Only fish main lake and secondary points that show fish on fish finder?

[padon]

hmm if its a small lake there a re probably no maps.if there is especially an eletronic one i like to look to see if there is a channel steep point etc. what state are you in? is it possible most of the fish are still up shallow? is there vegatation inthe lake? does it have a good bass population?

[CrankFate]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

You never use any type of even basic sonar in your boat?

I don’t have a boat. All my bass are from the bank in ponds that you wouldn’t need a motor in. There is no boatable fresh water anywhere near here, except the bay, which is basically the ocean. No way I would ever get an ocean going vessel. An ocean going vessel would be required for anything I’m looking to fish for. The prime fishing grounds are about 2 - 3 hours away, each way, by boat. You could buy a house on a lake with a boat and truck for the cost of running an ocean going boat around here, over the course of 5 or 6 years. To go out, at most 10-15 times a year, because it requires a whole day, it’s just not worth it. That’s why almost every single boat in the area is for sale now.  
 

Plus, I have never done better fishing on a privately owned boat than I do from the shore. I actually did worse. Because you need a serious machine to go out on the Atlantic. Or you are going backwards against the tide at WOT.

 

If, someday, when I’m retired, or a little older, when the kids are grown, and I could get my wife to move somewhere that a bass boat would be something I can actually use, yes I will definitely get one. With electronics. My wife has no problem with that. It’s the not living in a big city that is the problem.

[gim]

11 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I don’t have a boat.

When you mentioned this, I thought maybe this might be the case.  It would be very difficult for me to use a boat without at least basic sonar.  Mostly for safety purposes simply to know its deep enough to run my outboard.  Carry on

[J Francho]

Does the OP have a boat? I assumed so. Shore fishing is uniquely different when approaching new waters and the same techniques and skills don't really translate to a boating experience.  

[CrankFate]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

When you mentioned this, I thought maybe this might be the case.  It would be very difficult for me to use a boat without at least basic sonar.  Mostly for safety purposes simply to know its deep enough to run my outboard.  Carry on

No. Definitely no boat. It’s either a boat or make my kids go into debt for college. My wife draws the line right around that point. 

[clemsondds]

12 hours ago, padon said:

hmm if its a small lake there a re probably no maps.if there is especially an eletronic one i like to look to see if there is a channel steep point etc. what state are you in? is it possible most of the fish are still up shallow? is there vegatation inthe lake? does it have a good bass population?

Yeh it’s a small lake so no map on lakemaster. Navionics has a basic map of it but it’s not super accurate. But yes I’ve ran most of the points and there’s no structure that I can see. I did see what looks like power lines but that’s about it. I’m in NC. I can only assume they are up shallow. There’s a lot of cover (fallen timber, some grass) around bank.  This lake does have quite a bit of aerators throughout the lake. Not sure if that matters.

anyway, thanks for your help. I fish a few lakes and some are bigger. And I had the same question where I see points where I would think fish should be but didn’t see any cover or structure on them, and didn’t know if I should fish them or move on. 

[clemsondds]

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

Does the OP have a boat? I assumed so. Shore fishing is uniquely different when approaching new waters and the same techniques and skills don't really translate to a boating experience.  

Yes

[BassNJake]

5 hours ago, clemsondds said:

This lake does have quite a bit of aerators throughout the lake. Not sure if that matters.

 

Any luck around those? Anytime I've seen them in a lake they drew baitfish.

[padon]

i think from the sound of your lake i would concentrate on the shallow cover until it fails, when and if that happens i would revisit the depthfinder and deeper water.

[clemsondds]

6 minutes ago, padon said:

i think from the sound of your lake i would concentrate on the shallow cover until it fails, when and if that happens i would revisit the depthfinder and deeper water.

Yeh sorry...I didn’t mean for this to turn into a thread about my small lake. I just meant in general, if you decide to fish points...do you scan first and go on to the next if you just see bottom with no structure/cover/fish on ff. Thanks 

[WRB]

Points are bass attractors regardless of the lake size, predominate structure plus depth break.

My question was simple and went unanswered; Natural lake or reservoir? If it has a dam It’s man made unless it’s a beaver dam.

You mentioned aeration systems indicating the lake is managed for dissolved oxygen depletion due to severe thermocline and decaying debris on the lake floor. This could be do to aquatic plant growth controls by private community.

The reasonI ask these questions isn’t for my benefit, they help to determine the answer to your question.

Demersal baitfish vs Pelagic baitfish or bank oriented prey vs free swimming mid lake prey fish.

Tom 

 

 

 

 

[clemsondds]

Sorry Tom. It’s a reservoir. 800 acres

[WRB]

Where you live my guess is the bass are still in the spawn cycle therefore not located in main lake points. Secondary points are those inside creek arms or larger bays. Secondary points the form a Y between 2 coves are high % staging zones for both Pre and post spawn females. The males stay in the coves until their fry have dispersed. This usually occurs when blue spawn,

Think about sonar as a spit light beam illuminating a spot 1/3rd the depth. 15’ depth of water you see on sonar 5’ diameter moving spot light on the bottom, smaller towards the transducer. Bass feel or hear you coming and simply move so you miss metering them doesn't mean they are not there. Baitfish move much slower and easier to meter.

Watch Glenn’s latest video “Seasonal Periods”. 

Shad, Herring, Crappie are pelagic fish that move off shore.

Bluegill are dermesal that stay near shore. Bass locate wherever the predominate bait source is located outside the spawn cycle.  

Tom

[padon]

10 hours ago, clemsondds said:

Yeh sorry...I didn’t mean for this to turn into a thread about my small lake. I just meant in general, if you decide to fish points...do you scan first and go on to the next if you just see bottom with no structure/cover/fish on ff. Thanks 

oh ok sorry. in that case lets say its after the spawn and i think the fish are moving out to deeper water. now as to said the bass location is dependent on the food supply. bass dont move to deep water just because the shallow water warms up. they do it because thats where the main food supply is located. anyway im gonna look at a map if at all possible.on the map im gonna look for things like sharper breaking places on points or not where the channel swings close to shallow water. in the summer our grass grows to about 17 feet so if i can find a sharp break right near that 17 foot line ill mark that. ill look for humps or rises. it may only be a couple feet change but it can be enough. the ill go to the water and look for COVER on those things which areSTRUCTURE. cover can be a hard spot rock pile, grass, bottom hardness change etc. if i see those things on the STRUCTURE then i will fish regardless if i see fish or not.