Fishing Flooded Timber

Life After Death

In the natural cycle, everything dies, but the impact of a riparian tree continues on long after it topples into the water.

The branches of a sunken tree create an ideal habitat for fish. These large pieces of decomposing wood also construct the base of a perfect food web; bacteria and small organisms feed on the wood, larger organisms feed on them, insects feed in turn, becoming lunch for small fish, which end up in the bellies of big fish. Sunken or partially submerged wood is another spot which anglers must explore to locate fish. Not only does it provide cover, shade and an ambush spot, it sports its own buffet! Perhaps the biggest benefit provided by a tree to fish, and in turn anglers, is the veritable buffet of bugs that can be found in the leaves of a stream or lakeside tree. Terrestrial insects such as beetles, grasshoppers and ants are often found exploring the smallest branches of a tree. Aquatic insects, like dragonflies, mayflies and caddisflies use shoreside trees as a resting place as they complete the transition from nymph to adult.

After finding timber standing in water , anglers need only explore the area in the water around it, and always fish the "shady" side of a stump first.

Lets discuss some of my favourite baits for fishing timber and brush, namely Jigs, Creature baits, Flukes, Lizzards, Senkos / Worms, Crankbaits and Spinnerbaits.

Jig Fishing

Bass seem to feed largely on crabs which are picked off of standing timber. Dropping a jig to sink down the tree trunk will often draw a strike.

When fishing jigs, use a strong (up to 10kg), high visibility line. Due to the dirty water and the manner in which these lures are fished, the visible line will have little effect on the fish, but aid the angler greatly. Apart from improved casting - because you can see what you are doing - the line will often act as a bite detector, visibly flicking or twitching as the bass subtly inhales the lure - often on the drop. These takes are seldom felt, and would be missed without the aid of a high visibility line.

When casting or pitching the lure in dirty water, a noisy entry is not a bad thing. The splash as a bulky lure plops into the water will often attract a bass' attention, and help him to home in on the offering. Deflecting the lure off the target tree is another way of announcing its arrival to the waiting bass. Because fishing dirty water often requires getting really close to structure, find a tree with small (strong enough to support the line, but weak enough to snap should the fish pounce on the lure), twig like branch just above the water, onto which the line can be hooked, allowing the lure to drop vertically down the trunk. To accomplish this, accuracy is an important factor. But, if you are to keep the lure on target, and in the strike zone longer, casting over a twig in this fashion will prevent the lure from penduluming back toward the rod tip before the fish has had a chance to see it.

A nice bass taken in deep structure - 20ft

When fishing plastics in heavy brush or structure, some anglers apply one of the various bait scents available. While the attracting ability of these products are questionable, and often times depends on the angler's confidence, a little lubrication on the bait goes a long way to keeping it from snagging in exposed branches. Plastics have a nasty tendency of wrapping themselves around twigs and sticks at the slightest contact. With a bit of lubrication, the bait simply slides through, dropping into the water. If the attracting qualities of the scent actually works too, then it is a bonus.

Yet jig fishing can be a little frustrating at times, and a little mysterious when you first get in to it. I don't think it's because the jig is all that hard to fish with. I think it's because to catch fish consistently on the jig, you need to have the right setup (jig included) and you need to understand the conditions in which certain types of jigs are effective.

There are a lot of theories out there on the weedguard. Some guys trim it just above the tip of the hook. Other guys thin threads out where the weedguard is glued into the jig. Other guys spread the weedguard out by bending it to the sides. When you buy a jig you need to think of the weedguard as raw material to be crafted to your needs. I prescribe to the school that cuts some threads out of the weedguard at the base. I also like to fan the bristles out around the hook. I have had terrible luck cutting the weedguard shorter above the hook. This just makes it stiffer which is not a good thing.

To test my jigs I like to tap my pointer finger on the weedguard towards the hook. If I feel the hook point with a sharp tap of the finger I figure that's good. If I feel 3 or 4 bristles instead of the hook, that's bad. If your finger comes back bloody you are tapping too hard!

The Trailer: The trailer is what makes the jig! There are probably 100+ things you can use as a jig trailer but let's skip to what I know works.

Probably my favorite trailer is a full size brush hog. I know this isn't the first thing that jumps to mind when you think of jig trailers, but then again I've never been accused of doing things the normal way when it comes to fishing. I take a brush hog and cut it right between the two little wings (about ¾" back from the head). I thread it on the hook so that the hook comes out right between the base of the wings. This trailer is very bulky and slows the fall of your jig really well. It also gives a great illusion of a crawdad and has good action at slow speeds with the two thin tentacles. Most importantly, the brush hog wings cause the trailer end of the jig to float up off of the bottom assuming the posture of a ticked off crawdad. You have to see this in a tank to understand it. It just looks killer and the fish think so too. This stand up posture is KEY to jig fishing.

Getting back to the normal thing, my second favorite trailer is a 5" twin tail grub. I use this mostly in open water and in deep water. It also seems to get bit better in warm water when the fish are more active. When you look at this trailer in the tank you will notice something interesting. The legs of the grub after you stop it will often unfold slowly outwards. It's subtle but I think it's the kind of thing that triggers strikes. Give a twin tail jig a little pop and then kill it. It falls to the bottom and the legs unfurl themselves. Kind of like a crawdad that touched down on the bottom, noticed a threatening bass near by and decided to stick up its claws. This trailer doesn't float up off the bottom that well but it does catch a lot of fish.

It certainly pays to experiment with jig trailers. While I may be a brush hog guy, you might find out that you do really well on Zoom chunks. Fish at different lakes key on different things so cycle through the box a bit and see what gets the best response for you.

Colors and Scents

Jig Colors: Lots of jig articles say to keep it simple with colors and I tend to concur. I let water clarity and the color of the cover I'm fishing tell me what color to use. If it's very murky or muddy water I use a black jig. The same is true if I am fishing black rock or dark muddy banks. For clearer water, brown or red mud banks, or banks with green tullies I use a brown jig. One thing that gets me is that most commercially made brown jigs have a lot of orange in them. I pull all of the orange threads out of my jig. Don't ask me why, I just do. Lately the brown and copper Assalt jigs have really been working well for me. The copper color has a look to it like the back of a crawdad might have in a clear lake.

Trailer Colors: For trailer colors I branch out a little from my jig colors. With a black jig I like to use black/red, black/blue or just black trailers. For brown jigs I like brown/purple, watermelon/red, watermelon/black, and plain brown. I have also had good success using a brown jig with black pork on occsion. I couldn't tell you why, but sometimes they really like it. Just think along the lines of crawdad colors and you will do fine. If you happen to see a crawdad at the lake you are fishing, by all means put on a trailer that matches that color.

Scents: I don't know if I believe that scents make fish bite a jig in the first place, but I do absolutely believe that using scent is an advantage. Why? Because I think fish hold on longer with scent, and because scent lubricates your jig and makes it swim through the water more naturally, especially in cold water. It also helps when the fish bites the jig. The jig slides in the fishes mouth easily if it's lubed up with a good scent. I start with Smelly Jelly bass feast scent. Then I spray some Bang pure craw scent in for extra lovin. Wipe the jig around in that and you are good to go for at least a half hour.

When to Fish a Jig: Hey a jig can catch fish any time, but in general the jig is a lure to use from Fall to early Spring and especially in the middle of winter. In dams when the water begins to rise, good fish will move tight to the bank and feed on the crabs that get flushed out of their burrows. A jig is the killer bait this time of year. You'd be amazed how many good fish can be caught out of 2 feet of water in Sept. Jigs are also good in prespawn as fish stage out in deeper water. Find a creek arm in your lake, follow it out to where it drops into deeper water and start fishing your way in August to September.

How to Fish the Jig: Softly! Presentation is everything in shallow water jig fishing. Learn how to flip for short casts to 20 feet but also learn how to pitch a jig from 50 feet and have it land without a splash. Crawdads or crabs don't jump out of the sky! One thing I always used to read about but never understood was the guys who said they caught most of their fish on the fall. I used to just pitch my jig out and wait for it to hit the bottom on a slack line. In water less than 6 or 8 feet this is not what you want to do. What you should do is pitch out the jig and as soon as it enters the water keep a tight line and let it fall as slowly as possible. Focusing on this will get you bites in shallow water. Some of my biggest jig fish have almost all come this way.

This ambitious little bass fell victim to a Swim Jig

As far as the retrieve goes, I know it's a lousy answer, but it all depends. In water 20+ feet I tend to fish slow keeping the jig close to the bottom and shaking occasionally or not at all. Only exception would be with spider jigs where I'm jigging fast. In 5 to 20 feet I'm hopping the jig and shaking more. Three short shakes and a pause, then a hop, then three short shakes. You'll get a feel for the jig you are using and how to retrieve it. In shallow water throwing to specific targets I'm pitching in, letting it fall slowly, shaking it a few times and pulling it out. If I really feel there is a fish there obviously I will leave it longer or dead stick but that's something the fish are going to have to tell you they want.

Top American big bass angler Rob Belloni with a 13lb 2oz female that fell for a black and red 5/8 Assalt King Kobra with a black and red brushhog trailer.

The Creature Bait

A Classic Dropbait

The Kreature is designed to use as a classic dropbait to flip in bassy cover. Rig it either forward or backward to flip. It's heavy enough to sink with or without a sinker. Simply flip or pitch it, let 'er sink, flap it around and flip it again.

Pegging Method

It can be tough to peg today's tungsten sinkers. Many tungsten sinkers come with tubing inserts inside to protect the line from rubbing and fraying against the tungsten. To try to peg a tungsten sinker with a toothpick can knock the tubing loose inside. Fortunately, rubber bobber stoppers are a new pegging alternative that works well to help peg tungsten (lead, etc.) sinkers in place. Resembling a colorful grain of rice, bobber stoppers come on a keychain type threader. Thread a bobber stopper on the line, then lace a sinker on the line before knotting a hook to the end. You know have an adjustable pegged sinker rig. The rubber grain won't stay perfectly in place all day. The rubber grain may get knocked up the line as you wrestle your Kreature in and out of snags. When required, two rubber grains can be used to better hold a heavy sinker in place.

Unpegged Illusion

Intentionally positioning the rubber grain from a few inches to a foot up the line produces a desirable life-like illusion. The sinker becomes a second lure. The rig mimics a bulky critter (the Kreature) in hot pursuit of a bitty critter (the sinker) - and nipping its heels every time the Kreature bangs up against the sinker. The sinker constantly slips a few inches or a foot away, bumps the bobber stopper, seemingly evading its pursuer. As you shake or pull the line, the Kreature catches its prey again and nips the sinker again. This resemblance of a critter feeding in front of a bass can trigger its competitive instinct. A bass will barrel out of cover for no other reason than to dominate and disrupt the Kreature's foibled feeding opportunity. Additionally as the dense tungsten sinker slams back into the bulky Kreature body each time the contact causes an abrupt change in the Kreature's demeanor - a thud, a shock you can feel in the line, causing the tails to pulse, the paddles to flare open and closed each time the sinker slams it and the Kreature "bites" the sinker. It's an intense moment to trigger a strike.

An Unconventional Swimbait

Long, limber swimming arms that never stop sculling are the Kreature's main feature when the Kreature is in motion. The arms swim constantly. In more open water areas, the Kreature can be used like a casting swimbait rather than a flipping dropbait. Swim it weightless a foot or two under the surface for smashing strikes from suspended bass.

Also swim it a foot or two above bottom. With it's slow weightless descent, count it down, then swim it slowly above bottom through the tops of underwater weed beds or brush piles.

On a Jig

With skirt-to-back on a jig, I tend to experience a lot of leg wrap where the side legs get fouled on the hook bend or barb. Leg wrap can be avoided by putting the Kreature on a jig skirt-to-front. This tends to eliminate most of the leg wrap. With the skirt fronds and flappers under the jig skirt, it adds a lot of bulk. The twin tails and stumpy torso at back mimic a crawfish head and pincers.

Rockhopper, Mojo or Carolina Rig

Another tactic is to rig the Kreature about a foot behind a Rockhopper, Mojo or Carolina sinker. As you skitter, pull and pause the rig across the bottom in a stop-ngo fashion, the sinker appears to be a small food item being stalked by another critter, actually your Kreature. It's a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, one that can infuriate a nearby bass to belt the Kreature sharply. You get some nasty reaction bites doing this. Bass just don't tolerate another critter (your Kreature) feeding in front of them. Bass will aggressively belt the Kreature that is attempting to "eat" the sinker. It's Mother Nature's version of a food fight.

I tend to rig religiously with a bead because:

1. It makes small clicking noises when the sinker strikes the bead, and
2. bait-sized small-fries are always pecking at the bead like barnyard hens on a June bug.

These small bead peckers attract larger predators like bass over to the scene. As the bead peckers scurry to exit stage right, your Kreature is the last man left standing on the dance floor to attract the interest or ire of a larger fish. I favor plastic beads, which have less chance than glass to chip and cut the line. Some say glass makes a louder click than plastic. I find the plastic clicks more than loud enough for me and my bass, and plastic has more vibrant colors. There are also plastic hollow beads with sand or buckshot in them. I like the sound of that too. I can't swear it helps, but I do swear it doesn't hamper the fish-attracting confidence such beads can give me.

Kreature baits

Casting: Casting the Kreature will vastly depend on how you choose to rig it up. This is one of the most adaptable plastics we have tested in terms of available methods to make use of. If you are fishing the Kreature weightless you will discover that you will still be able to cast the lure a respectable distance when paired with 12lb line, but many anglers will opt to pitch and flip this bait in and around structure. Casting weightless is easily done, and the slightly added weight makes it simple for beginners to target areas repeatedly. If you desire more distance or wish to target fish hovering over the bottom the Kreature can be rigged Texas or Carolina.

Retrieving: Yamamoto lures are weighted in such a way that seem to present the perfect weightless fall rate. Even though the Kreature is only 4 inches long the added bulk of the appendages make this lure 15% heavier than a 5 inch senko. The fall rate is still comparable though because of the added resistance from the Kreature's many limbs. Fishing weightless, anglers can drop the lure right into the target zone and allow the lure to simply descend. The arms will flail wildly but the bait remains balanced and sinks out of view at a slow to medium rate of speed. Often fish will strike during this fall, but when the bait hits the bottom it is possible to wiggle the rod tip and even lift and drop the Kreature slightly. This added action can also entice a strike. If there are still no takers then you have the option to retrieve slowly or pull the lure right back out. Because most of our fish were caught during the drop or right afterwards I prefer pulling the lure out of the water rather then retrieving it and drop it again and again into the zone.

The Kreature is very flexible in terms of rigging, one of my favorite ways to fish it is Texas style with a pegged bullet sinker

If there is rocky structure below it is possible to rig the Kreature with a jighead, though we were able to catch fish vertically jigging rocky structure we found this method to be the least effective. On the other hand we were surprised how many fish picked the Kreature off the bottom when we rigged the lure Texas and pegged the sinker, or dragged it slowly on a Carolina rig. With a weight on the front of the lure the rear paddles and tail still provide plenty of movement with every jerk of the rod. This is one of those lures where it definitely is a plus to have a quality high-modulus graphite rod. There will be times when fish engulf the lure and just start running, and other times where fish will nibble at the end of the lure or pick it up tentatively. A sensitive rod and sharp terminal tackle will help increase your strike to hookup ratio considerably.

The one area where the Kreature doesn't one up the competition is on durability alone. Yamamoto lures deliver amazing action, and can be fished effectively many different ways, but they also take a real beating from aggressive fish.the Kreature is no exception. We found that after one or two small fish the top of the lure would often tear, or appendages would break off. The lure still remained effective, but it is likely most anglers would want a fresh lure to target hotspots. A nice trick is to actually take the Kreature off the hook and trim the top and remove damaged appendages, in essence you have resurrected the spoiled Kreature as a Yamamoto Ika. While there are a number of new-fangled plastics on the market that are near unbreakable, few can inspire so many fish to commit.

Bass often will engulf the Kreature completely, but a quick hookset certainly help stick more fish

Applications: The Kreature is an excellent lure to target woody areas or make precise drops into structure. This lure is very effective in stained water, and there are several colours available to help match different conditions and prey. The ability to fish the lure different ways, over close and far distances make this lure a great choice to not only find fish, but accurately target the bigger ones. Anglers on shore can fish the lure weedless inside the weed line, and anglers on watercraft can venture into the thickest structure with the Kreature.

The Kreature is an successful amalgamation of some of the best that Yamamoto has to offer. The arms, tentacles, and tubular body are all familiar.and yet the lure has an action unique to itself. Anglers that can flip a Senko or bounce a twin tail grub will have absolutely no learning curve to fish the Kreature with success. With almost scary results the Kreature proved to us that it has what it takes to compete with the wide assortment of creature baits already available.

Brush hogs

Looking more like a mutant hybrid than any natural bait the Brush Hog sports appendages from head to toe. With a bullet like head similar to a Gitzit, the body has looped arms, paddles, and twin tails. Anglers have called the Brush Hog a cross between a snake and a frog, or a crayfish and a worm. The Baby Brush hog's flattened appendages and increased bulk make it thicker and more buoyant. So the bait seems to glide downwards rather than just falling down sharply. This characteristic makes it a favorite for pitching and flipping. Flipping and Pitching: When I first started using the Zoom Baby Bush Hogs I remember describing them as "souped up lizards." Due to their design they are perfect for flipping and pitching into heavy cover. Dropping them directly over targets the Baby Brush Hogs can often entice strikes as they slowly sink down to the ground. The paddles on the back of the lure offer more resistance slowing down the drop as well as making the drop more erratic and lifelike. I'm not sure exactly what Bass think the Brush Hog is when they encounter it. Perhaps fish see it as a worm, lizard, or possibly even a crawfish. Whatever the case, bass will strike this lure if you have the patience to flip and pitch the lure in and around structure. I have had great success tossing it rigged weedless near tules. Just remember that this technique is best suited for a 7'6" flipping rod for the most accuracy, preferably a rod with plenty of muscle to tow fish out from snag city.

Texas Rigging: Texas rigging the Zoom Brush Hog seems like the most natural way to fish this lure. During all the tests I ran the bait with Gamakatsu 3/0 wide gap rubber worm hooks. While the hook may seem large for the lure it works well by positioning the hook-point directly in the center of the lure. With the Baby Brush Hog being a relatively small creature bait I was very comfortable in my tests to run the hog with 12lb Trilene Big Game. If you were to use any larger brush hog you should consider moving up to heavier line. While some of the editors opted for split shotting, I prefer screw in 5/16 oz bullet weights which help keep the brush hog's head down and snag free

Texas rigging Brush Hog's is still the most popular style, and perfect for pitching and flipping

Carolina Rigging: Ironically the Baby Brush Hog was developed to be a Carolina Rigged lure by Zoom. Today many anglers are once again rigging the lure Carolina style to offer a new presentation to fish. I have had much more success fishing the Baby Brush Hog Carolina rigged than any of the larger sizes. This is probably because I find it much easier to drag and finesse the smaller sized lures across the lake bottom. Because the lure has so many arms and flippers it can be worked slowly emitting a great deal of sound and vibration for a soft plastic lure.

During some fishing trips we found that the baby brush hog sometimes got more hits when damaged. For the longest time this continued to perplex us. The answer we would find was in the preference of the fish. One of the best things about this lure is the ability to be customized by anglers to match the interests of the local fish. I found that if the water is muddy it is best to leave all the appendages on the lure, and even possibly split the paddles with a knife to increase vibration and movement. For clear calm water a subtle presentation seemed to work better and I found cutting off the paddle appendages made the lure less intimidating to fish. Sometimes a slight modification seems to drive bass wild.

One problem I encountered was snagging on branches with the closed looped arms. To counter this I would cut the arms to separate them from the body. Doing this I even had success with the open arms while rigging the Brush Hog weightless wacky style and letting it drop very slowly near structure.

The Brush Hog is among the most versatile plastics in terms of design and application. It is almost as much fun to modify the bait for your fishing as it is to flip this mutant into structure and be rewarded with a tug of war with a bass out of snag infested waters.

Herman Nel

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