Fishing the Junk

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Fishing Junk
By Steve Price

November/December 2000

Of all the sophisticated ways bass fishermen have devised to catch fish, there will still be times when none of them work. Every experienced angler can relate to this -- it tends to happen a lot in late autumn - and the last-ditch alternative is anything but sophisticated. It's called "junk fishing," and surprisingly, it actually works a high percentage of the time.

In its most simple terms, junk fishing is nothing more than covering a lot of water quickly, and casting to every shallow-water target within range. This can vary from boat docks to weedbeds, scattered rocks to isolated stickups, and points and back to docks again. Basically, it’s a one-fish pattern - you're looking for a single aggressive bass at each spot - you put the trolling motor down (often on high speed) and you're running the shoreline.

Hite’s Junk Pattern

"I believe junk fishing produces fish because once you start, you become more open-minded about everything," explains professional angler Davy Hite, the winner of the 1999 Bass Masters Classic world championship. He admits resorting to junk fishing often in his long professional career. "You don't have any particular strategy because everything else you've tried has failed so you're really back at square one again."

"When I have to resort to junk fishing, I have at least four rods rigged, with a jig, plastic worm, topwater lure, and a crankbait or jerkbait, and I throw whichever lure is appropriate for the target. I'm fishing very fast, but I try to make each presentation perfect, because I'm not going to make more than three or four casts to any particular spot."

Pros Play Percentages

Gary Yamamoto often looks for places other anglers may have skipped or overlooked, simply because they don't look as good as other spots. It is a form of funk fishing that has often paid off for him, especially on lakes he's never fished before.

While most junk fishermen tend to concentrate on visible cover in shallow water, this is not the only option available. Points are also excellent places to try this technique; in this case, each individual point becomes the "junk," and you simply run points up one shoreline and down the other. Water and weather conditions usually determine your lure choice, but again, the key is fishing fast and simply covering water.

Topwater lures are good choices for clear water in autumn, while crankbaits work well in dingy conditions. If the points are filled with stumps and other cover, a double-willowleaf spinnerbait may out-perform a crankbait.

"All you're doing is playing the percentages," notes well-known pro and former world champion Larry Nixon. "The more water you can cover, the better your chances of finding those few aggressive bass you're looking for. That's all you're trying to do."

Brauer’s Junk Strategy

"It's really a lot like running around like a chicken with its head cut off," laughs another former champion, Denny Brauer, who like Nixon has also had to resort to junk fishing more often than he'd like to admit. "I think the real key to making it work is covering a lot of water but trying to stay in productive water, too. For me, that means heavy cover in shallow water."

Sudden cold fronts that drop water temperatures overnight are famous for creating junk fishing conditions, as are high winds that can quickly disintegrate open water patterns or even keep anglers from reaching their chosen spots.

"There have been tournaments where I made 50 or more stops in a day along a 20-mile stretch of shoreline," he continues. "All I did was fish a spinnerbait and a jig, stopping at anything that looked like it might hold a bass."

Brauer feels junk fishing works if you can fish spots others are likely to overlook, and if you can also fish more carefully, such as skipping lures under docks or flipping jigs into cover that might not be visible.

"You only make a couple of presentation to any particular spot," he adds. "Sometimes, I don't even turn off the outboard or put down the trolling motor because I'm fishing that fast." (Note – It goes without saying that Brauer always follows safe boating rules and has a life jacket on anytime the big motor is running. Even in neutral.)

Condition Driven Patterns

Former world bass fishing champion Larry Nixon describes junk fishing as "playing the percentages," by covering a lot of water and looking for a few aggressive bass.

Paying attention to the conditions to maximize your chances with the few casts you do make is an important part of junk fishing, according to the pros. This means analyzing water clarity and temperature, noting any current or wind, and certainly studying the cover.

"You can never lose sight of the fact that you resorted to junk fishing because everything else you tried failed or died," reminds Hite. "If you just spent two days cranking breaklines without any success, you don't really want to include more breaklines in your junk fishing. That's why basically all junk fishing is shallow water oriented, with the possible exception of point-running."

"There are always some bass shallow, and one or two of them can nearly always be tempted to bite if you put a lure in front of them. Those are the fish and the places you target as a junk fisherman."

The Speed Factor

Junk fishing basically means putting the trolling motor down and fishing fast in shallow water, casting the appropriate lure to whatever cover comes into range.

As such, junk fishing also becomes a search for reflex-type strikes, which means fast retrieves, even with plastic worms. Thus, lipless crankbaits and spinnerbaits are two of the most popular lure choices for junk fishing, particularly in those open stretches of water where there isn't any visible cover. When worms or jigs are used, it's pretty much a case of letting the lure touch bottom, jigging or hopping it just once or twice, and then reeling in.

"When I'm junk fishing a boat dock," says Hite, "I make one cast to each of the four corners and that's all, whereas if I had a distinct boat dock pattern working, I'd thoroughly cover not only the corners but the sides and even underneath as well as I could."

"If I'm fishing a smaller target such as a duck blind, I might not make but a single cast, but it would be a cast that lets me work my lure down one side or across one corner of the structure. Even though you're fishing fast, you still analyze each target carefully."

Yamamoto’s "Nothing Banks"

Former world champion Davy Hite has spent his share of time junk fishing. When he does, he usually has at least four rods rigged with four different lures.

"Certainly one of the keys to my own success on lakes I've never been on before, and have not had a chance to practice on, might be called a type of junk fishing," notes Texas-based pro Gary Yamamoto. "I like to fish places I think other fishermen will pass up simply because they just don't look that good. This can range from a bare shoreline to a straight, featureless steel breakwater wall.

"My philosophy is that baitfish are typically shallow, so the bass typically move shallow to feed. Sometimes, there is actually great cover or structure below the surface - just because we can't see it, doesn’t mean that those places won’t hold some great bass."

"On the other hand, on some lakes the bass may actually be pressured to these places by other fishermen. All I know is that 'nothing-looking' spots have been some of the best junk I've ever fished."

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