Bass But No Shad

[Ozark_Basser]

Find some cover and you will find bluegill. Find bluegill and you will find bass. It's that simple. Bluegill will stay in cover to try and hide from predators and feed on all the small minnows, insects, and whatever else is found in cover they can eat. They can generally be found up shallow, but can be found deep especially in grassy lakes. Bass will follow the bluegill. Like bluebasser said, lakes without shad make bass more predictable because bluegill relate to structure and and are not pelagic like shad.

As far as yellow perch, I can't help. I live too far south.

[HoosierHawgs]

Find some cover and you will find bluegill. Find bluegill and you will find bass. It's that simple. Bluegill will stay in cover to try and hide from predators and feed on all the small minnows, insects, and whatever else is found in cover they can eat. They can generally be found up shallow, but can be found deep especially in grassy lakes. Bass will follow the bluegill. Like bluebasser said, lakes without shad make bass more predictable because bluegill relate to structure and and are not pelagic like shad.

As far as yellow perch, I can't help. I live too far south.

I think shad can be plenty predictable. Temperature will bring she to certain places, as do the time of year... Like how rocks hold heat in winter, so shad will congregate.. In the fall they often move back into a creek. Maybe not as predictable as bluegill, but definitely predictable..

[lmbfisherman]

It's a possibility, but there are only a few sure ways to find out. One of which is actually seeing them which you ovbiously haven't and the other is to look for an earthen shore where the burrow into for the winter.  You'll see the holes in the spring when the watter is clear and sometimes on the shoreline if the water level receeded over the winter.

Reguardless of whether the pond contains crawfish or not, craw imitations such as a jig and pig will still produce. I don't know why, I just know that, like a  plastic worm, it seems to produce anywhere bass live.

I use to believe that regarding worms,  However there is a local pond that for the life of me I can't catch a bass with any worm imitations!  Seriously, I've been trying for 5 years and never caught one.  It might be a different story if the public was able to use a canoe/kayak on the pond.  Not allowed, so only bank fishing.  I kill them on flukes, spinnerbaits, squarebills, swim jigs, drop shot minnow imitations, craw imitations, frogs..just not worms.  I think the reason why is everyone there fishes with a live worm. 

[Ozark_Basser]

I think shad can be plenty predictable. Temperature will bring she to certain places, as do the time of year... Like how rocks hold heat in winter, so shad will congregate.. In the fall they often move back into a creek. Maybe not as predictable as bluegill, but definitely predictable..

Shad are definitely predictable, but during the day they are pelagic making them hard to find without good electronics. They may use the same routes to travel from the banks to open water in the morning and throughout the day, but they are a whole lot harder to figure out than bluegill which are generally in shallow cover.

[lmbfisherman]

As for perch, I find them everywhere no shortage to find them for me.  Big ones you usually catch in open water, but the smaller guys I find them near shoreline, rocky areas, weedlines, creek channels...etc.  They also seem to spawn the same time as crappies and feed the same time during Spring and Fall.  Not an expert though, never bothered since I see them all the time and it's not hard to catch cause I can catch them in abundance, I never even thought to ever "look" for them.