Channel: Exact holding spots

Three spot types: confluences, bends, and bank-hugging stretches

At a tributary junction, check both shoulders and just outside the mouth; at bends, check the steeper side for hard bottom; on bank-hugging stretches, check where laydowns and grasslines meet deep water. The very deepest channel bottom may be silty or low-oxygen and shouldn’t automatically be your first target.

Example: The channel bottom is 30 feet, but baitfish and bass are on the bank side in the 12–16 foot layer—send a soft bait to that layer first. Only switch to bottom presentations if sonar and bites prove they’re on bottom. If targets are following baitfish, a waypoint is only a starting point—you need to keep tracking in their direction.

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