Wood

Wood is probably the second most common type of cover where bass are found.  Flooded brush and timber, laydowns and overhanging trees can provide some excellent bass fishing for numbers and quality-sized fish.

Use Heavy Tackle

To catch bigger bass around wood, you must be using heavy tackle to avoid getting snagged on the wood.  You can get away with lighter tackle at times, but if you’re targeting bigger bass around wood, you have a much better chance to land them consistently with heavier tackle.  Anglers may be using anywhere from 17 to 65 pound line depending on the situation and the size of the bass.

Submerged Trees

Submerged trees are common in many reservoirs in the southern United States.  You will find some bodies of waters with trees up north and out west as well, but down south, it is very common for anglers to be fishing trees for bass.  Whether the trees were cut before the reservoir was filled, or if the trees are just in flooded water, it doesn’t matter too much to the bass.  They love wood and they will find it wherever and whenever they can.

Overhanging Trees

Overhanging trees provide bass with 2 main things: shade and protection.  The depth, time of day and water temperature will all affect whether or not bass will use the spots near the overhanging trees.  During the middle of the day, anglers can usually find some bass hiding in the shady spots under these overhanging trees.  Areas that have some rocky bottoms or weeds will also be more appealing to bass.  Add in some deeper water nearby and you have a perfect spot to target bass from late spring through early fall.

One of the keys to fishing overhanging trees is to get your bait under the trees without getting snagged up.  Skipping baits is the best way to fish under these overhanging trees.

Laydowns

Fallen trees, also known as laydowns, are trees that have fallen or been placed into the water.  On many of the satellite maps nowadays, you can find some of the these laydowns from your computer while at home.  If you are on the water, you can find many of these spots by taking a boat ride and searching the shorelines.  The laydowns that lead into deeper water will usually hold larger numbers of bass as well as some quality bass.