Catt is spot on. But, even without knowing the type of structure that your lake contains, you can learn a lot by looking at a topo map, even if the lake is shallow and/or gentle sloping. There will be some kind of creek bed, even if its a one foot indention, that will follow some path. Follow that creek channel on a map and it will literally point out to you the likely spawning grounds for the big mamas who, by the way, will usually spawn first. You say you know where the spawning flats are. Well, you need to find the route that these bass are taking to get there. Follow this route all the way to their winter location, and you'll already be ahead of the game compared to most of the locals. Now, depending on the size of your lake, the distance between the spawning grounds and winter haunts can vary. If your lake is small, they may only have to literally move 100 feet to get to their spawning grounds. However, i would guess that if your lake in gradually sloping, the bass would actually spread out more and move in unpredictable spurts AND long distances because, in order to reach spawning areas MORE attractive than their winter haunt, they would have to cover more ground to get get to that "proper depth". That is why finding any creek bed in this lake would be so crucial, especially if it covers a lot of ground. More than likely most of the bass in the lake will use this creek because: A- it leads shallow fish back to deeper water and vice versa B- it is probably used as an "edge" for bass to feed and C- it likely has spawning beds (and probably the better beds in the lake) right next to it as it runs along the edges of flats since your lake is shallow. One more thing..... My local lake is also very shallow. It is swampy, and the grass carp that were introduced years ago have made the bottom muddy and soft. Bass spawn on hard ground. Find the hard bottoms, whether it be rock, near submerged lily pads, or clay.
