Approaching A Tough Local Lake

[blackmax135]

A lot of people including me are having trouble at out local lake wich people have always had trouble here.  They say the fish in this lake have major issues.  Its a decen't sized lake or big pond as others say.  Ive been fishing here since i was tiny with my dad.  He was a catfish guy so i can go out there and catch the limit on 20 pounders easy.  Ive been teaching myself to bass fish and taking advice from everyone on here wich is alot of great advice.  Still not good at it i think!!  Been bass fishing for 6 years now by myself.  All the younger people in our area come to me for advice on fishing. I don't know why but they do. lol. This is a state park lake and very stumpy so your not aloud to use over a 9.9 horse motor.  I have to use my trolling motor wich takes 30 min to get to my first fishing spot usually(wich isn't that far).  So that makes it pretty hard on locating fish with my depth finder and finding points and drop offs.  The contour of the lake stays pretty much the same through out, drop offs here and there.  Its a staind water lake.  It averages 7 ft and 12 ft in some spots.  One day i can go out there catch the limit and some; on the grass line that goes all the way down one side of the lake.  Next day i can go through my whole takle box and only catch one fish.  I'm pretty sure i'm missing something. Anybody have suggestions and if you need more details to help me out i can give all the details you want as you can see i bable alot lol. 

[Catt]

Name of the lake would be nice, location would help!

[blackmax135]

Lake George Warren.  Hampton SC

[Nitrofreak]

It's good that you understand structure , drop offs etcetera ... On bright sunny days , this means high pressure , in other words , you really need to be finesse in your approach and slow way down with slower baits , being pin point accurate in your casts with very little noise , subtle and in very very tight to where they are , even multiple casts to the same area may be needed , overcast conditions you can speed up your approach , fish generally tend to loosen up from their cover and are usually more willing to chase baits , so faster moving baits will work a little better , fish the breaks , this could even be in the form of shadows cast upon the water , look for humps that are long and flat near the surface if you have any , with grass if at all possible , those will be the most productive during the morning and evening hours , the drop offs should be a guide as to where they go during the suns brightest part of the day , look for the darkest spots available , docks maybe , deep water if that's all that's available , maybe thick matted grass , but the darkest cover is where they will be during the brightest part of the days and will be very difficult conditions if your moving too fast .

Good luck and be safe !!!

[blackmax135]

Thanks for the advice man. 

[Nitrofreak]

How do you approach this body of water if I may ask ?

What baits do you use ? Colors etc.. and what are the conditions you use them in ? How pressured is this body of water , lots of anglers daily ?

Maybe we can be of more assistance , just how stained is stained ? Dark brown water , muddy water ? It helps to know as much as possible when we have to envision what others see clearly .

[blackmax135]

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/mlands/managedland?p_id=96

Thats the link to the lake.

The lake is not very pressured in my onpinon i go buy there daily and there will be maybe 2 boats every other day. alot of bank fisherman but they can't get to very many spots.

The water is dark brown.  I will usually start out on the grass line that goes approximatly 2 to 3 miles maybe.  Gator grass.  I fish that with chartruess and white bledding buzz bait and a weightless worm.  Throwing the worm onto the grass and letting it fall off slowly that has worked greatly for me in the past and a carolina rig.  Worm colors i use is occochobee craw, bubblegum (my favorite) and watermelon.   Then sometime i go with the buzz bait, jig(green pumpkin super chunk jr. with a green and orange skirt and sometimes blue)  love fishing a jig, or crainkbait to the stumps, i get very aggervated with crank baits so i only have 4(shad colors) its 7 to 5 ft there.  Ive caught a few here and there with those tactics.  Bluegill, Crappie, i can't fighure out the main forage for the bass to be honest.  The end with the spill way has rocks on it and it has a pretty quick drop to 6 ft but ive fished everything i got in my tackle box all the way down those rocks fishing slow, fast, pulling it down the drop.  Nevery caught anything there but thats were all the people fish.  Its really hard to fish slow for me unless the wind is not blowing.  To be honest i have never paid attention to the conditions except for clowdy days.  I use my basics from early on that because i have that confidence in them wich i know that can either make you or break you.  Hope all that helps ya out.  I need all the help i can get.  I just got out of beginner phase of bass fishing in my opinion.  There is only one man that people know of around here that could go to that lake and catch a mess of bass every time but he died before i ever got to fish with him and learn.  I don't know any close people that bass fish. So im on my own and im not giving up. Thanks

 

  On 6/10/2014 at 10:59 PM, Nitrofreak said:

How do you approach this body of water if I may ask ?

What baits do you use ? Colors etc.. and what are the conditions you use them in ? How pressured is this body of water , lots of anglers daily ?

Maybe we can be of more assistance , just how stained is stained ? Dark brown water , muddy water ? It helps to know as much as possible when we have to envision what others see clearly .

[Nitrofreak]

  On 6/10/2014 at 11:57 PM, blackmax135 said:

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/mlands/managedland?p_id=96

Thats the link to the lake.

The lake is not very pressured in my onpinon i go buy there daily and there will be maybe 2 boats every other day. alot of bank fisherman but they can't get to very many spots.

The water is dark brown. I will usually start out on the grass line that goes approximatly 2 to 3 miles maybe. Gator grass. I fish that with chartruess and white bledding buzz bait and a weightless worm. Throwing the worm onto the grass and letting it fall off slowly that has worked greatly for me in the past and a carolina rig. Worm colors i use is occochobee craw, bubblegum (my favorite) and watermelon. Then sometime i go with the buzz bait, jig(green pumpkin super chunk jr. with a green and orange skirt and sometimes blue) love fishing a jig, or crainkbait to the stumps, i get very aggervated with crank baits so i only have 4(shad colors) its 7 to 5 ft there. Ive caught a few here and there with those tactics. Bluegill, Crappie, i can't fighure out the main forage for the bass to be honest. The end with the spill way has rocks on it and it has a pretty quick drop to 6 ft but ive fished everything i got in my tackle box all the way down those rocks fishing slow, fast, pulling it down the drop. Nevery caught anything there but thats were all the people fish. Its really hard to fish slow for me unless the wind is not blowing. To be honest i have never paid attention to the conditions except for clowdy days. I use my basics from early on that because i have that confidence in them wich i know that can either make you or break you. Hope all that helps ya out. I need all the help i can get. I just got out of beginner phase of bass fishing in my opinion. There is only one man that people know of around here that could go to that lake and catch a mess of bass every time but he died before i ever got to fish with him and learn. I don't know any close people that bass fish. So im on my own and im not giving up. Thanks

Good info right there , there is a lot of cover in the lake close to the dam , lots and lots of lay downs , good rip rap at the dam , one point in particular about the middle of the lake , I have not topo'd the lake yet , this is an interesting quest !!

Since the water is stained , baits that make noise or vibration baits , Jigs , black and blue with rattle tabs , I personally like dark baits for dark waters ,1/2 oz to start , medium size trailers on the jig , a little bulk to help with the sight of the bait , spinners with Colorado blades will give good vibes for them to target , willow leaf will give off flash but not a lot of vibes , if all you have is silver willow leaf blades , run them as close to the surface as possible to reflect as much sunlight as possible , especially on windy days with the spinner baits , crank baits really need to make contact with the cover or structure your fishing , use cranks with rattles , you can fish the lay downs with square bill cranks , a little slow mind you since the water is deeply stained , you want the fish to have time to find the bait but not enough time to decide if the bait is real or not , a little time to experiment with speed , make sure your patience is in check , the rip rap along the dam would be excellent to bump a jig around or a crank bait or a spinner bait , make sure you and your boat are Parallel to the bank , it's important to look for the breaks along the rip rap , as in look for the changes where the rocks end under the water and you have a few scattered boulders or rock piles , fish these areas methodically , take your time , again , since the water is stained , the fish need a little time to find and hone in on it's target .

Hope this helps !!

Good luck and be safe !!!

[blackmax135]

Hey man any ideas on how to get a topo for this thing i think ive tried everything i have even started a forum for ideas on getting one.  Been given ideas but no luck.  It would be a huge help and anything i need to do let me know.  I don't have a clue. lol Thanks for the advice to.  I'm gonna get to work to learnin more

[Nitrofreak]

  On 6/11/2014 at 1:43 AM, blackmax135 said:

Hey man any ideas on how to get a topo for this thing i think ive tried everything i have even started a forum for ideas on getting one.  Been given ideas but no luck.  It would be a huge help and anything i need to do let me know.  I don't have a clue. lol Thanks for the advice to.  I'm gonna get to work to learnin more

Hope you get much more input , but I am still looking for a map myself , if it's not available on line , county records should show the area before it was flooded , the DNR can help you with what bait fish or any other stocking info you are looking for .

Good luck and be safe !!!

[blackmax135]

I hope so to.  Wish i could get a pro angler the lake and see what they do. 

[Nitrofreak]

  On 6/11/2014 at 2:20 AM, blackmax135 said:

I hope so to.  Wish i could get a pro angler the lake and see what they do.

That would be cool , but honestly , how much would you really learn other than what they do at that one particular body of water , they are pros for a reason , most of what you can do is build confidence in yourself , which I feel strongly that you can and will do , just take your time and try to understand as much as you possibly can , take it easy , build confidence in a few baits at a time , understand what works in what conditions and where and you will grow into a great angler !!

Good luck and be safe !!!

[blackmax135]

I know the pro anglers go into bodys of water for tounaments after alot of research and studying of maps.  But i wanna see what they do when they don't have the resources like most every day people.  Or just having a very seasoned angler to fish with.  But what you said you can only getter better by getting out there and doing and practice.  I will take everything you said and go with it.  Im really glad to see people are out there that will share their knowledge.  Thanks man and good luck to ya

[Shanes7614]

Google earth historical views.

[Nitrofreak]

  On 6/11/2014 at 4:21 AM, blackmax135 said:

I know the pro anglers go into bodys of water for tounaments after alot of research and studying of maps.  But i wanna see what they do when they don't have the resources like most every day people.  Or just having a very seasoned angler to fish with.  But what you said you can only getter better by getting out there and doing and practice.  I will take everything you said and go with it.  Im really glad to see people are out there that will share their knowledge.  Thanks man and good luck to ya

Your welcome man , just keep in mind to fish the indifferences , timber , look for something different , a piece of timber at a different angle from all the others , that's not to say don't fish the whole area because there may just be something under the surface that holds such an opportunity , the break lines , your looking for the sudden changes , for example , the grasses edge to some form of solid structure , like pea gravel , hard clay etc ... Bass love to associate themselves with hard bottom , could be stumps , could be rock , you just have to take your time and look around to find em , keep a good log of the conditions , water and weather , me personally dark days , darker waters = darker baits , brighter days clearer water = brighter baits , although this is not always the case , it makes for a good base of what to start with , you'll just have to experiment to find what they want .

Good luck and be safe !!!