Migration

[Ghostshad]

How do the bass migrate in a reservoir as compared to a cove ? I know they start at the front of the cove & move all the way back as conditions change & they Spawn & move back out the same way. I don't understand how they migrate in the reservoir to the cove . a

A cove is broke down into 3 parts , front, middle & back, i don't know how to break the reservoir down into the same 3 sections . I Fish WattsBar in SpringCity Tn , in case anyone else knows the lake. GodBless & Thank for your Help

[scaleface]

 They swim . haha

 

If theres is a point or other break  line at the mouth of the cove bass will use it .  Otherwise they just move from shallow to deep and are harder to pinpoint . Bass are everywhere but a cove with a point attached is easy  to fish . I often start deep on the point or structure and work my way shallow then into the cove but so does  a whole slew of other anglers . 

 

Rick Clunn breaks reservoirs down into three sections just like a creek . That never worked for me .

 

 

[Ghostshad]

Thats basically what i was talking about , Rick Cunn said break the reservoir into 3 sections & the cove into 3 sections . i understand the cove but not the reservoir on how to break it down. Where do you start ? A cove is small to try to compare it to the whole reservoir. With a cover you start at the mouth & work your way back , on the reservoir where do you start , then move , then end up then move to the mouth of the cove. Hard to put into words. Thanks

[WRB]

Generally a cove is small less than a few hundred yards deep, some call a cove a pocket other may refer to it as a bay.

If you are referencing a creek or river arm that is miles long with several smaller branches therecisn't any reason for bass to move out into the main lake basin area unless a prey source is preferred.

Seasonal bass location has more to do with preferred water temperature and a good prey souce. All bass need to spawn is somewhere with a surface in water shallow enough to provide sunlight and warm water protected form current, doesn' need to be in the back of coves.

Some bass live within a few hundred yards of thier home area, others roam for miles, no set rules regarding migration.

Breaking down a larger reservior into sections that have higher percentage of bass should be seasonally. If you look at the main lake basin less the creek arms most reserviors are deeper near the lower 1/3 by the dam and taper shallower where the water enters upstream or the upper 1/3, what is left is the middle 1/3. Apply the same logic to big creek arms as if they are seperate lakes. Winter cold water period deeper water is preffered. Spawn cycle shallower wind protected water is preffered, summer bass can be  anywhere a good prey source is located, fall bass tend to follow the prey to deeper water.

Tom

[riverbasser]

I haven't read Rick Clunn's advice on breaking a lake down but have heard other on here say that's how they do it. Im not sure if your trying to accomplish this in one day? This may be the problem, experienced anglers could probably section off a lake and then look at one section breaking it down using variables like season, water temp, vegetation and other factors to say where they would fish first but these are just educated guesses. If this is your home lake then do the same thing but you can study things in more detail and fish much slower. basically just trying to learn your home body of water. Depending on how big the lake is this could take many years but the more your out there the more you'll know. I too sometimes get anxious trying to get on the fish quickly since I can normally only fish on weekends, sometime I find em and sometimes I don't but im always learning something new about my lake which will in turn make future trips that much better.

[Paul Roberts]

Clunn's concept is basically this: Upper, Middle, Lower. The idea is basically a limnological designation in that a dammed watershed will be shallowest and usually warmest in the upper sections, and deepest and coldest in the lower section closer to the dam. So, upper heats earlier and fish start their year earlier there. They start their year latest in the lower. On large sprawling waters, the upper may be mostly in post-spawn, the middle spawning, and the lower in pre-spawn/just starting to spawn. 

 

Same can possibly be the same in individual creek arms, although here size (volume) of the arm really begins to weigh in in terms of the amount of difference in timing.

 

In general, bass move from deeper winter quarters to shallower feeding and/or spawn locations as spring season progresses (warms -essentially). Winter (and often summer) locations are most often in the main lake or lower creek arm areas as adult bass seem to prefer larger water volumes and depths in winter and summer.

 

Bass are "object-oriented" so they tend to travel from "object" to "object" as they migrate (travel deep to shallow and back again). How this is actually laid out varies with individual water body, or section of a water body. This also happens in natural lakes, and even in ponds. Factors include lake size, depth, clarity, habitat availability, prey type and availability, ... .

 

Hope this helps steer you in the right direction.

[Turkey sandwich]

For those of us who can't get on the water all the time...  Yes, it does help to know bodies of water well from spending time on them, but you can do a lot with maps, Navionics charts, topo maps, etc on the computer before you even think about packing rods. Ultimately, relative water temp is the biggest indicator as to where fish will be in the spawning process, but it's easier now than ever to use off the water resources to figure out where they're likely to spawn, forage native to the body of water, etc.. 

 

I'm stuck in the group that doesn't get out every weekend, so I might spend a day on the water figuring out specifics about weed lines, bottom make up, etc before really putting together patterns, but most of the work I put in is done beforehand.  Is more time ideal, especially for tournament fishing? Of course! However, you don't need it to be successful all the time if you do your homework. 

[RoLo]

I'm sure Rick Clunn's topographic trilogy is best viewed as a rough guide for seasonal patterning.

In the first place, when the word "creek" is bandied about, the discussion typically pertains to manmade reservoirs.

In the second place, bass living in natural lakes do not migrate in the true sense of the word,

but undergo 'seasonal shifts' (i.e. depth change). Even in an impoundment, water depth, water temperature,

and bottom gradient are going to influence 'location' more than shoreline configuration by itself.

 

Roger

[Catt]

Migration ain't the word I'd use

 

But it depends on how big the body of water is ya talking about.

 

There are creek channel coves which can be quit large, there are main lake coves, & then there are secondary coves located off of creek channel & main lake coves.

 

As far bass movement again it depends on the size of the body of water.

 

On larger bodies of water we find bass that live their entire life out on the main lake never seeing a shoreline or cove.

 

And then we have bass on the main lake that live their entire life within a certain distance from from the shoreline.

 

As ya can see it depends on the body of water!

[Paul Roberts]

Yeah, when we get into the specific instances across waters, semantics can get in the way. The diff between "movement" and "migration" is probably generally best described as short range and long range in time and/or place. But the dividing line can be tough to find.

 

I've come to this: Most bass "move" seasonally bc winter and summer most often have diff requirements. My thinking is that a seasonal shift from (usually) deeper, main lake, winter habitat to feeding habitat is the same basic behavior, across all water bodies. How far that needs to be, and exactly what it looks like, can sure vary. Even in my smallest ponds the general habitat areas are deeper main body areas (winter and summer) and shallows (to spawn, and often to feed). I see that as functionally the same basic behavior regardless of water body, although how it plays out in diff waters can sure vary.

[WRB]

The OP's questions was Rick Clunn's suggestion to break down a lake onto 1/3rd's, the details will take a lifetime to learn.

Tom

[Catt]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

The OP's questions was Rick Clunn's suggestion to break down a lake onto 1/3rd's, the details will take a lifetime to learn.

Tom

 

He asked about dividing Watts Bar Lake into 3rds which at 72.4 miles long ain't helping a whole lot.

 

Fishing the main lake of a body of water that size ya gonna need to break it down even smaller. Due to it's length & shape I'd cut it into at least 6 sections.

[scaleface]

I'm a fan of Clunn but his method of breaking down a reservoir into three sections didnt make a whole  lot of sense to me .  I think Bassmaster was just looking for a filler article .

[Ghostshad]

Thanks for your help its just confuses me, i worked all my life & mostly 6 days a week. My Sundays was spent in Church , i know more about My Lord & Saviour than i do bass & for a little humor He's a whole lot easier to find than bass. If i can put this into words if the bass are relating to water temperature would where their located on the lake come into play?As far as say Lower , middle & upper part of the reservoir, how about water temperature & depth if its the same. Hope this makes sense.

[Team9nine]

KVD seasonal guide

 

See if the above article helps you out.

 

-T9

[Paul Roberts]

There will be resident bass all over a given lake -upper, middle, and lower. It's just that seasonal cycles, that define what bass are doing when, are basically temperature dependent. The KVD seasonal guide should help you get in the ballpark, and give you some ideas as to what to read up on. Lotsa articles on seasonal events on this site. Then there's the In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies books (old and newer editions) that provide a good basic framework to start understanding how bass operate.

 

More immediately to your last question, if I understand it right:  On large sprawling waters, the bass living in the warmer upper lake may be mostly in post-spawn, the bass in the middle lake mostly right in the spawn, and those in the lower lake mostly in pre-spawn. I said "mostly" a lot bc not all bass spawn at the same time, in any of the sections of a big lake -or even in one tiny pond.