Finding Bass in big open water

[bassinrick]

I love fishing big water. I love 1000 acres and bigger. Im just wondering if anyone has any tips on finding bass on the main lake. The lake Im working on right now is 13000 plus acres and Im trying to figure out how to catch them in the open water consistently.

[Cajun1977]

depth finder      ..lookm for underwater structure and suspended fish

[jdw174]

For a lake that large, I'm sure there must be a topo map of some kind available.  That...and a good LCR unit is where I'd start.

[Catt]

Underwater islands, mounds, or humps are a deep water angler's delight; these spots are especially productive when power is being generated at the dam, causing a current in the reservoir. Bait fish will gather on the upper end of these mounds and the bass will bunch up to feed on them. When located near a creek or river these areas can be your big bass hole. A tail spinner or Rat-L-Trap fished across these areas or a 7 to 8 worm can fill your stringer quickly. Position your boat shallow and fish deep with Texas Rigs or Jig to find the bigger bass.

Submerged bridges are excellent holding areas for big

bass, many times these bridges have been blown when the lake was built, creating structure in the form of pilings, concrete rubble (rock piles). This form of deep structure can be a summer and winter glory hole.

Outside bends of a river or creek are common hangouts for deep water bass. Because of the water flow in the river or creek a ridge has been formed on the outside of the bend. Find the point of these ridges; anchor the boat in 12' to 18, cast deep with Texas Rigs or Jig to find the bigger bass.

Spots where two creeks intersect or where a feeder creek intersects with the main river are areas experienced deep water anglers seeks. Inside the Y created by the intersection is where you want to anchor the boat in 12' to 18, cast deep with Texas Rigs or Jig to find the bigger bass. In winter months fish these areas with jigging baits in 20 to 30' of water.

Submerged roadbeds should never be overlooked, locate these on a topographic map, then pinpoint with your depth finder. These are common migration routes to and from spawning areas in the spring, they also hold feeding bass in the summer. Seek out 12 to 18' depths where a sharp drop off occurs on each side of the roadbed. Fish plastics or deep running crank baits across these roadways. Ideal spots are where two roads junction or where the road makes a noticeable turn.

[grid]

We fished 15'-25' waters down at Kentucky Lake all last week.  I tried worms,Rattle traps, deep dive cranks.  Only thing I caught was 2 stripers and a crappie on my ratt. trap.  Had no luck at all catching large mouth. :'(

[Guest avid]

Not having any electronics other than my TM, when in situations like this I use two methods.

First is throw a ratltrap.  Count it down and retrieve at different depths.

The other thing I sometimes do is tie a heavy sinker with as much line as the average depth of the lake.

I just let out over the side and check it often to get the lay of the land so to speak.

I call it "tossing out the hummingbird"

It has been pretty helpful at times.  The best is when I'm in deep water and the sinker is not touching bottom, then out in the middle with no visual cues at all, the bottom humps up and the sinker is bouncing off bottom.  I'll work these spots carefully and they are usually good for quality fish.

good luck and have fun.

avid

[Bud]

Gridiron

I would say you was fishing to deep on Ky lake.  I had a tournament Sat and found them at 6 to 8 foot range.  Sunday we found them in the 6 foot range

The lake is warming up and when it get in the close to the 80 mark try deeper ledge and drops.

[blade]

for sure to deep, we killed em' this weekend on kentucky lake, all in 5-8 foot range, had 15 keepers saturday 5 best 15-16 pounds, had 14 keepers 5 best sunday 19-20 pound range, caught em on the old big worm, it is about to get good here real soon

[senile1]

Without electronics you are forced to use a map to narrow down areas to fish, and then you use lures and carolina rigs to feel out the bottom and see what is there.  This is a time-consuming process on a huge lake and is not efficient but if it is all you have that's what you'll have to do.  

You can't beat good electronics for finding fish on deep structure in large lakes.