How To Fish Stumps And Stump Rows For Big Bass
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Lined up like houses in a subdivision, stump rows provide all the comforts of home to bass. Fishing stumps just flat out produces bass. If you’ve got a lake that has stumps, bass will use the cover year-round, even in the hot summertime.
Fishing Stumps 101
Bass can be found anywhere along a stump row, but two key factors influence where the majority of the fish position in a stump-laden spot. Any ditch running close to these tree stumps is one key to finding the most productive cover. It doesn’t have to be a drastic ditch with maybe only a foot and a half difference in the bottom contour.
Shade, and knowing how to read the shade, is the other key to look for when fishing stump rows. A clump of three or four stubs or a line of large stumps hold the most bass because this cover provides more shade. The root systems offer some shelter for bass, but the thickest section of stumps provides the most shade. Most of the fish will hold on the base of the stump, pretty tight to the cover.
Water flow also plays a role in positioning stump row bass. When encountering current, you can find bass holding on main lake flats in the washout areas below the stump’s roots. Scan the water to determine hot spots in stump rows hidden below the surface. You can identify them by the swirls. There will be slick water on those flats and then you’ll see an area where the water’s being disrupted. Try pitching a jig above the swirl and letting it drift into the eddy.
Bass often suspend over stumps in deeper water. Some stumps are cut off 3 feet from the bottom so you have that trunk protruding from the base. If you can position your boat to where you can run a crankbait and just clip the top of that stump then a lot of times you’ll get the bite.
What To Throw Near Stumps
Stumps are also popular targets to hit during the fall when bass are in the shallows. The wood cover gets hammered with spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs and other power baits all day long, so try a drop shot rig to catch pressured bass in stumps.
Pitch a drop shot rig with a 6-inch straight tail plastic worm and 1/4-ounce elongated weight while keeping your boat about 20 feet or less from the cover. Saturate the stump with pitches to all of its sides before moving on to the next target.
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