how do you start fishing on a new lake?

[kms399]

so i went out this morning to a new lake. when i got there at 6am there was no wind not a cloud in the sky and a little fog rising off the water picture perfect. now i love fishing top water so i started throwing a smaller zara spook-nothing. so i tried a spro frog-nothing so i tried a shallow running crankbait-nothing.so a while passed and and the wind picked up so i opted for a texas rigged curley tail worm-nothing. deep cranks-nothing. i was marking the occasional fish at the bottom edge of the drop off i tried a carolina rig-nothing. so i keep boating around trying different areas there is no developed shoreline so i couldn't fish docks. i keep seeing fish jumping and finally at 9:30 i catch a little 2 pounder on a senko covered in mega strike. so i fish that for 1/2 hour more-nothing. it was like my first time all over again. the lake is supposed to be holding some pretty good fish according to numerous customers at work (gander mountain). so i am wondering what did i do wrong and how do you start out on a new lake.

[Matt Fly]

The first thing I think of is the typical seasonal pattern.   Not knowing yours, I'll use mine.

Summer pattern.    What has the wind directions been the last week?   Well, we have had southernly winds all week.    Fish should be up shallow early and down deep late morning.    

If I don't run across bait fish to show me what depth I should start at on my graph.

I pick the wind blown points as by the recent wind direction for plankton.    I hit all wind blown points early, noting at what depth I get my bites.    Late morning, if that didn't pay off, I try deeper humps, road beds and other ledges at the same depths I graphed baitfish.

As for baits, go with confidence baits since its a new lake.

If you graph bait at 12 ft.   You should be able to lay the map out and hit all contours, structure that meet the 12 ft zone on most of the areas and eventually, you find bass at the same depths, they wont be far off of that depth.

[BassMaster_1]

If your really having trouble ask some of customers if they can point you in the right direction.  

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Assuming the scenario would probably be pre-fishing it, I'd do homework first:

1. Get general information about the lake, including type (reservoir, natural, upalnd, river run, etc), lake depths, power generation (get schedule), average current, generating current, assuming upland reservoir today. Get weather history for the past month, current and forecast.

2. Check last year's and most recent fishing reports for the time of year, let's say early summer, looking at water temp,  assuming 80 degrees for this exercise, lake level history (rising/falling).

3. Study maps with early summer pattern in mind for the species sought, scenario largemouth. Today I'd be looking for small flats not far from mouths of major tributaries, looking for the ones with steep drop-offs into deeper water. Possible creeks with some major bends, intersecting ditches, creek/river junctions, humps, long points with deep water on one side with a steep slope.

4. Select one prime area most likely containing the most of my favorite structure/cover combinations, then memorize all I an about it. I'd probably select one prime mile square area and a secondary 4 square mile bordering area to explore if time permitted. River run lakes don't call for that, selecting instead 5-mile long stretches along the most interesting section, picking a primary stretch and one secondary, can be many miles apart.

4. At the lake I'd scout for a thermocline, baitfish, feeding activity depth, starting downwind in the prime area, looking at points first, then humps that intersect a thermocline, and any creek slopes at or above the feeding zone. Note water clarity and species/colors of forage. Note weedlines, plant types, edges between different plant species, plant density.

5. Once I have the general feeding depth and find some feeding activity or at least shad schools, I consider baits that will best fish those zones, the shallowest zone early morning, deepest zone by noon.

6. Catch one bass and learn a whole lot more about lure choices, potential size of most aggressive bass (usually the largest in a school), deciding whether to remain there or look elsewhere at different structure and or cover.

7. Watch for changes in feeding depth, rethink intersecting structures with cover at or above current thermocline. If no thermocline exists I assume 5-9 ppm oxygen (such as is on Beaver Lake right now March-June) down to as much as 100 feet until middle of July, so prepare to look really deep in mid day depending on fishing pressure and water temp.

Jim

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Casting would probablly be a good starting point ;D

[Siebert Outdoors]

I always start with confidence baits and locations along with seasonal patterns.  If its summer I would head strait to "typical" hang out areas.  Points, channels, humps.  

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Got the point    That's pure fishing and probably the easiest and most relaxing. But....often the least productive. You could spend the first week (now through summer) casting blind up & down a lke before finding a school of bass that typically lay in small areas not much larger than a party barge, separated by 1/2 mile of water to the next little school. You could easily cast by them off target if moving too fast searching with a bait. I do believe it's true bass inhabit probably 1-10% of a lake. If you don't hit that spot you go fishless, so some scouting helps eliminate at least the first unproductive 50% of water the first hour of just boating and watching the sonar. Casting at that point is best for sampling your best guesses of where to find bass. Once you find them then cast away.

Jim

[roadwarrior]

Jim,

If you find what you consider the ideal structure or combination of cover and structure, but no baitfish at the time, do you fish or move on?

Also, what is the first lure you are most likely to fish shallow?

And, the first lure deep?

One more question: If you find everything you are looking for at a particular location, how long will you stay if you haven't caught a fish?

[Guest the_muddy_man]

Hey RW good question And this is a good topic I have time to ans for real now I fish a lot of ponds and strippin pits from shore The strippin pits generally have little structure So I look at the lay of the land Sometimes theres a point goin right into the pit usually it contines under the water so I focus all around that first Then I look for where all the empty worm containers are left on the shore( I always bring a plastic bag and clean up after the slobs) and I avoid those areas and try to go to use less frequently pressured part of the pit

If im on a pond I look for an old dock,trees or weeds and sometimes going to the corner of the pond the wind is pushing everything to pays off

When I fish the local rivers I depend on my friends they grew up fishing them but for smallies we usually look for boulders and pools and that seems to work

When Im in my row boat on a lake I generally will fish a spot a lot less time b/c the mobility allows me to try different areas So if im on shore Ill cast a good spot till my arm falls off and if Im in the boat Ill spend about 15 min in a spot before I move off If its not producing If I catch fish in a spot I look for simialr areas around that body of water b/c usually Ill find bass hanging out in spots that are similar

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Jim,

If you find what you consider the ideal structure or combination of cover and structure, but no baitfish at the time, do you fish or move on?

After finding the feeding activity depth, which might only be a tendency of baitfish balls at a certain depth, I then look for structure and or cover holding bass waiting for baitfish to come close, unless first finding bass under the baitfish whether relating to cover or structure or in open water. Naturally I'll fish the bass there among the baitfish first, but as soon as I find both baitfish and bass at structure or cover I believe I find the bigger bass.

Also, what is the first lure you are most likely to fish shallow?

If searching or sampling what I've located I'll use a topwater mornings, spinnerbait, crankbait/jerkbait or buzzbait mid morning, shallow crankbait or soft plastic T-rigged mid-day.

And, the first lure deep?

Deep running crankbait that dives 2-5 feet deeper than needed to tic or root bottom depending on bottom type, assuming I have one that will reach that depth. Once I pin-point biting bass in a small school I'll most likely switch to a C-rig and slow it down, believing the most aggressive bass is caught on a crankbait on the first catch. If that produces much smaller bass I upsize the soft plastic or tie on a floating hard minnow.

One more question: If you find everything you are looking for at a particular location, how long will you stay if you haven't caught a fish?

Up to an hour the first visit, long enough to tie on numerous baits and working all angles, then let it rest. I'll learn a lot about the place and think it over through the day fishing elsewhere. It's often best to come back refreshed with new ideas. I would want to be there at the right time when feeding begins. I'll return often for more sampling until the bass are ready to eat. I might get a good clue elsewhere how to fish that great spot better. If the bass remain there along with all the other keys there is no reason to abandon it, as it takes a lot of time duplicating such places. If the bass are not feeding there it's likely a lake-wide thing in similar spots, that being a non-producing pattern, but nevertheless a pattern, subject to change bite-wise.

I typically try to line up several potentially good classic patterns that work seasonally over the long run. I'll keep a watch on shallow weedlines. I'l check out the back of one long cove once a day (especially in late summer to early fall when bass will suddenly start following shad up tributaries), one mainlake pocket, one brushpile or laydown along a shore once or twice a day, a dock, one long point, a hump close to shore, etc.. If any of those, like a long point, produces I'll jump on a series of long points, but work in the good deep structure spot pretty often, as the larger bass will likely come from there. I won't keep pounding a deep target all day trying to force it. Each return visit might get 15 minutes, for a maximum of 3 hours a day as longas both baitfish and evidence of bass exists there. If it doesn't produce, the time comes to give it up IF other targets are producing. If nothing else is working I'll spend more time on a full deck deep structure. I aim to try every type of bass habitat I can find every day until I get on the best pattern or two. I always keep more than one in mind in case weather changes or something else kills the top pattern.

I wold love to see your answers to those, Roadwarrior!

Jim

[Al Wolbach]

I start by studying maps of a new lake to locate areas to fish based on seasonal patterns. Check with local tackle shops or the web to determine what type of structure the lake has ie, weeds, stump fields etc. And water temp certain times of year( spring and fall).

I try to ignore specific bait type info such as rattletraps, crankbaits etc. I have learned that this type info is usually non-productive for me.

The first thing on water is a ride around the lake to look at areas preselected on the map with a close eye on my electronics to check out botton type, contour and bait fish. If the lake is very large I will select an area of the lake rather that the entire lake.

This is a pre-tournament practice routine I use that you should be able to apply to almost any lake in a condensed version......Al

[senile1]

Well, once again, there's not much to add to Jim's (OachitaBassangler's) first post on this thread.  I'd say this about covers it.  This really helps to clarify what we're all trying to do when we approach a new lake or even a new section of a lake we already fish.  

[Glenn]

When I fish a brand new lake with little or no information about it, I head straight for the points and fish them hard using a variety of baits and techniques.  Then, if that doesn't work, I'll hit the inside or outside weed edges (depending on season), with a variety of lures and approaches.  99% of the time, I usually find fish that way.  

Occasionally I don't, and then that means one thing - they're buried in the weeds.  So I go in, first covering the top with fast moving baits, and eventually working my way through the bait selection until I'm finally punching through the weeds with heavy plastics and jigs.

If I haven't caught a fish by then, it's usually the end of the day anyway and I'm out of daylight.  

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

This time of year those points would certainly be a great pick, but quite often a seasonal pattern doesn't have bass on points, so of course any plan needs to first consider seasonal habits and where bass ought to be, starting there, maybe at the ends of coves in early fall, in deep creek channels in winter, and flats next to migration routes in pre-spawn.

Jim