Looking for a tutor for large mouth bass fishing in deep reservoir

[Bass Turd]

Group,

I have a favor to ask. I'd love to get into contact with someone willing to pass on their knowledge of large mouth bass fishing in a deep reservoir. There aren't any printed maps of the lake but the google earth images show the lake while only 5% full before it filled up last year. Medina Lake near San Antonio Texas. And of course there is the Navionics web app. Currently the lake is only down 8 feet. We were catching tons of dinks and one or two keepers each weekend but the fish have moved off the bank and I'm just have no confidence fishing deeper water. We could converse through PMs or preferably email and you can share in my success. I know the fish are there... just need pointers on where to find them. I have a boat with a Helix 5 di/si. Please help. I would be eternally grateful. You can me directly at dwhanke@gmail.com

Thank you.

-Danny

[Catt]

We have an excellent section on electronics where you could post screen shot & have them interpreted.

[Ghostshad]

I'd Love to have one to,when i was the only one with a boat getting a brother to go was no problem they came to me. Now that they have boats they don't know me, And Yes i said " My Brothers "  I have everything but Know How .

[WRB]

I recall looking at some sat map shots of this lake last year for a member, maybe a site search would help you.

Basicall we need a map or some sat images to help pin point potential areas.

What I look for depends on the topography, type of rocks, gravel, clay transitions and breaks with some type of wood. Then apply this to where bass should locate based on forage available. Studying points that have saddles or some flat zones or rock piles near coves, creek channel swings, islands and off shore humps. 

Tom

[j bab]

Youtube is a very good fishing tutor.

[Fish the Mitt]

I always enjoy advice on lakes (even when it's no where near me)... so here's the lake:

[flyingmonkie]

I think it's fascinating looking at lake imagery when they are low...

https://goo.gl/maps/tsydJ3sQSvu

1) I see lots of docks.  You could spend all day fishing docks... especially those near the channel.  

2) Devil's Bluff.  There are always fish around bluffs.  

3) The water looks really stained on Google... is that still the case?  If so, forget about how deep the lake is, your catchable fish are still going to be mostly shallow.  Just need to find what cover/structure they are relating to.

[WRB]

It's a holiday weekend so not much time to spend studying this lake.

Looking at one small area of interest is Fauries cove and Spettel coves. Both have elements that should hold bass at fishable depths, 50' or less. Fauries cove has a long point with what appears to be a isolate rock pile with brush. Spettel cove is more of interest as it has several elements; flat that has a good looking cut to funnel bass and small island across the cove with 6 nearby points and inside saddle giving bass lots of places to hold on.

Look those 2 areas over, fish them and go replicate those types of elements around this lake that has a lot of good looking structure.

Tom

 

[Bass Turd]

Thanks guys. I'm working today but let me study your comments tomorrow. The lake is fairly clear 5-10 foot visibility. Because the lake came up 7 feet in May already the upper portions are muddy but will clear out soon. I Like I said... I've always been a bank fisherman so it just "feels wrong" to be away from shore. The only way to fix this is to arm myself with information that tells me where they would be and why. Lots of points in the mid to lower lake but they drop very very quickly to the flat of the river bottom/channel. Will they use these steep points to travel back and forth to feed? Makes sense. Tomorrow I'm planning on hitting the points from further off shore and drag a Texas Rigged worm down them until I hit bottom. I'm also going to graph more. I must admit... when I get to the lake I guilty of just fishing as soon as possible. And like I said we found plenty of fish on the edges... until now. Trying to learn something new. How deep can bass be caught? I'm guessing just a heavier weight to be able to feel the bottom and keep it there at depth? Thanks for posting links and pictures.... couldn't figure out how to do it. We launch in the middle of the lake at Park Road 37. We have been going up lake mostly. The bluffs at Church Cove have been very good... until lately. Will Bass be at the bluffs all year long off and on? When actively feeding?

 

Ok... I'm all over the place.... Give me a good solid game plan each time I hit the water... For instance "Start by graphing the bluffs and points. If you don't see any fish move to...."Do you always graph fish or at least bait balls before you fish?

[Airman4754]

Deep canyon lakes are primarily the only thing I get to fish so I will throw out a quick tip. If you are catching small fish, there are usually larger fish there as well. There is something there like a main lake point, large rocks, bottom transition, submerged cover like grass or trees, etc. 

Move your boat to water that is ten to twenty feet deeper and match your technique accordingly. If you were sticking dinks on a square bill in ten feet of water change to a 15' crank bait if you are now fishing in thirty. Up your weight if you are using bottom contact and so on. 

Then be patient. There are less bigger fish and they aren't as easy to catch. 

[MDBowHunter]

9 minutes ago, Mosster47 said:

Deep canyon lakes are primarily the only thing I get to fish so I will throw out a quick tip. If you are catching small fish, there are usually larger fish there as well. There is something there like a main lake point, large rocks, bottom transition, submerged cover like grass or trees, etc. 

Move your boat to water that is ten to twenty feet deeper and match your technique accordingly. If you were sticking dinks on a square bill in ten feet of water change to a 15' crank bait if you are now fishing in thirty. Up your weight if you are using bottom contact and so on. 

Then be patient. There are less bigger fish and they aren't as easy to catch. 

Very good advice here, I primarily fish reservoirs and my main lake has depths of 150'. The bigger fish are always deeper then the dinks. If your beating the bank catching dinks most likely your boat is right on top of the bigger ones. Try fishing two casts away from the shoreline. if your looking at the base of a tree in the water fist the tree top not the base where it meets the water. Just remember that tree could be as long as 75' or more depending on the tree. I've also found that boat positioning is everything in super clear reservoirs, If you can see 20' down that means the fish can see the boat from far away. Also pay attention to your shadow as I believe that's one of the things that warns them of your presence. 

[Bass Turd]

Thanks for the great advice everyone. We've had a lot of rain lately and the lake is up 10' from last weekend and up 20' since May 1. The lake is now at full pool. for the first time in 10 or 20 years. I'm sure things will be settling down for quite a while with all the new water. I'll be trying to fish deeper as suggested. 

[WRB]

Fish where the bass are at.

Usually when lakes rise quickly the bass move up with the water to explore and feed in newly flooded brush etc.

Spettel cove still looks good on paper.

Tom

[Nitrofreak]

On May 28, 2016 at 1:04 PM, Bass Turd said:

 I've always been a bank fisherman so it just "feels wrong" to be away from shore. 

There are going to be times when fishing the depths will feel just as wrong, there are a lot of times it may discourage you but don't let that take hold of your mentality, go scan lots of spots when you have the opportunity, some may be far more active during certain parts of the day than others, it takes a lot of work and a lot of patience, this will be an education few get to experience from the best of the best, I can see this being one of those truly great threads!!!

 

[Nitrofreak]

I have only had a few minutes with the maps I have available, I am not sure of the names of the coves or areas that I am looking at because I am using Google and Navtronics web maps, at first glance I like the looks of this island, on my Navtronics map it looks like the southern tip of the island appears to have a possible shelf with some scattered rock as well as some scattered timber really close to the area, with the lake filling, it may be possible that current could help make that place a productive area, the imagery is not real clear so it is a little difficult to see, the cove to the left has a couple of small bends, the small point on the map at the entrance is interesting to me because of the scattered boulders of different shapes and sizes concentrated in one area but also has access to deeper water, further back into the cove also on the left there is another batch of rock, it too has some flooded timber in close proximity that may be worth investigating as well.

I have not seen the whole map yet but it looks like a great fishery !!!