Fish Bridges & Causeways for Winter Bass

Bridges produce bass. We all know that. And bridge fishing tends to get hotter than ever as the weather and water cool. On many reservoirs, bridges are at the center of countless bass tournament winning patterns.

Fishing bridges doesn’t equate to automatic success, though. It’s important to understand a bridge’s unique appeals and consider how to make the most of the opportunities these structures provide. We’ll consider why bridges are so productive this time of year and then dig into how to fish bridges effectively.

Bridges tend to be good fishing spots because they provide a pinch point that concentrates fish and often spans a creek or river channel. They also offer a great mix of cover and structure that includes the bridge piers or pilings, the channel edges and riprap that commonly extends along a causeway.

Along with naturally concentrating the fish, a bridge’s funnel accentuates creek or river current and wind current, and the bridge’s structure creates hard eddies. Edges of eddies serve as ambush points for feeding bass.

Through the cool months, the draw of many bridges is accentuated because shad and bass alike group up and move up and down channels. Bridges are natural stopping points, like interstate exits with plentiful food options, so there are virtually always some feeding bass nearby. The riprap along causeways also provides great habitat for crawfish, and adjacent flats tend to be just a bit warmer than nearby waters.

Most bridges hold some fish and provide a worthwhile spot to try during winter. Not all bridges are the same in terms of their offerings, though. The amount of structure varies enormously based on bridge size, the way it is supported, the length of the causeway and the sharpness of the channel break. More structure equates with a larger total opportunity, but smaller bridges are easier to fish effectively because they concentrate the fish more and make key locations more obvious.

That said, the most significant factor that separates one bridge from another is its location. The best bridges cross key travel routes for bass and baitfish, and during the winter, on reservoirs, those are the ones that cross the lower portions of significant creek or river arms. Fortunately, reservoirs commonly have highways paralleling the main river, which cross many tributary arms.

An ideal set-up is a broad crossing at the lower end of a creek arm, with a long causeway filling most of the gap and a bridge only where the channel runs. This truly concentrates the fish and accentuates any current.

• Bridge Supports & Eddies – Bridges supports take on many forms, but all provide significant structure for the fish at every level of the water column and divert water flow to create eddies. Waters upstream, downstream and immediately beside structures warrant attention. It can be a patterning game. If the bass are suspended at a certain depth on the downstream side of a piling, often you’ll find the same to be true of other pilings. Other times, the fish will all be on a certain row of supports or maybe a couple of rows that are at the same depth on opposite sides of the channel.
• Corners – The corners at each end of a bridge are common hotpots because they connect the opening and associated channel with the causeway bank. Corners on the downstream side also create eddies while those on the upstream side pull current along the riprap. Either forms ambush points for bass.
• Riprap Banks – The riprap under a bridge and along its causeway can be a key fish-holding zone, with the sections nearest the bridge itself often holding the most fish. Ripap becomes extra important late in the winter and into early spring when crawfish become extra significant as bass forage.
• Channel Edges – Often the channel doesn’t fill an entire bridge span, and the channel breaks on either side can be key zones. Fish could be above or below the drop or relating to the pillars that are closest to the break, but decent numbers are apt to be somewhere near the channel’s edges.
• Humps & Washouts – Continuing with bottom contours, the current that sweeps beneath bridges and around supports commonly digs trenches and forms high spots, and those bottom features hold fish. Be sure to do some looking with your electronics and know that these humps and washout might be a significant distance downstream of the bridge itself.
• Shad Zones – These are harder to define, but they are too important to bridge and causeway fishing to ignore. Watch for birds circling and diving, shad flipping on top, and bass chasing shad, and keep an eye out for baitfish schools on your electronics. If there’s an area near a bridge where the shad are concentrated, the bass probably are nearby.

A key to winter bridge fishing is to trust a bridge’s appeals and to work slowly and thoroughly. Anglers too often make passing casts to obvious spots and keep moving if the fish don’t respond immediately. Because of the complexity of a bridge’s offerings, finding success sometimes requires patience and a willingness to search.

Bass also move in and out of key bridge areas – sometimes in schools. Top tournament anglers sometimes go straight to a key bridge spot in the morning and camp out on that spot all day. That’s partly to protect the spot but more so to be there when the right fish come through. Countless winter tournaments have been won with a half-hour flurry when a school of big fish showed up.

Another key to bridge fishing success is to pay careful attention to current, including wind current, and to consider ambush positions. Along with helping you figure out the best spots, thinking about how fish are likely to position themselves helps you set up to achieve the best casting angles for natural presentations.

As alluded to already, it’s also critical to consider whether the bass are most likely to be feeding on shad, crawfish or some other forage and choose your lures, colors and presentations accordingly.

• YUM Flash Mob Jr
• BOOYAH Flash Point Jerkbait
• YUM FF Sonar Minnow
• Bandit 200
• YUM Scottsboro Swimbait