Looking to compile information on fishing natural lakes

[Guest muddy]

Hey fellas; I am curious as to what is out there in the way of information for fishing natural lakes. Most of the lakes i fish , are natural and not associated with a river. There are no creekbeds or roadbeds, and most taper off into the depths instead of impoundment types of dropoffs, rip rap and such. Weeds being a primary site and instead of shad these bass are feeding on Minnows( other than shad) <Crawfish ,insects and Bream. If this is where you fish or you know if good printed or DVD sources pleas post your experiences here.

[Bassn Blvd]

My 1st bait is always a Zoom Fluke.  You can work it so it will dive under the grass mats.

A weighted worm along and in the grass will produce.  Also try pegging a worm sinker to a craw or flappin daddy and flip into the grass.

A black over gold or over silver rapala (minnow) worked along the edges also.

Lastly would be spinnerbaits but don't forget to throw a beetlespin on lite tackle.  Beetlespins ALWAYS produce.

[Matt Fly]

Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas.   It was formed by a earthquake and gets its name from the Caddo Indians.   Average depth is 16 ft.      This is one of the most scenic lakes as pertaining to vegitation and eerieness.      

        There are thousands of signs posted on trees for directions.   Lots of people have gotten lost in the flooded cypress and spanish moss trees for days.

     Lake record for bass is 16+ lbs.     You could employ just about any style of fishing on this body of water for bass.  

 This lake is worth a visit in early spring or late fall.     If I remember correctly, a movie was filmed there long ago, maybe "Gator" with Burt Reynolds.    At night in the flooded forest, its darn right spooky.  

    This lake is located in Texas and resides next to the La. border.

[Guest muddy]

Hey Thanks Matt; In the spring and sometimes after a series of heavy storms some of these lakes rise high enough to over run their boundries and we actually get to fish "timber" for a few days, but not much.

[smallieking]

fish wood   i fish a natural lake in my area and i target laydowns and a few stumps  and wack them  these is the only natural lake i fish   there isnt alot of timber in the lake but all of it holds fish    

[Matt Fly]

Being there is only one natural lake in Texas, I had to ask when I got there about differences.

I was told natural lakes are suppose to be easier to fish than resovoirs.

Natural lakes don't have the structure and contour that most man made lakes have.  Therefore bass wont' be in as many areas as some lakes.

Also,  a natural lake will be murky if a shallow lake, and clear if deep, thus the weedline for clear lakes will be deeper than shallow lakes.

Also, some lakes that are natural may not have a tributary that feeds them, so locating good oxygen in summer is key also.   Deeper waters may be void of good oxygen.

I'd target weed lines for active fish.    

hookem

[FD.]

Muddy,

I fish shallow natural lakes with practically no structure other than weeds of various types.  So here is what I think I know....

Depth changes of 6"s or more constitutes a drop off and will hold fish.

Vegetation breaks usually hold fish.

Isolated clumps or edges of weedlines usually hold fish.

[Paul Roberts]

Hey Muddy,

The In-Fisherman "Handbook of Strategies" for Largemouth Bass has a good chapter that covers natural lakes: Locating Bass in Natural Lakes; When, Where, Why.

It covers natural lake structure, weeds and weedlines, depth, bass activity, competition, and the like.

The book is worth having in general.

[Guest muddy]

Thanks Paul, where can I get a copy. I also would like a copy of that little hanbook that came out when In Fisherman started. It had some kind of formula for a name

like Fish plus location or something equals sucess.

[Paul Roberts]

I still have that one: "IF Secret System" its titled.

Some of the same stuff pertaining to calendar periods and lake types is in the LM handbook though, except the Fish, Location Presentation stuff -but this last you probably already have imbedded.

You can get the handbooks through IF, or Amazon.com. They are about $12 new I think. Maybe the Secret System booklet is still available.

Well...I'm headed to one of my ponds right now -first day out with a fishing rod ;D . The pond is half free of ice. It has a big year class from 2001 that followed a drought -growth has been exceptional. Last spring they'd reached carbon-copy 16"-17" footballs. Some may break 18 this year. We'll see. Today I'm hoping to find a few. Water's still below 50 though, so I'm rigged for extremely slow speed. They should be piled on the north shore with the heat -some of the bluegills are there already.

If anything it'll be nice to be casting again, and finally have a chance to fine-tune all the lures I doctored this winter:  :-/ >

[Guest muddy]

MAY A HEARD OF WILD SHEEP EAT YOUR LAWN WHILE YOU ARE FISHING

We are still iced in >

[Paul Roberts]

Oh yes, Another wind tip for you...

In the early spring and again in the fall (but less consistent) wind direction is a major factor for me in locating active bass. This may or may not set up the same where you are -in Texas I believe? But here (farther north) teh temperature difference between cold winter water and sun warmed water is big. Bluegills and bass will pile into warmed areas thick -and it can be pure carnage.

The wind can play a big role: The heat from sunlight doesn't penetrate very far and warm water floats so the wind will blow that warm water around. I take surface temps downwind looking for places where warm water has pile onto a shoreline or better a cove. Bait and bass can pile in heavy if the difference is enough. I look for good heating days with consistent wind -it's worth taking the day off work on those days.

Last spring I tore a ligament in my elbow catching big bass over two days in such an area the size of my living room. I'm still fishing left-handed because of it.

The spot I'm hitting today is pretty much the same deal -bass are smaller though.

I'll be chasing heated water for a while, and watching the weather and wind to concentrate it.

[Paul Roberts]

Iced in! Excellent! I thought you were in the south where this kind of thing might not set up so strongly. You are a lucky man, or very soon will be.

[Guest muddy]

Whoa easy Paul the last place I would live would be Texas, way too far from Brooklyn to visit regularly : I live in North East Pennsylvania ;D

[ww2farmer]

Muddy, every body of water I fish is natural. I think LMB in natural lakes are very very easy to understand and are quite predictable. Most of the lakes I fish have both inlest and outlet creeks. I always look there . Huge numbers of bass spawn in these creeks. And live there year round. These creeks are undeveloped, and pretty shallow, but get little to no pressure, and are well shaded. On a nice hot 90 dergree day I can go back there and catch fish in the shade in 2-3 feet of water. There is ALWAYS forage back there.

Out on the main lake, weed lines and boat docks are the best places to look. Docks always hold fish, some better than others. But unlike southern water, I find that it's not deeper water docks that always attract more and better fish, it's the more secluded docks, with thicker weeds around them.  

The weed edges are also big producers for, both weed edges. Inner and outer. I look for places where the edge is irregular. Little points/pockets, thin or thick patches, bends and turns stuff like that. A long straight edge rarely produces any thing of substance, but will hold a fish or two. A weedline on the edge of a big flat is always a great spot no matter where I have fished. I am in my element ina weed infested natural lake, now take me to a deep mad made lake with lots of drops, ledges, creek channels and I am sure to struggle for a while till I adjusted

[Zel]

Muddy, hope you find what you're looking for.  You might want to call your local libary and see if they have "Fishing natural lakes" by Dick Sternberg.

As a rule of thumb, when fishing the natural lakes in Pike, Wayne, and Lackawanna counties in PA, or Swartswood Lake in NJ, I go by some simple guidelines:

1. Choose the right Color Lure

Color seems to be more important in natural lakes than it does in reservoirs.  In dark and dirty water I use brighter colored baits.  On a bright day or in clear water use more subtle and natural dark colors.

My usual lure arsenal are spinnerbaits, deep diving crankbaits (even though most natural lakes are not very deep because they are formed by glaciers, rather than by damming up creeks as in reservoirs), tube baits, 4 finesse worms, and Senko type baits.

2.  Go to Vegetation and Cover/Structure

Most natural lakes are fairly shallow, so in a natural lake bass relate to vegetation and cover or structure (because a natural lake usually doesn't have a channel or creek arms). Find weed lines and points as your prime areas. Bass are looking for anything they can use as an ambush spot, so finding cover like wood, rock or vegetation is your best bet.

3. Find the Baitfish

I think this is more important in natural lakes than in reservoirs.  The bass follow big schools of bait around, and it seems they relate to the baitfish more than to anything else.

[Paul Roberts]

Ditto the Sternberg book(s).

Oooops! Somewhere you'd talked about wind. Guess it was another post.

[Guest muddy]

Thanks I really want to find that fierst little book by In Fisherman

[surfer]

amazon.com has Fishing natural lakes" by Dick Sternberg for $0.18 plus $4 shipping.  i just bought one.

[Guest muddy]

Thank you much surfer I will order it over the weekend Are  you sure about the 18 cent price  TYPO!, better watch out for LONG MIKE

[surfer]

18 pennies Is what they said.  It's used but they had about 5 of them.

Who says a dollar doesn't go far now a days.

[Guest muddy]

WOW! OK I am on it; you can burn me now, since Mike will not be after you ;D