February 20 – 23, 2025 

 Peter Larmand, President of Peter Larmand Outdoors Inc., shared some helpful insight on fishing laydowns!

No matter what body of water you are fishing, whether it’s a lake, a river or pond, the one thing you will find in common with all of them is cover, such as fallen trees, which we call “laydowns”.  We see them along the shore and we cast to them but we don’t always catch fish on them.

The location of the laydown is probably the most important part in finding the best laydown on your body of water.  Laydowns on gravel banks are best in the spring, while laydowns on flats are often best in the falls.  Laydowns next to deep water are best in late summer.  That is what we are going to focus on for this article.  Although, fishing laydowns any time of the year can be done the same way.

Ideal laydowns are found where there is a drastic change in depth.  The type of change is usually the best locations for laydowns in the summer.   Also, laydowns which have more branches and have been in the water for a long period of time, are usually the best for holding more than one fish.   Something like the one in the picture below is a prime example of a good laydown.

This laydown extends another 10 feet under the surface past where the last branch sticking up.   I position my fishing boat in 15 feet of water.  The base of the tree is right on shore which is about 1 foot of water.  So, you can see that the tree extends far out into the deep water, which is what we are looking for this time of year.  A good pair of polarized glasses, like my pair of Costa Del Mar’s, really comes in handy when fishing laydowns, as they allow you to see into the water to fish the treetop in deep water before making casts into the heart of the tree.

The most common mistake that anglers make is to fish the laydown from the inside out.  Fishing the inside of the laydown will ruin the possibility of catching more than one bass on a single laydown.  Fish the outer edges first.  This way if you catch a bass on the outside, you will be able to pull it away from the cover without disrupting the other bass that could potentially be in the middle of the laydown.

There are server baits and techniques that you can use to fish a laydown, the most common baits are plastics and/or jigs.  I like using other baits to fish the outer edges of the laydown before using jigs or plastics to fish the heart of the tree.

Spinnerbaits/Crankbaits

          Spinnerbaits and crankbaits are great for quickly covering lots of water.  Fishing a laydown on the outer edges with these types of presentations is a good idea.  There are normally reaction-strike type of hits from the bass and since are fishing the outer edges and trying to avoid disrupting the bass in the heart of the laydown, these baits make it a perfect match to get those outer-edge bass away from the laydown.  Also, the bass on the outer edges are usually ambushing their prey and what a better replica of bait fish than a spinnerbait of crankbait.  However, there are a few key elements when fishing these types of baits.

The spinnerbait I normally use is a ½ oz Booyah Counter Strike with a double willow leaf blade.   However, this changes with water clarity and sky conditions but, that is for another article down the road.  “When to use different spinnerbaits”.  You can also use a chatter bait.  This gives me the most flash/vibration and it allows me to burn the bait past the edges of the laydown causing reaction strikes.  The rod/reel and line combination when fishing spinnerbaits is very important.  I use a high speed 7.1:1 or 8.3:1 fishing reel and at least a 6’10” Med Heavy action rod.   The reason for the high speed reel is to get the bass out quickly, with as little disturbance as possible.  The Med/Hvy action rod provides the back-bone necessary to flip the bass into the boat if necessary.  The line is just as important.  I use 20 lbs Fluorocarbon line.  Virtually invisible in the water, little to no stretch are important but the abrasion resistance is the key which gives you the advantage.   The abrasion resistance is key as I want the bait to contact every branch that is in the path as I retrieve it back to the boat.

For the crankbaits I use the same combination with the biggest criteria is the type of crankbait. By type I am referring to the type of bill.  Now you are probably saying to yourself “A crankbait around laydowns, won’t I get hung up”? You will if you are using the wrong type of bill.  There are two factors when deciding which crankbait to throw.  The first factor in deciding your crankbait, is if it floats or sinks.  You want a floating crankbait. Second factor is the bill and you want a square bill crankbait. So the key combination of a floating squarebill crankbait is what you want to be throwing around laydowns. Why this type of crankbait?   One, the floating option allows the bait to float back up once it bumps into a branch once you stop reeling in. Secondly, the square bill as appose to the traditional round bill is, the square bill will bounce when coming in contact with a branch or obstacle as appose to flipping because of the round bill. Once the bait flips, the back hooks get caught and unless you have a good lure retriever, you just loss your $15 plus crankbait. (Invest in a good lure retriever, it will save you money in the long run). With your floating square bill crankbait tied on once the bait meets the branch squarely, stop reeling and let the bait float then continue with your retrieve. (You will come to distinguish between a branch and a strike). It’s normally when you start the retrieve after making contact that the strike will occur. Various squarebill crankbaits I use are 6^th Sense Axis, Shimano macbeth, Livingston Square bill etc.

Jigging and Plastics:

Jigs and plastics are the type of baits to use to fish the heart of the laydown. They allow you to present the bait quietly into the living rooms of those stubborn big bass.

Flipping jigs are usually the number one choice for fishing the heart of the tree because they are so versatile and can be placed with pinpoint accuracy. Normally 3/8^th to ½ oz is a common size of jig that will penetrate the branches and limbs of the tree to get to the bass.  If the limbs are covered with dense leaves or needles (depending on the tree) you may want to go to a heavier jig like ¾ oz  even 1 oz. Keep in mind the heavier jig will give you a faster fall.  The bass will tell you how fast they want the bait to fall.  If with a heavier jig you get nothing, try a bigger trailer.  If you are still not getting bites, switch to a lighter jig, this will slow down the fall of the jig. 7’6” heavy action flipping rod with 50-65 lbs braided line will help you get those big bass out of that heavy cover.

If you want another option is a Texas rigged worm. I use the various lengths from 6” all the way to 10” worms. You can even through a Texas rigged creature bait which will fall nicely in the middle of that heavy cover.

The next time that you see a laydown on your favourite body of water, give it “the time of day” and fish the entire laydown.  You may be surprised how many bass a good laydown will produce for you if you fish it correctly.