I have really started to enjoy cut banks, specifically cut banks on pool 8 of the Mississippi (LaCrosse). As anyone knows that has fished this area there are literally miles of cut banks that can be fished, with this said, what I am now working on is breaking down good banks from just normal banks.
Any suggestions to thinning the miles of cut banks or specific traits of banks that you have noticed work 'better' than others?
*Generic question, many answers and scenario...*
The banks you are seeking are the ones with the best cover. The grass hanging over the bank to the water is the best cover. The fish get up underneath the overhang. Generally that's going to be the banks with current as they will tend to be deeper. Also focus on any irregularities. Like the grass hanging out a little further on one spot or a stump or maybe a little drain from another backwater. Anything of these can hold fish but the Johnson Grass meeting the water is what I'm looking for. I need to get to Goose this year. Haven't been there all year.
I don't fish a lot of cut banks on the Mississippi though I do on other rivers near by. Yes current is usually the key and I too prefer over hanging grass. Usually side chutes and islands are good places to start looking. Like Bass Hunter said, fish any irregularities. I know a lot of times I can't get a bite unless my bait is TIGHT to the bank. For me it's pretty much a flipping deal. 5/16-1/2 ounce weight, beaver, tube, craw, pit boss, or senko for me. I like a bait without a lot of appendages so it doesn't hang on the grass.
I have dedicate a ton of time this summer getting to know cuts. I lived and fish around them my entire life but I really have not utilized them as much as I should have - I have really missed out.Originally Posted by Iowa Bass Hunter
Today I started working cuts with eel grass on them/ matted a long them. Last week before the state tournament was here frogs and swimbaits in the grass would load the boat, today not the case. I ended up going back to flipping a speed craw style bait. I started flipping a mostly red craw and fish would pick it up but my hook ratio was near zero. I ended up switching colors to a mostly blue pattern and it was night and day. It was actually a two pronged pattern today, the grass mats didn't produce as they had before. Banks with current in and around 8' held fish - over 10' and either I wasn't getting down to the fish with the flow or they were not there. The second prong of the pattern was sand points and flats with current, the small jaws were chewing today!
Be careful in Goose! A cut I have run atleast 50 times this summer ended up biting me in the rear end today. Running the cut on plane I smacked something solid, instant vibration in the motor. I kept the boat on plane until the landing because I honestly thought I knocked a blade off. Lucky I was in my flat with my tiller/ aluminum prop rig.... not my Phoenix... ended up putting a big dent in a blade probably past repair. The dent tells me it was a log or a stump, a rock would have likely ended the prop (not many rocks around Goose).
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