Why Bass Relate
To Wood Cover

Which of the following sounds like the best big-bass hideout?
• Standing timber lining a creek channel.
• A field of stumps in a shallow reservoir.
• Acres of submerged brush in a murky cove.
Having a hard time deciding which you'd like to fish first? Well, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Fact is, they all sound perfect. Wood attracts bass no matter what form it comes in or where you find it. But why? What makes timber, stumps and brush such bass magnets? What strategies should you use when fishing wood? Are there times when wood is No. 1, and times when you should avoid it?
QUALITIES OF WOOD COVER: Bass lurk around a big stump, a fallen tree or a clump of brush these help a bass keep a low profile from potential forage and enemies. Furthermore, wood attracts other living things, too things bass feed on: minnows, crayfish, amphibians, just about anything that lives in and around the water. Surprisingly, the attraction wood has to some of these small creatures (especially immature fish) is the algae that covers stumps, submerged branches and sunken brush. This slimy coating serves as a food source. A bass in wood looks like a fish in a cafeteria - minnows and fry move in to feed on the algae and bass feed on them. Wood provides shade, which has led to a bassin' myth: namely, that these fish hide around logs and stumps because the sun hurts their eyes. Not true. Like many predators, bass use shade for concealment, not eye protection. If and when they avoid direct sunlight, it's because the light makes them more visible.
Wood, of course, decays over time, a process which is readily seen in a newly impounded reservoir. Hundreds of acres of brush are inundated. This soon develops an algae coating. Tiny fish move into the shallows to feed on it. The bass aren't far behind. But brush decays quickly. Twigs and limbs fall off and drop to the bottom. After a few years, most of the brush may be gone. The baitfish have lost their feeding grounds and hiding places. And that's when the bass go bananas. Fishing may be unbelievable until the baitfish find new places to hide. Larger wood cover rots, too, but not as quickly. Even though a big stump on the tip of a point has been there for decades, it won't last forever. Standing timber falls and eventually decomposes, too. The thing to remember is that decomposition burns up oxygen, on dry land or beneath the water. Unlike aquatic vegetation, which we'll discuss in a later issue, timber, brush and stumps do not put oxygen back into the water - they consume oxygen through the decaying process. Hence, lakes with lots of wood cover may suffer from oxygen depletion. More on this in a moment. There's often more to wood cover than what you see above the surface. A stump sticking out of shallow water may be 2 feet across the top, but it'll have a root structure that spans 20 feet or more. As the lake bottom erodes due to wave action and current, more of these roots become exposed, offering expanded hunting and hiding opportunities. Thus a stump that's been there for a long time is often more attractive to bass than one in a newly-inundated reservoir.
FISHING WOOD COVER: Few sights in the sport of fishing are more thrilling than that of a big bass swirling out from a stump or brushpile to nail a passing lure. But as you'll see, there won't be a bass around every stick of wood in the lake. Many warm-weather tournaments are won by bumping spinnerbaits, jigs and crankbaits against stumps, logs and brush. That's not surprising, because the algae that coats submerged wood grows rapidly in warm water. Therefore more baitfish are drawn to it and in turn more bass. Because it's often big, solid and easily seen beneath the surface, wood serves as a reference point to bass. A stump on the end of a deep point may be "home base" to a largemouth. And although the bass may wander in its quest for food, it eventually returns to the stump simply because it feels a sense of security there. The importance of this phenomenon is greatly amplified when visibility is low. If the water is muddy a bass tends to stick tight to a wood object. It is believed these objects actually prevent the bass from becoming disoriented or lost when it can't see more than a few inches. Thus, in muddy or murky lakes, it's critical to make contact with the wood you're fishing. The lower the water clarity, the less a bass will move away from its favorite stump to strike. No wonder so many tournaments are won by flipping and pitching jigs right into the middle of brushpiles and logjams in muddy lakes. Wood cover usually is associated with the lake's bottom. As we've seen, when wood decays, it burns up oxygen. Thus, in lakes littered with rotting brush and trees, take care not to fish too close to the bottom, because the dissolved oxygen may be dramatically lower there than in the lake's middle zone or at the surface. This layer of oxygen-poor water is typically less than 2 feet wide. Rather than crawl a plastic worm across the bottom in such a spot, run a crankbait a couple of feet above the bottom or try a surface lure. You've undoubtedly noticed that when fishing a stump field or brushy area, one or two stumps or brushpiles may produce most of your strikes. There's something about these individual pieces of cover that drew bass while the rest did not. Usually it's because of some other structural element that sets them apart from the rest and greatly increases their appeal. Stumps lining a creek or river channel, for example, will often be better than those peppered on a mud flat because the channel has a current flow and more highly-oxygenated water. Likewise, a brushpile close to a weedbed, or one near a sunken boulder, offers the bass more hiding and feeding opportunities. Give a bass more reasons to live in a certain spot, and it'll take advantage of them. Many pros have caught some of their biggest bass from isolated wood objects - a lone stump on top of a submerged island, a single brushpile, a Christmas tree on a shallow flat and that one big sunken log in a weedy lake. Comb your local waters for such solitary gold mines. But remember: if you can spot them easily, so can the other bass anglers competing with you for that 10 pounder. Best bet is to use your depthfinder to locate solitary stumps, trees or brushpiles offshore in 20 feet of water. When you connect, you may land the lunker of a lifetime. Many "woody" lakes are dark colored, due to tannins from the submerged timber leeching out into the water. Yet this water is often surprisingly clear, so a flashing lure may be easily seen by the bass. The changing water levels of flood-control reservoirs can dramatically alter the way bass relate to wood. Usually when water levels rise, bass move in droves into newly inundated wood cover. In the late spring, heavy rains flood shoreline bushes in many areas, providing a bassin' bonanza. Willow bushes are especially productive at this time; they harbor all sorts of insects including mayflies, which in turn draw smaller predators like bluegills, which in turn attract scores of bass. Fishing a buzzbait around these flooded bushes can provide explosive action and just maybe a trophy-size bass. But when the water level drops, you may find the wood cover you've been fishing high and dry. This has happened to more than one angler. He's arrived at his honey hole to find his favorite stumprow sticking out of the water. Anticipate seasonal drawdowns and locate submerged trees and logs in deeper water. They'll become more productive as the lake level lowers.
Finally, don't forget boat docks. Many of the tips I've mentioned apply to these man-made wooden structures. However, some docks are treated with chemicals to keep algae off the pilings. Make sure the dock you're fishing has a good coating of moss. If it does, it'll probably hold bass.
FAVORITE LURES FOR FISHING WOOD COVER: Some lures are better than others for fishing stumps, submerged logs, standing timber and brush.
• SPINNERBAITS - Ideal for fishing all types of wood. They're easily bumped into cover without hanging up. In murky water, a big tandem willowleaf spinnerbait for big bass works best.
• CRANKBAITS - The favorite lures of bass pros for bumping wood. But don't expect to catch many Junkers on them - their frantic wobble is too unrealistic. Try a deep diver around shallow logs - its long lip will help deflect the lure and prevent hang ups.
• JIGS - Perfect for flipping and pitching around brush and dense logjams. Also capable of being worked slowly around the root systems of stumps, where big bass often lurk.
• TOPWATERS - Best in lakes where rotting wood has depleted the oxygen at the lake's bottom. Try a surface popper or prop bait around standing timber lining a submerged river channel.
• BUZZBAITS - A good choice in newly-flooded brush and timber, even in the middle of the day. Fish them on a long rod and high-speed baitcasting reel.
• PLASTIC WORMS/LIZARDS - Tremendous around isolated stumps and fallen trees when fished on a Texas rig. Rig them Carolina-style to keep them off the bottom where extensive decaying wood has depleted oxygen.