Fish from the Bank or Shore

In order to catch fish from shore, you need to get as close to the water as you can and then make 45-degree angled casts in order to locate roaming fish.

Bait selection, stealth, and finesse are very important for shoreline fishing.

Fishing from the bank or shore can be a great way to fish.

Shore/Bank Fishing Bodies of Water

Stream

You can likely cast across these. Most small streams are filled with boulders and rocks. Watch your footing. Focus on short, pinpoint casts.

This will help you place your bait appropriately without snagging it in branches behind you.

When possible, fish deeper pools, slow water, and under banks. This is where you’ll find trout congregating.

Small River

These are often too wide to cast across. You can use spinning tackle.

Cast into slower water and deeper pools. Cast upstream and let the bait be carried to fish by the current.

Big River

Cast as far into the river as you can. Skip the 45-degree angle advice here. Just get your bait as far out as you can. River fish don’t linger in shallow water.

Farm Pond

Use live bait in farm ponds. These ponds are usually stocked with bullheads, panfish, bass, and even trout.

These are also too small, in most cases, to waste your time fishing lures. Stick with live bait and a good bobber.

Small Lake

Work with 45-degree angle casts if using lures to determine at what depth/distance from shore the fish are. Once you find out, you can target the whole lake this way.

If using live bait, forget casting at 45-degree angles. Just launch your bait as far it will go. Fish will come to you.

Large Lake or Reservoir

Just like small lakes, the same applies to large lakes. 45-degree angles to find fish with lures or long casts to catch them on live bait.

How to Fish Various Fish Species from the Bank

Bass

Target Location: Fish near lily pads, boat docks, or logs. Bass may also cruise open-water or between cover features in search of prey targets of opportunity.

Any bass within 30 feet of shore, you can potentially catch.

Time of Day: Mid-to-late afternoon; evening until sunset. The morning will be slower but can be great too.

Season: Late Spring until Late Summer. Bass will be on their beds during the late spring spawn so they will be very shallow.

Bass will be more active feeding in summer and maybe out near the outer range of your casting ability. Put some muscle into your casts.

Suggested Bait: Live bait like worms, minnows, yellow perch or bluegill (check with your state’s laws about using these as bait), and frogs.

Lures are also huge for bass. Thousands and thousands of lures are marketed to bass fishermen.

Crappie

Target Location: Focus your efforts in medium-depth water (8-20 feet deep) along the shoreline.

Crappie prefers cooler water pockets and this medium-depth affords them cooler water with plenty of nutrients to draw in aquatic insects and baitfish.

Crappie also stay around cover like dock pilings and timber. If you find cover near drop-offs, that’s where you should fish.

Time of Day: Late Morning or late afternoon until sunset. Crappie will bite after dark but the bite will slow down considerably.

Season: Summer & early fall

Suggested Bait: Live bait (minnows, worms, and crayfish).

Artificial baits and lures work well for crappie more than bluegill. Soft plastic jigs are your best bet.

Yellow Perch

Target Location: Shallow to medium-depth water (3-10 feet) is preferred by most yellow perch during the summer. You may see truly large yellow perch in even deeper water.

Adult perch swim around solo or in small groups. Younger perch are usually in bigger schools. Perch love dock pilings and timber.

Time of Day: Midday-Late Afternoon

Season: Year-Round; Ice fishing for yellow perch can be very action-packed.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (small minnows, worms, mealworms, wax worms, small crayfish) are great starting choices.

Small lures like jigs and spinners can be great too. PowerBait usually works well for yellow perch.

Jigs and small spoons dressed with a wax worm or mealworm are ideal for ice fishing.

Bluegill

Target Location: Shallow-deep water. You’ll visually see bluegills in water as shallow as 2 feet and you’ll also catch them deeper than 20 feet.

On really hot, sunny days, bluegills will be down deep or hugged tight to prominent covers like docks and lily pads.

You can catch a lot of fish from shore since bluegills are abundant, voracious eaters, and they won’t be far from shore.

Time of Day: Afternoon until sunset; late morning can be decent

Season: Year-round; late spring is spawning season so you’ll see bluegills aggressively defending beds (nests) in shallow water. Summer bluegills live in medium-to-deeper water.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (worms, grasshoppers, mealworms, wax worms, small crayfish, small minnows) are best.

PowerBait works well too. Some small lures can be effective.

Walleye

Target Location: Medium-to-deep water. Walleye don’t come into shallow water often. Your best bet is to fish in water 15+ feet deep.

If you know of underwater boulders or structure, you could see walleye there.

Walleye are the toughest fish on this list to fish from the bank since they are so reliant on deeper water.

Time of Day: Early morning or late evening/nighttime. Night fishing is especially hot for walleyes.

Season: Year-round. Fall seems to be the season where the biggest walleyes are caught. Some of those monsters can be caught from the bank.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (minnows, shiners, yellow perch (if legal), bluegill (if legal), suckers, and nightcrawlers). A single nightcrawler can be a dynamite bait for large walleye.

Lures like spoons, plugs, swimbaits, and spinners can be worthwhile baits. The major issue with lures for walleye is that they are best used trolling with a boat. Stick with live bait from shore.

Catfish

Target Location: Medium depth water. Fish baits in water 8-15 feet deep.

Catfish aren’t dependent on the cover as they’ll often be found on the bottom patrolling muddy flats or gravel bottoms.

If you are fishing a reservoir or river, locate the channel on the bottom. This is where channel catfish will congregate.

Time of Day: All day but late afternoon and nighttime are best.

Season: Summer and early fall.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (worms, minnows, bluegills (if legal), suckers) are really good.

Perhaps the best baits though are cut or smelly baits like chicken liver, cut pieces of bluegills, and specially formulated catfish baits that are permeated to smell bad but draw in the catfish.

Chain Pickerel

Target Location: Shallow-to-medium water especially near cover. Pickerel love weeds – probably more than any other game fish. Lily pads and weeds will be the key locations. They’ll also hunt around the wood too.

Chain pickerel are ambush predators and love eating frogs. Wherever you’ll find frogs, you’ll likely find chain pickerel.

Time of Day: Late afternoon and evening. Some anglers do well at night too.

Season: All year. Summer and early fall are the best seasons to catch pickerel from shore.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (minnows, yellow perch (if legal), bluegills (if legal), suckers) work well.

Frogs are the best bait you can use for chain pickerel. Most states allow frogs as live bait but check with your state fishing laws to confirm.

Lures work great too and frog mimic lures are the best again. Perch and minnow presentations work well from shore.

Trout

Target Location: You can catch trout in reservoirs and lakes, but you’re best off fishing trout from the bank, streams, and rivers.

Look for slow water first, like pockets of water (pools) where the deeper water slows down the current. This is where trout will hold. Under banks can be great for brook trout too.

Time of Day: Early morning or late afternoon seem like prime times.

Season: All year long, but to be mid-to-late Spring is trout season.

Suggested Bait: Live bait (minnows, worms, mealworms, grasshoppers) work well. Some small lures are good too.

Trout will consume dry flies, wet flies, and nymphs. If you don’t want to fish with worms, pick up a fly rod. It will be the most fun.

Tips for Bank Fishing

Wear Muted Clothing

Bass and other fish have better eyesight than we give them credit for.

Avoid bright colors. Your best bet is to wear muted colors or browns, blacks, and greens to blend your silhouette in with surrounding trees and shadows.

If you’re fishing a lake without tree cover, perhaps wearing white or a light blue to match the skyline is better.

Be Mindful of your Movement

When moving along the bank, move slowly to avoid unnecessary attention from fish nearby. Keep jerky and erratic motions to a minimum.

Also, remember your footsteps and items you drop could vibrate into the water and put fish on edge. Same for loud voices or music.

Cast Near, Not On Visible Fish

If you spot fish, cast a few feet in front of the fish. Don’t cast right on the fish as this will likely spook them.

By placing your bait in front of the fish, they’ll see but not be alarmed by how it got there.

Cast Upstream & Reel Before Line Gets Snagged

If you are fishing a stream or river, cast your bait upstream and allow the current to carry it to the fish.

As the line passes you, start slowly reeling it in. Don’t wait too long or your line will get too close to the bank stream which could result in snags.

Limit Insects You Stir Into Water

The shorelines of waterways are often littered with frogs and insects. As you walk, if a lot of insects and frogs jump into the water at once, fish will notice.

Tread lightly and try to reduce the number of creatures that flee into the water as you get close to the water.

Keep Track of Your Gear

Grass has a way of hiding your gear. So do rocks.

Focus On Cover

This one is very obvious but worth mentioning. Fish love cover so target your casts near visible cover like docks, under boats, and trees.

Focus on Wind & Shaded Areas

In water without visible cover, look for environmental cues to lead you to fish.

Shaded water will draw in fish seeking cover from the sun.

If the wind is blowing to the right, the right corner of the pond is where nutrients, plankton, and small fish are often be swept. This will attract game fish.

Understand the Bottom Topography

Know that as you reel in your bait, the bottom topography your bait is moving over is getting progressively shallower.

If you are fishing a heavy bait like a spoon, you’ll need to reel the bait faster to keep it from hooking the bottom.

Make 45-degree Casts

Don’t just cast your bait straight out in front of you. As you reel your bait in, you’ll only be fishing each strike zone or depth for a split second.

Instead, cast your baits at a 45-degree angle. This will ensure your bait will linger at the water depth for a longer period, but increasing the chances of fish finding it.

Furthermore, pressured fish are very skeptical of “food” that swims straight to shore from the depths. This could send up a red flag in the fish’s mind.

Fish Bridges

Don’t forget that bridges can be great places to fish under and fish off of because of shade and cover.

Take a Net

A long-handled fishing net could help you avoid losing fish at the water’s edge. This is especially the case on banks with thick vegetation.