Where would you concentrate here in summer { detailed map }

[scaleface]

There is no vegetation . Lots of standing timber . Contour lines are at five foot intervals . This is a section of Mark Twain  Lake . You will have to zoom in to get a good look . What places would you hit in the summer with a fifteen to twenty foot thermocline and  stained water  .  

On a computer push ctrl  and the = key at the same time too zoom . You can also click on the photo and it will take you  to photobucket . Push ctrl and the = key there too . ctrl and - will make the image smaller ,and ctrl and 0 will restore it to original size .

 

 

I chose this section because of all the contour changes .

[scaleface]

This may be a bit confusing to some because I colored it in at 605 foot elevation  which is close to normal pool .So if you see a number like 596 with an x next to it , that would be nine foot deep . The main channel will be thirty to forty foot deep .

[JPascavage52]

Well, first thing, the good news is that, by finding the thermocline, or being able to ballpark it, you can safely eliminate a lot of water that is deeper than that.

Now, Ive never seen this lake in person, so it's hard to mention everything. But, being that you said it's stained water, fish will often tend to move a bit shallower than in clear water. I would first look at some of the shallower timber, especially laydowns near shore, and work this heavily. Especially look for areas where there is some sort of irregularity to the cover (ie timber leaning different ways, jutting out oddly, etc) Would be worth a few passes, say once with a reaction bait, once with a flipping bait, and once with a finesse bait, say a squarebill, flipping jig, and weightless senko, respectively. If you don't get bit and you're not in a tournament, well, you've just eliminated some more water, so no harm no foul. Another key area in this department is rocky/ rip rap areas. It's been my experience that these can be good numbers areas.

Also, I would look at where the channel swings close to shore (where the contour lines near shore are very close together) In the heat of summer, bass will either go to deep water, or deep into cover, and these areas offer both. In addition to throwing into the cover, I would recommend "spoke casting" some parallel to the bank, as this will keep your bait in the strike zone a very long time. 

As the day goes on, they move a bit deeper, so it would definitely be beneficial to start hitting points. It looks like there are plenty of swings and points on that lake. Cover each point thoroughly, and when you do get bit, make a mental note of where you hooked the fish, and slow down a bit, as there are likely more in the area.

Also, I'm not sure where the dam area/ tail end of that lake is in comparison to where the area selected is, but if you don't like fishing stained water, and would like to fish clearer, going down lake towards the dam would help you find some clearer, cooler water.

Good luck

 

[scaleface]

JP...   This is the upper reaches of the lake . The dam is probably fifteen miles away . The lake was formed it the early 80's .I've been fishing it since it was flooded . There is a lot going on in this section . Channel swings are good places , the creek on the left where the channel swings and there is a road next to it , I've fished there a lot . 

[JPascavage52]

I gotcha, yea once I google mapped it, I realized it was much bigger than I expected, yet, even just from Google earth, could see the water getting a bit clearer as you move down lake.

But, as you said, it does look like this area has a lot going on. So some of what I suggested should give you a some good starting points, and everything else is just a matter of covering water, and breaking it down. If you aren't in any immediate hurry to need to learn this section of the lake (ie a tournament coming up in the near future), itd definitely be worth breaking it down into sections, or imaginary "mini lakes" if you will, and just working one thoroughly each time you go out there. 

 

[scaleface]

14 minutes ago, JPascavage52 said:

I gotcha, yea once I google mapped it, I realized it was much bigger than I expected, yet, even just from Google earth, could see the water getting a bit clearer as you move down lake.

But, as you said, it does look like this area has a lot going on. So some of what I suggested should give you a some good starting points, and everything else is just a matter of covering water, and breaking it down. If you aren't in any immediate hurry to need to learn this section of the lake (ie a tournament coming up in the near future), itd definitely be worth breaking it down into sections, or imaginary "mini lakes" if you will, and just working one thoroughly each time you go out there. 

 

Actually , I just thought it would be a good map for some of the less expeirenced fisherman to learn from  and also  maybe some of the better structure fishermen might see something I have overlooked . but you have to zoom it in to see it all .

 

 

["hamma"]

 Just by looking at the map was confusing me as I couldnt navigate the site the map is from, (I'm not very computer savy) so i can only go by what you posted here.,,... BUT, my standard operating procedure, goes as such,....

 summer fishing usually dictates "deeper water access",.. or shallow,.. lily pads, seeing as pads are out,.. Id start with main lake points and any cover within those points, and areas that the channels swing up close to the shore. You stated that there is no weeds so the wood is what Id target first,  then any rockpiles, dropoffs  above the twenty foot level. Personally i target the wood with a old fashoined jig and pig, or a texas rigged worm,.. the rockpiles and drops Id try a crankbait in the abundant baitfish pattern, a carolina rig with same worm, or swimbait.  Usually on any lake this pays off for me, but then yet I dont have many waters like that up here. 

 I wish I could get a better look at this lake, looks good from what I can see

 

[scaleface]

27 minutes ago, Keith "Hamma" Hatch said:

 Just by looking at the map was confusing me as I couldnt navigate the site the map is from, (I'm not very computer savy) so i can only go by what you posted here 

On a computer push ctrl and   = keys at the same time and it should zoom in . ctrl and -  to zoom out    ctrl and 0 to return to original view .

[WRB]

I will take a closer look in a few hours. Initially the intersection of the salt creek and the creek to the left and a 3rd smaller creek bed looks good. The creeks intersect to create a point, flat and hump.

Moving up the salt creek where the words south right of the h and fork left of the k are located you have 2 other points that intersect the creek bed that need to be explored closely. Those are the types of areas I prefer, good with potential for big bass.

Tom

[scaleface]

29 minutes ago, WRB said:

  Initially the intersection of the salt creek and the creek to the left and a 3rd smaller creek bed looks good. The creeks intersect to create a point, flat and hump.

Moving up the salt creek where the words south right of the h and fork left of the k are located you have 2 other points that intersect the creek bed that need to be explored closely.  

Its the South Fork of Salt river and too the west is Brush  creek .

[WRB]

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

Its the South Fork of Salt river and too the west is Brush  creek .

So is the depth on top of those spots about 20' dropping to 30-40'?

East of letter h you see a road bed Y and a small hump, gulley leading down into the river channel and a bridge cross the east channel, check it out.

Tom

[scaleface]

The area right of the H is 25 foot dropping into the channel . The one left of the K is 20 foot dropping into the channel .

[WRB]

You say the thermocline is 15'-20' but keep in mind these are not absolute depths and vary all over any lake depending on wind direction any current created by wind. Can't tell how wind protected this mid lake basin area is but doubt that it is. I would say based on experience the 20' zone will have lots of bait fish like threadfin shad mid day, if it does than bass will be there.

What are heavy broken lines, fence rolls along the road bed?

Tom

 

[scaleface]

I think youre referring to the road . There is a fence showing north of the buildings on the upper part of the map The fences are marked with little x's .

[scaleface]

WRB , i didnt see that 3rd creek channel near where the River and Brush Creek meet but there it is plain as day .. Thats why I posted this .

 

36 minutes ago, WRB said:

You say the thermocline is 15'-20' but keep in mind these are not absolute depths and vary all over any lake depending on wind direction any current created by wind. Can't tell how wind protected this mid lake basin area is but doubt that it is. I would say based on experience the 20' zone will have lots of bait fish like threadfin shad mid day, if it does than bass will be there.

What are heavy broken lines, fence rolls along the road bed?

Tom

 

Those two points have a lot of timber on them . 

[WRB]

35 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I think youre referring to the road . There is a fence showing north of the buildings on the upper part of the map The fences are marked with little x's .

 

14 minutes ago, scaleface said:

WRB , i didnt see that 3rd creek channel near where the River and Brush Creek meet but there it is plain as day .. Thats why I posted this .

 

The lines in question are wavy lines. If you follow the road bed you will see wavy lines paralell to the road and lots of other places on this map. Maybe you could post a legend.

Anyway this area has lots of structure elements that should hold bass, some things may be gone or silted over as the lake filled decades ago. Navonics should have a 1'elevation map of the area to compare to the old map. The only way to know is meter the area with your sonar and fish it.

Good luck.

Tom

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, WRB said:

 

The lines in question are wavy lines. If you follow the road bed you will see wavy lines paralell to the road and lots of other places on this map. Maybe you could post a legend.

Any way this area has lots of structure elements that should hold bass.

Tom

Oh , thats timber . If you notice it borders all the channels .  All that timber is still there ..

[Turkey sandwich]

I'm a little confused about some of the marks, also.  What are the squiggly lines, and what are the squiggly lines surrounding broken parralel lines? 

[scaleface]

6 hours ago, Turkey sandwich said:

I'm a little confused about some of the marks, also.  What are the squiggly lines, and what are the squiggly lines surrounding broken parralel lines? 

The squiggly lines are timber . . The broken parallel lines are unimproved roads . 

[Nice_Bass]

I don't think I should really help based on the limited times I have fished Mark Twain.  Typically it has been at really low pool (moonscape) or at way above "flooded" levels. I almost think that that place fluctuates too much.. and bass spend a lot of time in transition and suspended.

[scaleface]

29 minutes ago, Nice_Bass said:

I don't think I should really help based on the limited times I have fished Mark Twain.  Typically it has been at really low pool (moonscape) or at way above "flooded" levels. I almost think that that place fluctuates too much.. and bass spend a lot of time in transition and suspended.

You're right , It does fluctuate a lot and fast .  Bass will follow the  routes  between deep and shallow during these fluctuations . A lot of offshore structure that has no follow-able route to the the "shore " do not hold concentrations of fish . In the early years  , that was not the case  . There wasnt a lot of fluctuation  and the lake was more stable ,so  there were populations of bass way off-shore in shallow areas next to deep , but all the flooding along  with extremely muddy water  during the past twenty years has stopped that . The bass no longer have time to populate those areas before the next flood comes , and with no follow-able  route to those areas the bass no longer habitate them . This map shows a lot of routes . Standing timber bordering creek channels is a very good route for the bass to follow 

[scaleface]

Since WRB pointed out that   small unnamed creek channel , I followed it up and it takes a u-turn creating a small point before petering out in  10 foot of water and inside standing timber . Thats one spot in this area  I  have not seeked out . Im sure it is silted in but still worth investigating .

[CarlF]

On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 0:04 PM, JPascavage52 said:

Well, first thing, the good news is that, by finding the thermocline, or being able to ballpark it, you can safely eliminate a lot of water that is deeper than that.

Now, Ive never seen this lake in person, so it's hard to mention everything. But, being that you said it's stained water, fish will often tend to move a bit shallower than in clear water. I would first look at some of the shallower timber, especially laydowns near shore, and work this heavily. Especially look for areas where there is some sort of irregularity to the cover (ie timber leaning different ways, jutting out oddly, etc) Would be worth a few passes, say once with a reaction bait, once with a flipping bait, and once with a finesse bait, say a squarebill, flipping jig, and weightless senko, respectively. If you don't get bit and you're not in a tournament, well, you've just eliminated some more water, so no harm no foul. Another key area in this department is rocky/ rip rap areas. It's been my experience that these can be good numbers areas.

Also, I would look at where the channel swings close to shore (where the contour lines near shore are very close together) In the heat of summer, bass will either go to deep water, or deep into cover, and these areas offer both. In addition to throwing into the cover, I would recommend "spoke casting" some parallel to the bank, as this will keep your bait in the strike zone a very long time. 

As the day goes on, they move a bit deeper, so it would definitely be beneficial to start hitting points. It looks like there are plenty of swings and points on that lake. Cover each point thoroughly, and when you do get bit, make a mental note of where you hooked the fish, and slow down a bit, as there are likely more in the area.

Also, I'm not sure where the dam area/ tail end of that lake is in comparison to where the area selected is, but if you don't like fishing stained water, and would like to fish clearer, going down lake towards the dam would help you find some clearer, cooler water.

Good luck

 

I was going to start a new thread asking about how some of you guys approach the muddy shallow water, but this pretty much answered my question. Water dropped pretty far in my circumstance, and the ski boat traffic was HEAVY. All the traffic turned the water really turbid. This water, if left undisturbed, is typically pretty clear. Assuming the ski traffic had been going for two days, would this be a long enough window of time to draw them shallow?

 

[JPascavage52]

Yes, easily.