Summer fishing without electronics

[XpressJeff]

I am grateful for finding this forum. Been away from fishing for quite a while and I am grateful I get to read all this now. 

 

Thanks folks!

[FishOnLMB]

8 hours ago, WRB said:

As one member stated if you know the lake you don't need sonar/GPS. I stated earlier sonar/GPS saves time, even on the lakes you know and fish regularly. Knowing the depth of the bait and the bass are located reduces the places to fish, saving time for a more productive fishing outing.

I learned to bass fish from shore using 1 lure and caught bass but don't recommend it with my knowledge gained over 60 years of bass fishing. Bass during the summer are scattered because they have a wide variety of prey to choose from. Points on any lake will hold some bass during the summer, so start there.

Tom

Besides points, where else would you fish around a lake. Also, if I dont know what kind of cover I am fishing around, then how do I choose a lure when fishing somewhere deep. 

[Tas1498]

Buy a flipping stick!!

 

[WRB]

32 minutes ago, FishOnLMB said:

Besides points, where else would you fish around a lake. Also, if I dont know what kind of cover I am fishing around, then how do I choose a lure when fishing somewhere deep. 

Start with a weedless rigged soft plastic worm, Texas with sliding bullet weight or Carolina rigged.

Tom

[FishOnLMB]

On 5/25/2017 at 6:40 PM, WRB said:

Start with a weedless rigged soft plastic worm, Texas with sliding bullet weight or Carolina rigged.

Tom

Where would you fish these baits?

[Subaqua Adinterim]

On ‎5‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 10:25 PM, FishOnLMB said:

Where would you fish these baits?

Don't know what others do, as there are many here that are more experienced and expert than me, however, I am successful casting around docks and other structure such as downed trees and rocks and in fairly shallow water.  I fish from a kayak - no electronics, and you would not believe how successful you can be by casting directly toward shore into water less than a foot deep and reeling slowly back out to deeper water.  Also, casting parallel to shore in various depth works well too.

I should add that I mostly fish my t rigged worm weightless.

Good luck.

[everythingthatswims]

Guess what, they don't all go deep!

[scaleface]

On 5/27/2017 at 9:25 PM, FishOnLMB said:

Where would you fish these baits?

 

Points . They are a classic structure that are usually easy to see jutting out in the lake . Follow the bank contour out in the water . Crankbaits work extremely well . You want them to hit bottom . If a crank quits hitting then go to a deeper model . You could get one  each in a series such as the Berkely Dredger and cover the water column from eight to twenty foot . Any lure that sinks can be fished off the bottom . I like to bounce Strike King Red Eye Shads on deep points . I  cant stress enough how important marker buoys are. Toss one every time you hook up , or feel cover . If you dont then you will drift away from the spot and it will be difficult to find again . Its not unusual for me to catch up to fifty bass from one spot on a point  and the bass only be on that one spot . 

[Captain America]

If it were me (I actually don't own electronics,) would get a topo map of the body of water you want to fish. Either electronic via the navionics app, a paper map, or if those are not available, a satellite image from google maps or google earth will give you some helpful information. This way you have an idea of the depth you are in. For temperature, they make little thermometers that are similar to pool thermometers -- usually found in a fly fishing section. They go for around 12-15 bucks. Now you have surface temperature. As far as cover types go, it does not take long to learn that there are weeds or rocks at the bottom by dragging a jig or something down there. You won't be able to spot isolated pieces of cover in 20 fow, or balls of schooling shad, but you're still doing pretty good and saving a good deal of money.

[bma3]

You can look at the Deeper Smart Sonar. It's a portable fish finder and you can either attach it to the side of a boat and the data goes straight to your smartphone or you could cast it out from shore. It's pretty awesome and cheaper compared to other fish finders at $119.99.