What is this lake structure?

[Boomstick]

On 1/14/2021 at 3:40 PM, Jigfishn10 said:

Where the contours are tight like that it just shows the land dropping faster. 

The area that WRB I think is referring to is just under the yellow part where the word "TRAL" is. That is quite possibly the best location. and you can follow that to your 1st circle.

That is the first thing I noticed as well. Looks like that area and the western portion of the top circle which is largely in the same area would be good places to start.

[Jigfishn10]

9 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

That is the first thing I noticed as well. Looks like that area and the western portion of the top circle which is largely in the same area would be good places to start.

Ya kno boom, I think I should make my way to the Berkshire’s to fish with you and get your butt up to fish with me! 
hope you like a few laughs!

[Boomstick]

Just now, Jigfishn10 said:

Ya kno boom, I think I should make my way to the Berkshire’s to fish with you and get your butt up to fish with me! 
hope you like a few laughs!

Now what part of the country are you from? Let me know if you're ever up this way for sure.

[Capt No Fish]

On 1/15/2021 at 6:17 PM, moguy1973 said:

All these places look fishy to me.  The red dots in the area I circled on the right side are rocks.  In Navionics you can click on those and it will tell you what they are.  That group of 5 black dots is a post fish attractor they've placed.  There are several of those in the lake it looks like.

 

 

 

Jim, thanks for all the great information and helping me out. Unfortunately being a green horn I am going to come back with the why question so I can learn to apply the reasoning myself.

 

I labeled the spots your circled so we can talk about them.  Most of which you circled are drops or ledges.  I think the reason you circled 1 is because it's a drop from a point.  Or is that the Table that WRB was talking about.

 

I think spots 2 and 4 are circled because I they are a ledge.

 

I am not understanding why spots 3 - 5.  To me they simply look like the end of a ledge.  If that is the reason am I to assume that the end of ledges are great places to look?

 

I am completely at a loss for spot 6.

 

I am in the NE.  This year has been a mild year so I guess we could fish.  Usually it's too cold and the boat is winterized right now.  But my understanding is the winter time haunts are the same in the summer and I can apply.  This is my preseason research

 

Earlier you mentioned about visibility.  This lake is slightly stained, I think this is how it would be described.  It is around 3 - 4 ft most days.  Most of the spots look 20 - 30 ft we are talking about.  I would still take a 12 ft crank to fish them and try to draw the fish up?  Or should I just limit myself to heave bottom baits (1/2 oz and greater). There is no draw on this lake.  It is just a water retention lake for recreation.

 

--Shane

 

 

 

 

[moguy1973]

3 hours ago, Capt No Fish said:

 

Jim, thanks for all the great information and helping me out. Unfortunately being a green horn I am going to come back with the why question so I can learn to apply the reasoning myself.

 

I labeled the spots your circled so we can talk about them.  Most of which you circled are drops or ledges.  I think the reason you circled 1 is because it's a drop from a point.  Or is that the Table that WRB was talking about.  It's a flat (where the lines aren't close together) that drops off a ledge, and that spot is good because it drops off on more than one side of the flat, so which ever way the current or wind may be going that day, the bass will sit on the down wind/current side of that flat in the deeper water.

 

I think spots 2 and 4 are circled because I they are a ledge.  These spots are ledges that taper of into a point.  The ends of the ledges will hold fish.

 

I am not understanding why spots 3 - 5.  To me they simply look like the end of a ledge.  If that is the reason am I to assume that the end of ledges are great places to look? You are correct, as I said above.  Transition areas between flats and ledges are always good ambush spots for bass to sit and wait for baitfish.  In fact, that whole cove between 2 and 3 looks nice to me.  Looking at Google Maps satellite there are others that think the same as there are 3 boats in that cove.

 

I am completely at a loss for spot 6. I circled 6 because the red and black dots are cover.  The red dots are rocks, and the black dots are "piles" whether that means they are human made rock piles put there as fish attractors or they are old bridge pilings or whatever.  They are places for fish to hide.  Like I said in my post above, you can click on those and it will tell you what they are.  There's also other fish attractors they've placed around the lake it looks like, they are little red fish symbols with a green dots.

 

I am in the NE.  This year has been a mild year so I guess we could fish.  Usually it's too cold and the boat is winterized right now.  But my understanding is the winter time haunts are the same in the summer and I can apply.  This is my preseason research

 

Earlier you mentioned about visibility.  This lake is slightly stained, I think this is how it would be described.  It is around 3 - 4 ft most days.  Most of the spots look 20 - 30 ft we are talking about.  I would still take a 12 ft crank to fish them and try to draw the fish up?  Or should I just limit myself to heave bottom baits (1/2 oz and greater). There is no draw on this lake.  It is just a water retention lake for recreation. For sure bass will travel upwards to grab a bite to eat if they are active from 20' up to 10-12'.  20' really isn't all that deep.  A way to look at it is if you are standing on the bow of your boat and it's a 17' boat, turn the boat vertically and that's about how deep it is.  It really puts it into perspective that 20' of water seems deep but it really isn't.

 

--Shane

 

 

 

 

 

[WRB]

If this lake didn’t have high bass boat fishing traffic the marina areas circles would be classic however being very obvious to modern bass anglers the entire area get hammered. You can catch bass in those areas, unfortunately it’s take a number and get in line.

Looking at the map posted and circled take note of the road beds and deep channel bridge. Take some time and survey the road beds looking for isolated rock piles and stumps along the edges, they hold bass. The bridge is deep but may also hold bass in the cold water months, try a 1 oz jigging spoon like a white Crippled Hearing for example.

This lake has good structure elements to learn your sonar. Introduced new terms; isolated structure, road beds, rock piles, bridge. 

Take your time and learn to use your sonar units.

Tom

PS, Don Iovino book Finesse fishing and the Sonar Connection is dated but good sonar instructional source plus the. Finesse presentations needed for this highly pressured lake.

[RoLo]

On 1/16/2021 at 10:57 AM, Catt said:

Anywhere you see the river/creek swing in towards the bank...ya might wanna check that out!

And anywhere the shoreline swings out to the river/creek (commonly called a Point).

 

 

"Location" in a manmade impoundment, is different from location in a natural lake.

In reservoirs, the "river channel" is the key feature, from the headwaters to the dam.

Ideally, you're looking for the broadest shallow flats that adjoin the river channel,

then create waypoints that pinpoint the best contour-line convergences (Drop-offs).

 

Roger

[Catt]

1 hour ago, RoLo said:

And anywhere the shoreline swings out to the river/creek (commonly called a Point).

 

I like that! ?