Water "wants" to go straight. Whether it's tumbling over a falls, running through a pipe, or coming down a riverbed, its tendency is to go straight ahead with full power. Anytime something interferes with its direction of flow, water fights back. Often the battle is over in days as the surging water cuts into a soft bottom blockage. On other occasions the fight between water and the object that diverts its flow might go on for tens of thousands of years.

There is a world of difference between the water-altering effect of a sandbar versus the Grand Canyon. Yet water will always fight whatever obstacles are in its way--pushing and eroding for as long as there is flow and time.

The knowledgeable angler understands the power of water and how it can create great fish-holding areas. "Outside bends" in a creek, stream, or river are one of the most outstanding examples of how moving water can make a good fishing area.

When a creek or river turns, a bend occurs. The term outside bend is the longer shoreline along that bend; the one that the current hits and cuts into--the one that usually holds the fish.

The shoreline along the outside bend is right smack on the edge of the deepest water along that bend. An eroded, sharper dropping bank often features a shaded undercut, and exposed tree root systems from trees (living or dead) that border the river's edge.

Many times the current will stack cover along the outside bend. The sharper the angle of the bend, the more chance cover will collect.

In a typical slow-moving largemouth bass river in the deep South, floating vegetation such as hyacinth may stack up and flourish along these bends. In faster rivers a moving log jams may form. In either case, and in a variety of other cover collecting situations, the combination of cover and deeper water creates a habitat that will attract everything from catfish to muskies.

In smaller streams and creeks, fish may hold along the outside bend, and move to the shallower, sloping, opposite side of the river to feed. This occurrence usually takes place under low light conditions, such as early morning, late evening, or at night. Bass and panfish may also spawn on these slower tapers, but would generally hold along the outside bend the rest of the time.

On larger rivers, which feature large, deep, wide-swinging bends, game fish positions along a turn often vary due to water levels and fish activity.

Under lower-water levels, fish tend to hold more upcurrent along the outside bend. Under high, fast-water conditions, game fish will be more apt to be along the downcurrent portion of the bend.

A favorite high-water, early-spring walleye tactic of mine is to search out bends that have flooded brushes or small trees along them. The key area is just where the main channel starts pulling away from the bank along its downstream edge. Flooded wood there stands the best chance of holding walleyes that are close to deep water, yet are just out of the heavy current.

When creeks or rivers are dammed to create reservoirs, the inundated waterways are still prime fish attracting areas. Fish will frequently move along the creek or river arms, stopping at turns and intersections.

A topo map of a reservoir showing an area of many bends in a sunken feeder may look very appealing, and it could hold numerous game fish, but it may not be the best condition to fish, especially is you are limited on time.

A one-block section of flooded creek that has numerous turns means great potential, but it also means a lot of fishing time is needed to check it out. A faster approach to finding fish would be to investigate a similar distance of creek channel, but one that has just a few turns. The fish will be concentrated in fewer areas and easier to find.

Outside turns in creeks, streams, and rivers are prime fish-holding areas. They can be on pasture streams or in a reservoir 20 feet deep. Whatever the case, the combination of deep water along with structure and cover spells fish!