Todd Castledine ’ s Stats :
Hometown : nacogdoches , texas Top 10s : 19 Winnings : $ 179,767
3 . Castledine ’ s Bush-Punching Pattern
Where : sam rayburn reservoir When : late February through may isolated bushes
Background no grass , no punching , right ? not necessarily ; costa FlW series stud todd castledine has honed a unique way to “ punch ” flooded bushes that works when there ’ s not a blade of grass around .
“ in texas , water levels fluctuate a lot ,” castledine says . “ Because of that , grass can be really unpredictable . What is predictable is that there will always be some gnarly flooded bushes in the springtime , and i ’ ve had tons of success lately ‘ punching ’ right into their hearts with a big weight .”
Whether it ’ s buck brush , willows , sagebrush or even small cypress , flooded woody cover offers the ultimate habitat for big bass staging prior to the spawn . no matter what the water level is , though , the first bushes to hold fish will always be the ones that are on or near a contour line , ditch or point .
“ i almost think of bushes like they were boat docks ,” castledine says . “ it ’ s not really the composition of the bush that matters , but rather where it ’ s located . if you ’ ve got a row of flooded bushes and one of them sticks out 5 feet from the rest , that ’ s the one you need to focus on .”
Presentation lots of anglers flip bushes , and they catch fish doing it – mostly by targeting the perimeters . castledine has taken that to the next level by treating them as if they are mats , and immediately targeting the heart with no concern for the branches .
“ if you ’ re flipping a bush with a light weight , you can only really get at the edges ,” castledine says . “ i ’ ve found that the biggest fish are almost always right in the thickest part of the bush by the trunk , and the big weight allows you to target those fish easily . you need to pretty much forget about all the other branches .
“ another side benefit of punching the bushes is that you can work really fast ,” he adds . “ i ’ d rather flip the heart of 500 bushes than work all around 200 . those bigger fish are seldom on the outside edges anyway . We call the big ones ‘ tree shakers ’ because they ’ ll see that big bait fall quickly into their house and the bush will shake when they go and get it .” bushes on point
bushes on point photo By matt pace
shallow , flooded shoreline
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FLWFISHING . COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2017