Reef

A mass or ridge of rock in a body of freshwater or saltwater. Rock reefs are submerged parts of land rising from the bed of a lake, large river, or the ocean; they are permanent objects (unlike a bar or shoal, which consists of unconsolidated sediment) and can be hazardous to navigation when they rise close enough to the surface. Many reefs that are in the navigational zone of well-traveled waterways are marked with buoys, but they may not be marked in infrequently traveled areas of oceans, rivers, and lakes, or in seldom-visited far northern lakes.

Reefs may be places where various forms of aquatic life find shelter and food, and they are thus attractive to many species of sportfish, such as lake trout, walleye, and smallmouth bass in freshwater and many species of jacks, snapper, and grouper in saltwater. Fishing efforts around them include trolling, jigging, and bottom fishing with bait; in saltwater, a lot of chumming (see) is done.

In the oceans, there are also biogenic reefs, which are composed of various living organisms and are called coral reefs (see); these are either fringing reefs (close to mainland shores), barrier reefs (separated from the mainland), or atolls (surrounding volcanic peaks).

See: Inshore Fishing.