Visual Search Technique

[bleedingshrimp]

Howdy BR-

I'm not in a position where I fish large lakes and use sonar. I fish primarily small lakes and reservoirs under 200 acres. I fish from jons, and relate to visual cover and conditions and not underwater structure.

So, topwater moving baits and spooks are obviously my best friend. Not because of the visual strike, but because I can recognize areas of the lake and conditions where this technique will produce, and it is evident (either the lure is churning along or not) if you are doing it effectively.

Obviously, this limits me to certain areas of the lake and prevailing conditions to be effective

What I need help with, bass resource, is more techniques or lures that meet the following criteria....

1. Does not rely on sonar or knowledge of underwater structure to be effective, and is easy to visualize areas of the lake (banks,cover, shadow, vegetation) where it's effective.

2. Covers lots of water efficiently.

3. Provides visual or tactile feedback that helps reinforce proper technique. Easily recognizable strike zone.

What are these techniques? How do you fish them and on what equipment?

I hope that makes sense..lol.

Thanks

[Unknownwaters]

Honestly having fished from the shoreline/in a raft with no sonar I find the technique that always works for me is flipping jigs to fallen trees and other structure along the shoreline. While you cannot see the jig underwater, its pretty simple to just hop it along the bottom and feel it going over structure. I actually went to my neighborhood pool at night and casted a jig around it (much to the dismay of my mother) and experimented with some different retrieves to get a better visual idea of what it does underwater. Easy to snag and lose them if your not careful tho... and it certainly doesn't cover a lot of water. But the lakes I usually fish typically only have a handful of good fishing spots so I do not need to cover much water. Not sure this helps lol

[loodkop]

Slinging a spinnerbait down the banks used to be my only style of fishing and it still produces. A spinnerbait can be worked fast or slow, on the bottom or just sub surface, in fact any way you want to. Another big positive is that a spinnerbait is semi weed less and can be worked through some serious cover without hanging up to much. - would recommend adding a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait to your topwaters asap.

[deaknh03]

Learn to fish with a jig. The most versatile bait out there.

[bleedingshrimp]

Slinging a spinnerbait down the banks used to be my only style of fishing and it still produces. A spinnerbait can be worked fast or slow, on the bottom or just sub surface, in fact any way you want to. Another big positive is that a spinnerbait is semi weed less and can be worked through some serious cover without hanging up to much. - would recommend adding a 1/2 ounce spinnerbait to your topwaters asap.

I do own a few spinnerbaits and have never had much luck on them. Do you anchor deep and fancast toward shore or anchor shallow and cast parallel with bank. I am always snagging timber, do you try to keep the spinnerbait higher in the water column when fishing lay downs so you can see it?

[bleedingshrimp]

Learn to fish with a jig. The most versatile bait out there.

I can fish a jig as a finesse method but to make this technique a search or moving technique I guess I need to swim them. Are there jigs that are equally effective for both swimming and flipping? For instance cast to structure jig a few times....no bite...swim it back to boat.And better yet is there a length, action, and strength of rod that is good for both these ways.

[deaknh03]

Try a swim jig, or a casting or grass jig, you can swim, flip or whatever with those jigs. Try them naked, or with a trailer, I prefer the Rage Tail line as trailers, the best I have found so far.

[Doubled Over]

Well, me being a young angler, I might not have as much experience as some of the other members. Anyway, couldn't you fan cast with a crankbait allowing it run on the bottom, so it sent back a physical feeling of what you were bumping into? You could try to remember what kind of structure was there and where it was located on the lake or reservoir. I know you couldn't see the lure, but could this work? Correct me if i'm wrong please.

-DO

[deaknh03]

Well, me being a young angler, I might not have as much experience as some of the other members. Anyway, couldn't you fan cast with a crankbait allowing it run on the bottom, so it sent back a physical feeling of what you were bumping into? You could try to remember what kind of structure was there and where it was located on the lake or reservoir. I know you couldn't see the lure, but could this work? Correct me if i'm wrong please.

-DO

You could, but with the trebles, and keeping the bait on the bottom, it would be tough. Dragging a jig or a carolina rig on the bottom would work great, and if your rod is sensitive enough, you can tell if you hit rocks, weeds, hard pack or sand.

[smalljaw67]

Spinnerbaits and jigs to obvious cover, for searching and feedback as to that is on the bottom you need to use a carolina rig. Square bills and other shallow cranks as well as jerkbaits can be cast to areas around cover also but deep diving cranks are more for throwing to areas that you know fish are on by the use of sonar, in fact I think deep divers aren't something you would want to use without sonar. Also, look to the bank when you're fishing, it will offer clues to what you can expect is on the bottom or how steep the grade is from the bank or where the bottom changes from rock to clay and vice versa. good luck.

[bleedingshrimp]

Ok. Those are good suggestions...but without sonar (which I will have eventually), how do you decide where to throw a carolina rig , crank, or drop shot at without being able to reference the water depth. I feel like I'm not being productive just casting out to the middle of bowl shaped reservoirs.

[bleedingshrimp]

Also. Every body of water out here that I fished is stained at minimum...so even obvious underwater structure seems undetectable after 2 ft or so.

[deaknh03]

Just throw and drag and switch lures until you get a feel for the bottom and you find what the fish want to bite.