How To Locate Bass.

[WRB]

This post isn't about how to use your sonar unit, it's about how to use your sonar unit to locate active bass along with your other senses like eye sight, hearing and some common sense.

At the moment it's early fall transitioning to winter or the colder water period. Bass, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass are relocating, it's time to move.

I don't fish from shore, so I will talk about using a boat to locate bass. The big advantage a boat gives us is mobility, we can go everywhere on the water that is open to fishing. When I launch my boat the first thing I do is start the big engine and let it warm up, the next thing is put the trolling down, switch on the sonar unit and check the surface water temps. I do this year around, it's my routine.

The next things I do is look around for fish eating bird activity, under the docks at the marina for bass and baitfish, then making a wide slow circle around the launch ramp out into deeper water looking for how deep any basss or baitfish might be...surveying the marina to determine where the bass and baitfish located. Some days I don't leave the marina and catch bass there for hours.

Grebes, both western and pied billed are shad eating birds, cormorants and seagulls eat all types of fish, so look for fish eating bird activity, active birds equal active predator fish like bass.

My next move depends on the seasonal periods, generally I divide the lake into 3 parts; the lower end by the dam is the deeper water zone and good place to start during the winter or colder water periods. The middle section of the lake is good during transition periods like pre spawn and fall, the upper third for spawn and summer transition. The 3 lake zones are very general, but a starting place to continue my sonar survey. Big lakes with large creek arms are like individual lakes.

I like to survey major points starting at the base near shore and make a slow circle out into deeper water like the marina area and circle back along the opposite side of the point looking for signs of active bass or baitfish. If I meter them it tells a lot, if I don't see anything it tells the bass are somewhere else. If you meter the marina and major point without seeing any signs of bass or bait fish, the bass maybe tight to cover, so go check out the cover areas. To check out cover requires fishing in the cover.

Tom

[OperationEagle]

^{Tom, great post.  The thing I do the night before is look at my lake topo map and try think about where the bass might be during that part of the season.  This helps me become very targeted in terms of search zones.}

 

^{One question I have is in an area that is (for example) 15 ft deep, I sometimes will find bass suspended at 9 ft.  Is the next step then to move to target areas that are 9-10 ft?  Especially if using a bottom contact technique i.e. jig n pig?}

[papajoe222]

Great post. I don't fish many reservoirs, I mainly fish small, natural lakes and with few exceptions rarely use my electronics to find fish. I do, however attempt to observe my surroundings and that includes keeping an eye on my depth finder. I only run flat out to a spot that has been productive recently, the rest of the time I will take my time getting to an area I believe may be. I'll keep my graph speed on high and split screen with zoom. If I pass over an area I think is worth checking out, I'll mark it so I can return later to check it out.

I'll break the lake down in a similar matter, but from top to bottom rather than end to end. Seasonal locations will dictate where I begin. Weed growth is to me what bird activity is to you, so density and depth along with the types of weeds are what I look for.

My final step before actually fishing is to look for either structural changes or points or pockets in the outside weed line. If the bass are active, I'll know in short order. If not, I either need to get into the weeds, or hit the docks.

[papajoe222]

^{One question I have is in an area that is (for example) 15 ft deep, I sometimes will find bass suspended at 9 ft.  Is the next step then to move to target areas that are 9-10 ft?  Especially if using a bottom contact technique i.e. jig n pig?}

[WRB]

Your sonar unit, the traditional down looking units, see a small target area, about 1/3 in diameter at the depth you are seeing fish at. At 9-10 feet those bass are within a 3' diameter circle,the size of a hula hoop!

Never the less when you meter fish, bait or whatever it tells you 9-10' is the life zone depth and that is good info, especially if you see the same zone at other lake locations.

The wild card is bass rarely move deeper to feed, they move horizontal or upwards. The deeper bass can stay deep or move up as much as 25' or so to feed in some lakes.

If you know the zone is 9-10 feet that tells you what depth to expect strikes, what structure to look for, what break line to focus on and what lures work good at that depth. Bass close to bait or structure are active bass, bass suspended away from everything are inactive, they may move soon and start feeding.

My experience is mostly with highland or hill land deep rocky structure lakes and similar natural lakes that make up most of bass fishing lakes. Don't have a lot of experience with low land coastal natural lakes and river delta's where cover is the predominate factor.

Tom

[basscatcher8]

I'm mainly a river fisherman. And its taken having the good electronics to learn about fish movements in these bodies of water. I read on here all the time that rivers are easy you know the fish will be in the bank by cover out of current. Thats how I always fished. After having SI for awhile and doing alot of riding and catching I've learned that they will venture out and be in the main river. Obviously during low water periods there are more of them out from the bank than during high water. I've also begun to enjoy the weekend pleasure boat traffic on some of these bodies of water. It seems like the more the water gets stirred up from the pleasure boaters the better the bite gets. I can only attribute that to baitfish getting stirred up and the bass know this.

[WRB]

In-Fisherman did a detailed study report on current flow in rivers and how bass use current breaks, worth researching. I don't have time at the moment to find the report and will do this. Smallmouth and spotted bass are river bass, largemouth have to adapt to current.

Tom

[basscatcher8]

In-Fisherman did a detailed study report on current flow in rivers and how bass use current breaks, worth researching. I don't have time at the moment to find the report and will do this. Smallmouth and spotted bass are river bass, largemouth have to adapt to current.

Tom

 

I'll have to go see if I can find that. I enjoy reading alot of their stuff, new and old.

[MassBass]

Just a story about the birds. I was down at the river at a spot where power lines cross the river. There was a congregation of cormorants perched on the lines, crapping away into the river. I set my line downriver from the birds and it was a catfish bonanza. Best cat day I had all last year when i was doing that kind of fishing. The cats were feeding heavy on the crap from the birds. Fish feeding off the birds. 

[Catch and Grease]

What about Southern Shallow natural lakes? I fish a natural lake that's 6ft deep on average and I never use electronics to find fish... I just go off trial and error until I start finding them, we don't have many fish eating birds here

[Verisimilidude]

we don't have many fish eating birds here

 

Id say that, being right in the path of a major southern migration route, you most likely have more fish eating birds than the average state.

[Catch and Grease]

Id say that, being right in the path of a major southern migration route, you most likely have more fish eating birds than the average state.

Well I don't see a lot of birds on the lake (swamp lol). Guess It has no fish...

All I see are ducks and these biggish white birds that sometimes fly in huge groups but are usually solo.

EDIT: Actually now that I think about it there are a lot of these small black birds, also some osprey and I've seen eagles there... Maybe there are quite a few birds lol

[WRB]

Take a look at Pied Bill Grebe distribution; they are common throughout America. The Pied Bill grebe is a little smaller than a common coot or mud hen, brownish white bird that eats fish the bass also eat.

Tom

[Munkin]

Moving this to the top as everyone should read it.

[ClackerBuzz]

Moving this to the top as everyone should read it.

agreed thanks tom. I bookmarked it.

I've struggled to identify the 'personality' of my reservoir the last 2 seasons.

i'm always trying to see the big picture and this post falls right in line with that thought process. i believe my reservoir is considered a 'low land' reservoir. you often hear a debate about baitfish. some guys won't wet a hook unless they a present. others would never get to fish if they had to wait till they saw bait. i struggle to find balls of bait even with a side imaging unit. i rarely find bait let alone see giant schools of bass that large bodies of water have.  and i don't have tradition long tapering rocky points that most guys fish. its very easy to see and fish bass that are schooling on the ends of this type of structure... but only if you have it.  my reservoir also has very little dam release compared to huge southern reservoirs. yes there is current but its really more like a 1,000 acre still-water pond.

 

this all helps me understand that cover is the predominant factor in my reservoir. I can always run to the weeds and catch bass.  or bump a crankbait off a log and hook one.  but there is no point in casting 'search baits' all day long unless you want a sore wrist. or unless there are baitfish around. of course this is still a lifelong work in  progress but at lease i've identified the major personality of my reservoir and know where the majority/ easy picking bass live.