Hogz By Logs

Growing up fishing these midwestern lakes with my father, an early lesson in my "Bank Busting" ways was easily learned as time and time again i would watch my dad bring a spinnerbait down a log laying off the bank into the water and suddenly theres was no more white, flashy blur under the surface of the water but a big boil and then i remember i got to let the fish go every time, also an early lesson in the making of the "Bass Thumb".
As i grew a bit older and after much practice in the alley at home i was soon able to precisly cast to the spots right along with dad... We would both agree on a side of the log and this was the test, or the fruit of all my homework done in that alley after school many summer days.
Even back then, i wasnt born yeasterday and it didnt take long for me to figure out that bass live amidst all the sunken limbs and logs strewn about the shorelines of the lakes we would fish. Every summer we took week long camping trips to random lakes across the midwest and every lake was in some aspect the Same, the Hogz were in the Logs... Nowadays after reading countless articles and much time on the water myself still busting banks and beating the bark off old fallen oaks, i have come up with a few reasons why I think the fish are there.
1. Of coarse the obvious reasons are Shade in the hot summer months and an ambush point in that shade. If a bass can find shade to cool him down and do little to no work to engulf a passing meal than i belive 9 times out of 10 it will. No fish, bird, dog, cat or human is willing to go through too much for a simple meal. This is why buffets are a wonderful thing! Everything youd ever want to eat just a few steps from your table... Sit closer to the buffet and it becomes less of a trip. Get my drift??
2. When that tree fell from the bank im sure a few squirrels and birds lost there nests, but theyll get over it i guarantee it; and of coarse the life of that tree is over, but as soon as it splashes into the water it serves as a whole new purpose.
We dont really see it from the boat but theres alot going on down there that many may overlook. The moment algae starts to grow on the tree the cycle starts. Zooplankton and other microorganisms feed on the algae, young fry feed on the microorganisms, yearling fish feed on the fry and so on. Each tree or laydown has this going on all throughout the lake/river.
Another reason i belive hogs are by the logs is the fact that when fry leave the nest in the shallows the safest and most secure place with the most food and shelter is the weedline and bushes present closets to these nests in the shallows.
Can you imagine if every bass that was born in the spring grew up and thrived in our lakes and rivers? There would be an absolute astonishing number of bass in our fisheries. Unfortunaly this does not happen due to predation i.e. Birds, turtles, snakes, largers fish etc..... Those that do survive learn quickly that hiding amoungst the thickest of cover in the early stages of life is a must for survival so therefore i belive it to be only natural to find the smarter, more keen & larger bass to be around the type of cover that got them to where they are, to the size they are.
Of coarse there are exceptions to every theory, there are those bass that live deep, maybe genetics of the male or female that swam from the depths to the shallows to spawn carries over and becomes dominant and thats how we get deep water fish...
Either way, i have become a "Bank Buster" and it has more than paid off in my fishing. Next time you are on the water dont forget to look for the Hogz By Logs!!
Derek kaalberg