Bank fishing without a boat

A boat is an advantage. It is not a requirement. Most public lakes have a band of fish within a cast of shore, and boat traffic pushes a lot of those fish tighter to the bank than people think.

Fish parallel, not straight out

The mistake is bombing a cast to the middle and reeling it back through empty water. Walk the bank and cast along it, so the lure stays in the strike zone for the whole retrieve. Docks, culverts, and the shady side of a point are the targets. The sunny, mowed swimming area is not.

What to throw

A weightless stick bait, wacky or Texas rigged, skips under docks and falls slowly. A spinnerbait covers the stretches between targets. If the bank is weedy, a hollow frog or a Texas-rigged worm keeps you from spending the afternoon pulling salad off the hook.

Move

Ten casts with no sign of life is enough. Bank fish are either there or they are not. Walking to the next piece of cover beats standing in one spot and changing lures six times.