Fishing tip of the week

Fishing Tip of the Week

Wednesday, 06 October 2021 08:13

Boat houses anyone?
by Mike Gerry

If there is any time better for fishing around boat houses than the fall, I do not know what it would be. It just does not get any better than the shallow docks, boat houses,0 and property edges than the fall of the year.
As it happens every year, the fall, or late summer is full of sunny days, and one place the bass move to hide from the sun is under boat houses!
The thing about fishing a boat house is confidence. Most anglers on Guntersville run by boat houses every day because it is not where their confidence lies. The key to boat house fishing is twofold: first, find the boat houses with the correct depth for late summer or fall fishing and, second, be able to pick a boat house apart. You can always find fish around, and under, boat houses in the fall as the movement from the deep to the shallow pre-winter fishing moves fish to main-channel Islands, points, and boat houses.

Boat houses are natural stops as the bass migrate to the shallow water to feed-up prior to winter and if the boat house has a depth range of three to seven feet the bass will move to them as they move shallow.
One key is the age of the wood on the boat house. The older the better. The older wood holds food and produces a more natural habitat. Bass are also creatures of habit and if a boat house has been in place for a long time there is a good chance the bass have migrated there in past years and will return annually.

Picking the boat house apart is not as easy as you might think, you really must be able to place your bait at every angle possible. Work from the sea wall out to the end of the dock as bass can be sitting in shade next to the sea wall or just under a dock pylon a couple feet out from the shoreline. Fish the boat house slowly and if you make sure your bait gets to the bottom you will be successful.
In the fall, boat houses always have fish under them and you can benefit by fishing them; precision is key, be accurate and pick it apart.

Captain Mike