Why Aggressive Bass Prefer Shady, Camouflaged Hideouts
Story and Photos By Vic Attardo

With Shaw Grigsby driving the boat, I hoped he was heading toward a shady bank so we both could enjoy a little respite from the blazing sun. But Grigsby wasn't thinking about creature comforts, at least not our own.

"Let's try that shade over there," he said. "It should hold some fish in the middle of the afternoon."

Grigsby had been watching a line of shade creep out from the bank to where its dark border extended some 20 feet from shore. With past experience, he knew at that length the shade was positioned beyond the end of the shore's deadfalls and over a slight drop.

"This bank doesn't produce much when it's in the sun, but as soon as the shade gets over it, that's a different story," he said.

After cutting the main motor, Grigsby pulled up on a log that arched over the lake and into deep water. He gently tossed a Strike King Premier Elite spinnerbait beyond a patch of darkness created by an elevated log, then retrieved the bait through the dappled pocket below the wood. The flashy blades were temporarily hidden from our view, but a bass clearly detected the double willow leafs and connected itself to Grigsby's trailer hook.

It wasn't a giant, but it was a healthy example of what he'd been talking about.

"Of course, the log is important," Grigsby said. "That bass was using the wood for submerged cover. But look where it hit. It hit in the shady pocket the log makes. That's where that bass was really hiding — in the shade."

Grigsby has given the subject of shade a lot of thought and has some definite opinions on how, why and when shade is important to bass. His ideas might differ from your own.

"A lot of people say bass seek shade because they're hiding from sunlight," Grigsby said. "But that's a bunch of bunk. Bass can do just fine sitting out in bright sun. What it really is, why they really seek shade, is that it camouflages them."

Grigsby has found that in many scenarios, there may be brush, a tree or a dock providing the original structure, but the darkened area is the key component.

"You can actually go to places like Lake Mead and Lake Powell where you don't see a tree in the water, work a shady pocket or a shady bank and that's where the fish will be," he explained. "No matter where it is, shade tends to keep the fish more aggressive and biting, and it provides the camouflage they need for roaming and attacking bait."

In addition to finding shadows around deadfalls and shoreline brush, Grigsby also looks for shade in other places — man-made places. Depending on the angle and direction to the sun, bridges, isolated pilings and riprap throw their share of shade.

"Bass will stack up around bridge pilings and riprap in the shade," Grigsby noted. "Those are key areas to work, and you have to adjust your tactics to meet the changing conditions."

In the morning, Grigsby starts off throwing a topwater or a spinnerbait up in the water column. Then as the day progresses, he dives deeper and goes with a Strike King Premier Pro-Model jig, a Strike King Pro-Model Flip-N-Tube or a drop-shot rig on the bottom.
While he didn't say there are degrees of shade, he did point out situations where he thought shadows were doubly important.

"In clear water, shade is absolutely one of the most critical factors in catching fish," he said. "The clearer the water, the more bass will seek shade. Out in clear water, without shade, there is not much to camouflage bass. But with a little bit of shade, they can lie in there, let their coloring take hold and ambush what comes their way."

However, clear water is not the only condition in which bass will hold in dark areas.

"In a lot of lakes that stay stained and dirty, you should still look for structure that produces shade," Grigsby said. "Bass still prefer some shade in dirty water, and I'll still fish the shady side of cover. Even in stained water, the shady side of a tree or log tends to hold fish. I always pitch to the shade."

The next lesson in targeting shade concerns timing. According to Grigsby, you can find bass hiding in shade at any time of year, but there are seasons when shade fishing becomes a priority.

"The time of year that's best is mid-spring through summer," he said. "Water temperatures are higher then, and bass seem to like shade best when the water is warmer. I really think that in early spring or late fall, bass like to be in the sun, even in clear-water situations. They try to warm up by getting in the sun's rays. But once the water temperature is up to where the fish are nice and comfortable, then they gravitate toward those shady spots."

How bass utilize the shade to attack prey is another facet Grigsby has considered.
Some anglers say a good percentage of their strikes come as their baits leave a shaded area and burst into the sunlight. They theorize that in the light, bass see the flash of preyfish and race out to get it. Grigsby doesn't buy that either.

"They will leave the shade to attack prey, but most of the time I've found they stay and hit a bait right in the shady spot," he said. "Of course, any predator has to move to chase its prey, and bass are certainly willing to move, but they really like to hang and attack in the shade."

The importance of how bass attack in relation to areas of shade is key when considering lure presentation. Believing that most bites around shaded cover occur in the darkest spots, Grigsby works his baits accordingly.

"I prefer my baits to stay in the shade, and when I get away from it a little bit, I figure I'm done with the presentation," he said.

Grigsby divides his target presentations based on the type of lures he's throwing. A moving type, like a spinnerbait, gets one kind of treatment, while a nearly stationary bait, like a jig or tube, receives another.

"If I'm throwing a spinnerbait, I cast beyond the target and bring it into the shade," he said. "You have to watch that you don't disturb the shaded area with a heavy cast. That's why I throw a spinnerbait past my target so I'm not splashing it right there. Then I bring the moving bait into the shade."

Jigs, tubes or grubs get another technique.

"If I'm pitching, then I gently lay the bait in quietly, dropping it right into the shaded area," Grigsby explained. "If the shade is around a tree or a log, a quiet presentation makes it seem like something that just fell off the wood. Generally, I get a strike right then. So with a moving bait like a spinnerbait, I'm going to cast beyond the target and bring it into the shade, but a bait that's more stationary, like a jig or tube, I'll pitch it right in there and keep it there."

Of course, bass anglers are blessed with another type of lure that seems made for the shade. That general category is the topwater bait.

Grigsby believes that topwaters, such as his favored Spit-N-King Premier, actually open up larger areas of shade to the angler. Rather than fishing to spot shade, such as that around an overhanging tree or under a dock, here the emphasis is on a wide zone, like the wide shadows thrown by a high or tree-lined bank.

"When you get shadows from either early morning or late afternoon, you can stay in them and parallel a topwater so that the bait stays in the shade the whole time," Grigsby said. "Also, you can make long presentations with a topwater bait. Remember, start in the sunlight with your cast, then stay in the shade through your retrieve. Clear water is the best situation for topwaters. The clearer the water, the better topwater baits work."

Rojas' Frog
Six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier Dean Rojas is also a student of shade. His favorite lure to throw into the dimmest water is a plastic frog, particularly the SPRO Bronzeye Frog 65.

"Bass use the darkness of shade as camouflage, and the deeper the shade, the better the chance that bass are under it," Rojas said. "Shade is so important that if there is one nice shady pocket in a long stretch of sunlight, the most dominant bass will be in that shade."

In addition to shadows along a tree-lined bank and spot shade created by overhanging brush or elevated wood, Rojas also seeks dark cover under matted vegetation. The unusual thing is he often looks for the overgrowth shade when the surrounding waters are cool.

"Really thick canopies of matted vegetation have a way of drawing heat," Rojas noted. "Under the mats, it's maybe one or two degrees warmer than the surrounding water. During any cool time of year, bass will gravitate to this warmth. This type of shade is best when the water is cooler."

Of course, how an angler works these dark spots is as important as recognizing their value.

Like Grigsby, Rojas will throw beyond the shadows and retrieve the bait into the dark patch. If shade is up against a shallow bank, Rojas recommends throwing the Bronzeye Frog to the edge of the bank, then bringing it back through the shaded cover.

"You don't know which way the fish are positioned, so if you throw the bait just to the darkest area or outside the shade line, they could miss the bait," Rojas said. "The majority of hits, 85 percent, happen while the bait is still in the shade."

In working an area of spot shade, Rojas covers the shadows from all angles.

"I'll cast 10 or 12 times from different positions," he said. "Again, you don't know how the bass are facing, so after five or six casts to the same spot but from a new and different angle, there's the big one."

Also, Rojas does not shy away from fishing off-colored or dirty water when working shady zones. In fact, he prefers the darker water.

"With dirty water, the bass will be even shallower and more aggressive," Rojas added. "With muddier water, they are more apt to take the bait hard. In these conditions, when they see something worth eating, they just go for it."

Rojas uses the SPRO frog in shaded areas because of its versatility. It's a floating bait, of course, but it can be skipped under docks.

"Fish don't see that very often," he explained. "When they're under docks, they're more relaxed and don't pay attention to the trolling motor as much. One twitch with a floating frog back under a dock and they really slam it."

Not only does Rojas like to throw the frog in shaded situations, he actually created a rod, a Quantum Signature series, specifically designed for throwing the broad plastic.

"It's a 7-foot rod, and the first 10 inches are a little lighter and more limber than other rods, yet it still has 6 feet of backbone," he said.

So if you're fishing clear or dirty water, working topwaters or bottom huggers, in cool water or warm, shade is often the place to be. Indeed, on any body of water, shade is usually better than the sunny side of the street.