of the bottom and the bass will normally load up.”