Underwater Humps Hold Fish

At certain times, Underwater Humps Hold Fish. Humps are probably the best kept secrets on most bodies of water throughout the country. This is especially true on my home water the Connecticut River. From experience I have found that since humps are usually adjacent to deep water, they are great staging areas for bass. This becomes even more evident during the bass’ seasonal and feeding movements.

Humps are also consistent areas to fish. This is evident because most humps are usually hidden from the shore-oriented angler. Meaning they are not visible from above the surface. This makes them a big bass attractant. They may be mid lake “humps” running parallel to the main channel. Humps might be slowly tapering, subsurface points. They reach out from the inside river bend and extend to the channel drop. They may even be found in shallow water. You need to understand that humps can be found in any depth range.

The composition of a hump is basically rock, gravel, sand or ledge. Although it can be framed with aquatic vegetation or a sand topping. Humps can be found almost anywhere on a lake, reservoir or river. They could be isolated or in conjunction with a point or ledge. This type of structure can give way to deeper terrain with immediacy. Alternatively, it could have a gradual slope leading into deeper water.

After finding a hump, you must weigh its attractiveness

Current system humps in particular are not always found in deep water. As a matter of fact, some of my best humps are in less than 6 feet of water. Sometimes, these shallow humps are referred too as shoals, rises, ridges, and ledge. But the fact is the bass relate to them as if they were one and the same. Fisherman tend to overlook these shallow water humps. Remember that bass in a current environment spend a major part of their life in shallow water. This makes these shallow humps a gold mine.

After finding a hump, you must weigh its attractiveness to bass and decide whether it deserves a few casts. Look for a hump with good shoreline grass or structure. This should be either on the hump itself or nearby. Concern yourself also with the features of the hump. Try to find a hump that has at least one edge that makes a gradual taper out towards the main channel. An ideal hump would have this and also have a sharp drop at the channel itself. This is the type of hump fish can relate to throughout the year.

A hump like this will also hold bass during weather changes like those nasty cold-fronts. When getting ready to evaluate a hump for fishing, it becomes especially important to look for a migration route connection from the hump to the shoreline. Any hump that has a migration route (ditch, weediine, channel, stumps, rock wall, etc.) to shallow water makes an ideal holding area for the bass between its ventures to the shallow feeding area. Remember that bass are very structure oriented. This connection is a must for a hump to be consistent.