Sbauer Posted September 7, 2016 Posted September 7, 2016 Hey guys. As you may have seen by the title, I am coming here asking for a little bass advice on lakes. I'll start here. I kill bass in normal neighborhood ponds and larger ponds. I usually catch 5 or 6 good ones in an hour. This may not be great to you professionals, but it's great for me. I'll throw my same baits off docks or boats up against the shore on lakes and it just doesn't seem to work. My go to baits are the purple anise worm or Texas rig senko or craw. I do not know much about buzz baits, spinner baits, chatter baits, etc. Are these what I should be using? All tips and tricks are greatly appreciated. Try not to give me too much grief for asking about this, I am a student of fishing just like you were one time. I fish Midwestern lakes if that helps with the tips. Thanks Quote
that possum Posted September 7, 2016 Posted September 7, 2016 I look at lakes as just bigger ponds. My most productive lake..as well as the lake I catch the biggest bass from, May be 150 acres and have a max depth of 12ft. Quote
riverbasser Posted September 7, 2016 Posted September 7, 2016 Your question is very broad and I first suggest you start reading the articles on this site for more info than anyone can put in a post. When going from ponds to lakes a lot of factors start to come into play in order to find the fish including time of year, water temp, most dominate prey, current, depth, vegetation and structure to name a few. Reading on here will get you a good starting place and then it all comes down to time on the water. Good luck and welcome to BR! 1 Quote
Hog Basser Posted September 7, 2016 Posted September 7, 2016 I have similar problems. For me it's primarily the spots I can focus on and time. When I go to smaller lakes and ponds, I'm only there to fish. The fishing is always easier on smaller bodies of water, but you can make the most of big lakes too. I'm relegated to short spurts of dock fishing and a few casts here and there from a party barge on the big lake because I'm there with family for leisure activities, not fishing. The problem with larger lakes is the fish have a lot more room to spread out, so location is key. The dock I fish from is loaded with bluegill the kids can catch all day, but it is very rare to catch a bass there. There's really just not much cover other than the dock itself, the lake bottom is rocky and drops off fairly quick with hardly any cover. To attack the bass, I need to go to small coves with a lot of structure or the mouths of creeks that flow into it. There are a lot of bass tournaments on the large lake I go to and they do pretty well. Given a choice, I would rather fish the small lakes and ponds, so if I do have the time to spend, I'm not going to the large lake, therefore my success isn't that great there. If I was stuck there and had the time, I'd attack very specific spots with the best vegetation and cover away from the rocky barren shoreline. Quote
Sbauer Posted September 7, 2016 Author Posted September 7, 2016 6 hours ago, Hog Basser said: I have similar problems. For me it's primarily the spots I can focus on and time. When I go to smaller lakes and ponds, I'm only there to fish. The fishing is always easier on smaller bodies of water, but you can make the most of big lakes too. I'm relegated to short spurts of dock fishing and a few casts here and there from a party barge on the big lake because I'm there with family for leisure activities, not fishing. The problem with larger lakes is the fish have a lot more room to spread out, so location is key. The dock I fish from is loaded with bluegill the kids can catch all day, but it is very rare to catch a bass there. There's really just not much cover other than the dock itself, the lake bottom is rocky and drops off fairly quick with hardly any cover. To attack the bass, I need to go to small coves with a lot of structure or the mouths of creeks that flow into it. There are a lot of bass tournaments on the large lake I go to and they do pretty well. Given a choice, I would rather fish the small lakes and ponds, so if I do have the time to spend, I'm not going to the large lake, therefore my success isn't that great there. If I was stuck there and had the time, I'd attack very specific spots with the best vegetation and cover away from the rocky barren shoreline. Ok that makes since. I hadn't though of it in that way, but it makes since now. Thanks for the reply 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted September 7, 2016 Super User Posted September 7, 2016 Where in the Midwest? Are you fishing larger natural lakes or man made impoundments? Names? Tom Quote
Sbauer Posted September 7, 2016 Author Posted September 7, 2016 43 minutes ago, WRB said: Where in the Midwest? Are you fishing larger natural lakes or man made impoundments? Names? Tom I fish mainly man made lakes and really all over midwest no real one spot. Thanks for reply Quote
Super User WRB Posted September 7, 2016 Super User Posted September 7, 2016 6 minutes ago, Sbauer said: I fish mainly man made lakes and really all over midwest no real one spot. Thanks for reply OK, thought I could narrow it down because different classes of lakes bass tend to locate at different places based on available prey sources and types of structure. Pond bass tend to stayi near the shoreline because the prey types are dermasel located near the shoreline or terrestrial and fall or get into the water near the shoreline. Pond bass simply cruise the bank hunting prey, stopping at obvious ambush site making them easy to target. If the lake has palegic prey fish like Shad bass will locate where they can feed on them. It's important to understand what the bass are feeding on before you try to figure out where the bass are located and what type of lures should work. Not knowing if the lake is a natural lake or different types of reserviors like hill land, high land or flat land in the mid west. Keep in mind you can have shallow shoreline structure around islands, both above or below ( humps) the water surface. Most mid west reserviors will have river channels and creek arms that make up a wide variety of structure elements that bass locate on. It's important to understand structure and cover to locate bass. May be able to help you get started on 1 lake that you can apply to others you fish. Good luck. Tom Quote
ClackerBuzz Posted September 8, 2016 Posted September 8, 2016 when all else fails, head to the weeds. Quote
Super User Catt Posted September 8, 2016 Super User Posted September 8, 2016 21 hours ago, Catt said: Structure. Get yourself a map, start studing structure, then get on the water & find the structure. Quote
CrustyMono Posted September 10, 2016 Posted September 10, 2016 On September 6, 2016 at 10:06 PM, that possum said: I look at lakes as just bigger ponds. My most productive lake..as well as the lake I catch the biggest bass from, May be 150 acres and have a max depth of 12ft. same Quote
"hamma" Posted September 10, 2016 Posted September 10, 2016 If you dont know other lures the best way to learn them is to fish them,...definately read up on them here,.This site is the best for that stuff. go to the tackle forum and read up. then aquire a few and try them out. Fishing from shore you are at a disadvantage,..If you can get out on the water,..do so.,..Im sure alot of us started from small rigs and moved up. A crawdad, basshunter, small jon boat are good starts,...just some thoughts Quote
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