Where to start?

[cb417]

Hey guys I am new to the forum and relatively new to bass fishing.  Over the past few months I have become more dedicated to educating myself about bass fishing but have had limited success on the water.  I have two main fisheries in my area one is the Warrior river and the other is Lews Smith Lake.  The river is more textbook in nature and has lots of heavy brush and folage.  Gorgas steam plant is also located on this strecth of the river and effectively heats up the water in some places its already 87 degrees +.  I usually fish soft plastics and crankbaits in the isolated slews.  As of the past few weeks the fishing has been very spotty and I am not pulling many fish from any one location.  I dont fish many weighted worms because I don't have a lot of confidence in the bait and don't think my technique is where it should be.  So to this point are the fish holding deeper in the water column than I am fishing?  The second location Smith Lake is an extremely clear Lake that has more pressure on it.  The water this weekend was in the low 80's.  This is also an extremely deep lake its not uncommon for ledges to have a drop of 20 to  30 feet it more resmebles some of the large reserviors out west.  I mostly use crankbaits jerkbaits and softplastics.  Today I caught three fish on a shallow point using a solid white fluke in less than 10 feet of water.  Any adivce on where and how I should be fishing would be greatly apperciated.  I looked through the forum and was able to find bits and peaces of information but thought I might be better helped with just starting a thread.... thanks in advance!

[VaBass80]

Can I ask you a quick question about the foliage and cover, is it green or dark brown like its dead?  Theres a Lake near my house called Burke Lake it has tons of spotted folage that looks like it would hold fish.  But if you take a closer look the foliage is pretty much dead, and will repel fish because of the decaying plants consuming oxygen.  When I first started fishing this lake i'd throw plastics into the cover without much success, then changed up by fishing flats, points, and rip rap since then having been real good success on the lake.  Sometimes the spots that look like money usually has the heaviest pressue and fishing spots that dont look as productive can be the difference in catching the quality fish.

[Brian_Reeves]

First rule on any fishery that is heavily pressured...

ignore the obvious.

That one little statement has led my team to larger fish more consistantly this year.

Now for the extremely clear lakes with huge dropoffs.  First off, I feel your pain.  I fish Stillhouse Hollow pretty religiously.  Stillhouse is full of hydrilla, which is where I'm about to start putting my chips on.  But aside from that, when I'm fishing dropoffs on stillhouse, I like to use a carolina rig, jig, deep diving cranks parallel to the dropoff, and slow rolling spinnerbaits.  Texas rigging a worm or creature bait wouldn't be a bad idea either.

For the river, all you really have to do is find substancial current breaks and beat them to death with crankbaits.  That will work on any river.  Now all you gotta do is figure out depth, color, and size.  I'd go with a Rebel Wee-R or a Mann's Baby 1 Minus or Baby 4 minus.  Those are all shallow divers that you can work pretty slow.  Since the water is in the 80's, the fish should be pretty spazzy and willing to slam crankbaits if presented properly.  You'll have to play around with retrieve speeds to figure out what they want.  Hopefully this works for you.  Good luck

[cb417]

Vabass80 - As far as the folage goes its definetly alive and puts a good deal of oxygen in the water I usually see a good deal of bait fish and gar in or around the area.

The thing I havent done though is spend time around the points.  I was under the impression that the bass were already in their summer holding areas but could their be fish that are still in post spawn and holding deeper (water 80 to 85 degrees)?  Either way I am hitting the water at about 5 a.m. hopefully before anybody starts drinking and riding jet skis. I plan on covering some new water and focus more on the points and current breaks.  I was able to pick up a few Manns cranks and some Senko worms so maybe I can at least locate the fish more effectively.  Thanks for the advice Texan and Va im sure ill come back with a few more questions and hopefully a lot more bass!

[RoLo]

You're fortunate in being within easy striking distance of Lewis Smith Reservoir.

If I were you I'd bone up on spotted bass as well largemough, because Smith vies with Martin and Lanier

as being the nation's best trophy water for spotted bass. In fact, during the late 1970s,

Lewis Smith Reservoir yielded the former world-record spotted bass: 8 lb, 15 oz.

Spots are a terrific gamefish, gorgeous and hard-fighting.

Most of the nation's finest lakes are "heavily-pressured". Not to worry, the pressure is only there

because the fish are there. The so-called "replenishing factor" means that a "holding site" today

will be a "holding site" forever. When one trophy is removed from a sweet spot,

another one takes his place, the void is filled with surprising efficiency.

Roger

[DDbasser]

Another piece of advice, don't let the ski boats and jet skis bother you.

Use it to your advantage, fish the banks where the waves are crashing into the bank and creating a mudline especially in clearer lakes.  

[lubina]

Another piece of advice, don't let the ski boats and jet skis bother you.

Use it to your advantage, fish the banks where the waves are crashing into the bank and creating a mudline especially in clearer lakes.

Great advice....I stalk the marina outlets waiting for the kids to go running.

[papa smurf]

Try to find the thermocline.  On those deep clear lakes bass will go pretty deep, but they can't move any deeper than the thermocline.  Once you find the thermocline look for structure thats at or just above the thermocline.

If your not catching fish in the sloughs off of the river, don't be afraid to move out into the main river channel.

[cb417]

Monday I had some success on the river and wouldn't you know I pulled 4 fish off a big downed tree just off the channel and another 3 off the inside of a point.  These were areas that before I had not fished as intensely in the past.  Things started to heat up by about 9 and the bite seemed to slow and boat traffic was already picking up.  So I did more scouting than fishing after that.  Of course I have a couple more questions for you guys. I noticed one slough a good clip away from where I usually fish that was obstructed on side with lots of stick ups and other wood debree the area was only about 4 to 8 foot deep and adjacent to the channel.  Is this the flats that yall are reffering to?  I also have a question about line twist with my crankbaits.  All of my lines after only a few hours destoyed with line twist from running the cranks is their any different type of knot that prevents this.  Im currently using spinning out fits but plan on getting a couple of baitcasters so will that help with the problem.  Again i really apperciate all the insight and tips yall are giving me.

[mudcatwilly]

For deeper clear water, try a drop shot with a 4 inch worm

[clipper]

If you are getting line twist on a crankbait fished on a spinning outfit the reel is doing it, not the bait unless you are fishing it so fast it is spinning.  Flukes, senkos, and trickworms will also cause line twist unless you use a light weight swivel.  Flip the bail closed by hand before you start your retrieve, using the reel handle will twist the line each time you do it.  Your line will also twist when a fish strips line off your reel.  Let your line out behind the boat as you idle out of the marina without anything on it and the water will work out the twists.   I also do this when I respool as well.  You will love the baitcasters once you learn to cast them.