Cover can be the obvious
Cover and structure are many times used interchangeably, but they are not the same. When you get down to it, structure refers to the physical characteristics of the water body, such as points, reefs and islands. Cover can be the obvious, it is the add-on features, such as docks, fallen trees and vegetation. A good way to remember the distinction is that if you were to drain all the water from a lake, the structures would not move.
Bridges
To effectively fish bridges for bass, focus on bridge corners, pilings, and rip-rap areas.
Hyacinth Mats
Hyacinth Mats Bass have complete mobility beneath hyacinths to chase bluegill and shiners.
Rip Rap
Rip rap is a universal form of cover for bass. No matter whether you are bass fishing natural lakes.
Weeds
Weeds and Bass Behavior are winners in my book wherever they are found. They have all the elements.
Brush / Bushes
All levels of bass fisherman should know how to Bass fish in brush/bushes on the water.
Laydowns
Laydowns For Lunker Bass are popular features in bass fisheries across the country.
Standing Timber
In a cluster of standing timber, the ones with intact branches will offer fish more cover.
Docks
Docks a man-made structure is known as a bass fishing hot spots. Big docks offer a lot of shade.
Lily Pads
Nothing gets a bass angler more fired up than spotting a patch of lily pads. Topwater frogs is a blast.
Stumps
Stumps feature a squat section of trunk that gives way to a series of roots attached to the soil.
Ambush and hiding areas can be the obvious
This is one of the most basic concepts of bass fishing. Bass and cover is similar to peanut butter and jelly. It’s like the chicken and the egg. They go together. The bass is a creature of prey. He uses the dark shadows as a point of ambush to attack. Cover also provides protection from other species.
Cover can be the obvious like stumps, laydowns, docks, vegetation. Or it can be subtle like the change of two types of rock. Additionally, deposits of bottom siltation on a sand bottom or even shade can also be considered an ambush area. Cover is some physical object separate from the actual bottom contour. It is often mistaken for structure. Structure is the actual bottom contour (breaks, drops, humps, etc.).
As a general rule the more extreme the conditions (heavy current, bad cold front, super hot-water, really muddy water) the tighter to, and into cover, bass will be. The more stable the conditions, the looser a bass will relate to cover…
Many anglers affectionately refer to floating vegetation as “slop”. Slop is often sought-out by largemouth bass enthusiasts. Slop is a combination of thin, strand-like algae and other floating vegetation. It is also mixed with emergent plants (like lily pads and coontail). In bays with limited water movement, slop sticks to other types of weeds. This forms a large, floating mat that attracts largemouth bass.