Hey, Keith here.

This past year we've talked about different ways to find fishing spots, whether it be Google Earth, OnX Maps, or the AllTrails app.

I've received great feedback from those newsletters, and I've come to the conclusion that finding new places to fish from land is a high priority for most bass anglers. 

Over the past few months I've received numerous spots from subscribers, and today I want to share a few of those spots with you. (And my spot where I just caught a limit of bass on a Marker 54 Shrimplet.)

DEEP DIVE

Fishing from the bank can be a challenge, which makes finding new water one of the most valuable things a bass angler can do.

A single spot, the right spot, can produce fish for decades.

I know this firsthand because I've been fishing the same stretch of canal in Madisonville, Louisiana, for at least 20 years, and it still hasn't let me down.

Locals call it the Rice Field Canal. Head downtown in Madisonville, take Main Street to the second bridge, park on the side of the road, and you're fishing.

No trail to hike. No Google Earth required.

The canal drains into the Tchefuncte River, and when the tide is falling and that water pours out, the bass fishing turns on like a light switch.

Because it sits close to Lake Pontchartrain, the water runs slightly brackish, which means shrimp push in during the summer months.

That's where the Marker 54 Shrimplet comes in. Throw it under the bridge and work it back slowly.

The bass aren't spread out. They're stacked at the mouth of the canal waiting on whatever the current pushes through.

This spot won't give you a wall hanger, but it will fill your ice chest. Louisiana allows 10 bass per day and I'm usually at 10 by noon.

Over the past several months, subscribers have been sending me their favorite bank fishing spots from around the country.

Today, with permission from the anglers who provided them, I'm sharing five hotspots. 

Randy Calhoun from Texarkana didn't waste any time: "Keith, nobody outside of southwest Arkansas talks about Millwood, so I thought your readers would want to know about it.”

Randy says the bank fishing along the Corps of Engineers access roads near the dam is something most anglers drive right past.

He pulled a 9.2-pound largemouth out of a laydown last October, punching a Denny Brauer jig through matted grass.

 "The timber is all along the shoreline in some spots. You don't need a boat. You need heavy line and patience."

What to throw: Heavy jig punched into matted grass, spinnerbaits along the outer edge of the grass, Texas-rigged plastics on laydowns

Mike Hester from Effingham kept it short: "It's a power plant lake. The water stays warm. The bass get big and nobody comes here because it doesn't look like much from the road."

Mike caught a 7.4-pound largemouth last February off a riprap bank using a Rapala Husky Jerk stickbait because the warm water discharge had the bass acting like it was April.

The Illinois DNR maintains 540 acres of public bank access on the west shoreline. The lake carries an 18-inch minimum and a three-fish daily limit.

"Those regulations exist for a reason. The fish in there are legitimately big."

What to throw: Jerkbaits on riprap in cool months, weedless frogs over coontail in summer, soft plastics along shoreline brush year-round

Darnell Hayes from Summerton summed it up perfectly, saying "Everybody comes to Santee Cooper for the catfish and the stripers. The bass fishing is wide open because of it."

Darnell fishes the Santee National Wildlife Refuge shoreline where bank access is free and the cypress flats hold largemouth that rarely see a lure.

He caught three fish over three pounds in a single morning, fishing from the bank on a Hildebrandt Spinnerbait last April.

This place is known for big fish. Lake Marion holds the South Carolina state record largemouth at 16.2 pounds. "The fish in here eat well and they don't get pressured."

What to throw: Spinnerbaits around cypress trees, Texas-rigged worms along weed lines, topwater frogs over grass mats early morning

Chris Dutchover from Coleman County emailed me something that caught my attention.

"I fish tournaments on Ivie and I've finished top 10 fishing strictly from the bank while everyone else had a boat. That should tell you something."

Ivie sits 55 miles east of San Angelo. The reservoir was never cleared before it filled in 1990, so flooded mesquite, oak, and juniper trees run right to the bank in places.

Chris works a Texas-rigged PowerBait Creature Hawg in green pumpkin into the flooded saltcedar and standing timber.

“Just understand that there could be double-digit bass on any cast at any time every time out here," Chris said. 

What to throw: Weedless is the way to go here. The water in the main lake and Concho arm runs clear, so natural colors outperform bright ones. Use heavier line than you think you need. These are big fish living in heavy wood.

Jake Talbot told me that most of the tournament pressure on Champlain has shifted to the northern end near Plattsburgh. 

"The southern end near Ticonderoga, around East Creek and the LaChute River, is still wide open. Weed-filled shallows, minimal boat traffic, and largemouth that have seen far less pressure than people think."

Jake caught his personal best, an 8.5-pound largemouth, near East Creek on a two-inch BOOYAH Pad Crasher early in the morning last May.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department maintains free public access areas along the southern shoreline. 

"Bassmaster ranks this lake top five in the country every year. But they're all fishing north. Go south."

What to throw: Topwater frogs over milfoil early morning, soft jerkbaits along weed edges, wacky-rigged Senkos around any hard structure