Breaking apart large over fished bodies of water

[JCrzy4Bass]

Hey guys, I have two large bodies by me. One being the Potomac River and another being 9600 acre Lake Anna. Now over the course of about 11-12 trips out to these places I have probably only caught about 11-12 bass. So I'm averaging about one a trip, sometimes I get skunked.

Over my first year of fishing I guess I spent most of my time learning baits and trying to play the numbers game and see if I could figure out smaller lakes 20-200 acres, and local ponds of mine. I can catch 1-2lbers here on a regular basis, some fish approaching 3lbs and a couple over. However when I try and apply my techniques to these large bodies of water I do not fare so well.

My dad has a 17' Lowe's Fishing Boat with a 25hp Evinrude engine and a Bill Dance Trolling motor. We can cover a heck of a lot of water, just not as fast as the guys with the 150 or 250 horses, but that's aside the point. We use a depth finder (an old hummingbird) that shows depth, contour, and some structure as well as fish. This year over the course of the last few trips we have concentrated on mostly drop offs and staging areas (early spring). Last year we used it more as a "fish finder" just finding a group of fish and casting...

Anyway, we haven't hooked up with many fish at all (aside from the Occoquan river, a branch of the Potomac, where we slayed em' on senkos last summer) and I was just curious as to what tactics and approach you guys use on large bodies of water that get slammed by tourneys almost every weekend of the spring. And I mean EVERY weekend.

Lake Anna is VERY CLEAR WATER and on most days visibility can be between 4-6' in a lot of areas (goes down as you go further up lake). The temps warm up here quicker than any other lake in Northern Virginia (at least lower and mid lake) and the fish can be caught year round. There are a TON of boat slips and docks (deep and shallow water), there is plenty of rip rap and lots of submerged trees, timber, pilings. There is also a lot of main lake points, creek arms, branches, etc. VERY QUICK and very gradual drop offs, take your pick.

I have heard reports all spring that deep diving cranks and rat l traps produce big here but threw em' for seven hours and didn't nab a bite yesterday (weather was not cooperative though), but you would think with overcast/gray skies the fish would be more scattered and not as close to structure right? So shouldn't search baits find SOMETHING???

As far as the Potomac it has ALOT of grass and the creeks and creek mouths tend to be very productive places here (Aquia, Neabsco, Mattawoman, Nanjemory, Quantico, etc). I have had some luck with spinners, jitterbugs, and buzzbaits on the surface and a little on shakey head presentations but I'm not consistent. Here you can fish back of bays, grass beds, fallen trees, docks, and islands (most of the structure available is of this kind). The water is typically pretty stained and beat up especially on a windy day. But 1-2 fish is not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a limit.

What do you guys suggest I do to figure these places out and try and eliminate productive water from non-productive water? Or what seperates an "average" looking fishing spot from a "fish holding" spot, by eye, depth finder, etc. I guess I'm just not in the right spots to produce quantity on these bigger waters.

I'd like to hear from some tourney guys who do this on a regular basis if at all possible or guys that think or large bodies of water as one of their strengths. Thanks in advance guys. Sorry for the long winded post it's just after a year of fishing I would have thought I'd be able to be a bit more consistent and it's frustrating.

My last question is on these waters when the bite is finnicky and search baits are not producing how do you "search the water" as quickly as possible with plastics, jigs, and vertical presentations?  I know these are suppossed to be tactical and slow approaches and presentations, but is there any way you can use them in "power fishing"?  I am trying to tailor my fishing to that approach as I am a run and gun type of guy and find I catch most of my fish covering a lot of water as quickly as possible.

[JCrzy4Bass]

I figured I would make the questions easier to find so you didn't have to sift through that whole previous post:

A) Overcast/Gray skies (especially in clear water 5-6' visibility) generally put bass further away from cover and scatter them about, making it logical to use search baits. Yay or Nay?

Part two:

When this doesn't work (shallow/medium/deep cranks and spinners), what's your next approach? With water this clear should I primarily be fishing "deep"?

What seperates an "average" looking fishing spot from a "fish holding" spot, by eye, depth finder, etc?

C) In tidal river branches/creeks with primarily stained water how would you break apart the different types of structure and consistenly land fish? Consider structure/cover/contour to include fallen trees/timber, LOTS of grass, islands, back bays and secondary points.

D) When the bite is finnicky and search baits are not producing how do you "search the water" as quickly as possible with plastics, jigs, and vertical presentations? I know these are suppossed to be tactical and slow approaches and presentations, but is there any way you can use them in "power fishing"?

[Wayne P.]

"is there any way you can use them in "power fishing"? I am trying to tailor my fishing to that approach as I am a run and gun type of guy and find I catch most of my fish covering a lot of water as quickly as possible."

You are starting off with the wrong mind set. Mainly to be successful you don't dictate to the fish how or with what your lure presentation is or will be to attract them. The fish will tell you what they want.

I witnessed just that attitude one day last week. I was catching bass with a finesse presentation and a couple of guys came by and saw me catch a couple. They came over to ask what I was doing as they hadn't caught any. They were throwing spinnerbaits and had jigs tied on other rods. I explained how, why, and with what I had been catching the bass-offered to give them some proper hooks. Their comments were similar to yours : "I like power fishing and that is too slow for me." I watched them for a while as they moved on as I was still catching some in the area and I didn't see them catch any.

Incidently, I have caught 390 bass so far this year letting the fish tell me what they want.

[FD.]

I can only help with the stained water part.  As you know in FL we have heavy grass and stained water just like much of your river.  I would choose as smaller area, say a backwater creek and concentrate on it.  I do lots of high speed flipping and pitching in the matted grass patches.  Take your favorite crayfish imitation bait with a 1 oz penetrator weight, rig it Texas, set your trolling motor on med/high and start working the edges and holes until you get a bite.  Slow down and work that area carefully. Pay attention to where it came from ie holes, points in the grass ect and find other similar areas in the grass.  FYI I have several spots in miles and miles of identical grassy shoreline that alway produce fish.  There is just something about these spots that the fish like.  Keep searching and you will find some of those also..

Lee

[fishingfourfun]

Jason,

My buddy and I usually catch 5 to 10 lmb on the reservoir most weekends.  I catch most of mine on crankbaits whilemy buddy works them over with a worm. I typically beat the banks just north of the 1st turn past the dam.  I do not have much luck on the Occoquan River.  I am hoping the weather will warm up on the weekend so can finally get the boat out!

[garry77]

I like to power fish too but sometimes you just have to be patient and slow down and pick apart those "fishy" spots.

  It's hard for me to do but once I slow down and catch one I get a little more confidence in it and usually catch some more.

[Matt Fly]

Temps dictate fish activity levels. Water temp?

I have been fishing a newer body of water all winter. I have searched for the warmest water possible to find the active fish.

A bass' metabolism is dictated by the water temp.       I'd like to know the primary forage that your bass feed on.

Knowing all you can about the food source can help you locate bass.

Our primary bait in Texas is shad.       Shad go deep in the winter, if shad are living in 28 foot of water at 50 degrees, as soon as a warmer rain or sun warms a back of a creek, that current will find its way to the main lakes and shad will migrate to the warmest water in the backs of creeks, and the bass will follow.  During winter, those shad might have moved back in those creeks dozens of times, it just depend on warming trends during winter if any in your neck of the woods.

The shallowest water on lakes is usually in upper arms or the backs of creeks, that is normally the water that will warm the fastest.

You have very good knowledge and understandings of good search baits.

Find the warmest water.

Learn where the bait migrates to and from and you will find the bass not very far off.

Also, tidal movements are key to know, they position the active bass when feeding. Do the bass move up on sandbars, points, or move up on ledges?   A bass is a bass, and bass love ambush points.

[JCrzy4Bass]

Fishin' and Matt,

Thanks for all the advice.  We have quite a bit of backwater areas I can try out when I'm fishing submerged grass and so forth so I will just have to take my time, wait for that one bite and fish the area thoroughly.  There are alot of holes in this grass so I got my work cut out for me, but I guess if I start learning some of the areas I should be able to go back again under similar conditions and catch more.  Or I can figure out what was so good about that area and use that technique again in a similar one.

Matt, the one downfall to our fish finder is it does not show how warm or cold the water is so we kind of just look for areas where we see activity and fish those more than others.  If no activity is going on we rely on the structure and the best looking fish holding areas (visual).  I need to invest in one.  My dad is getting a new fish finder soon (a new hummingbird) and it will have all that so it should make things better.

The bait fish in the river consist mainly of shad, herring and minnows. Bait changes according to seasons, current, weather, etc.  We normally follow the channels into the creeks and fish area that look like migration routes, as well as grass lines, flats, etc.  We normally fish the first hours before and or after high tide (normally the best on this river from what most of the other anglers say).

So will the bait actually follow the channel all the way down to the back of creeks?  Even in the colder months?  Thanks again for the advice guys.  That is definately something for me to work with for now.

[Wayne P.]

JCrzy4Bass, keeping up with water temp is easy and can be cheap. I have three temps sensors on my jon boat. The cheapest one is an indoor/outdoor instrument that I bought at Walmart in the auto section-less than $5 The next most costly one is the Minnkota clock/air/water temp meter for around $15. The most costly is the one that is included in a sonar transducer. They don't all show the same temp all the time but are within a couple of degrees of each other.

[bassnleo]

I think your already headed in the right direction.

You defiantely HAVE to know what the water temp is. That will often dictate where you find fish this time of year.

Find the warmest water around spwaning areas and cover water. Once you find em, you'll find em!

Just a quick side note, fish your confidence baits or presentations. If you like a spinnerbait and have confidence in it then fish it!

Don't let the "the fish are too pressured" mindset throw you off your game. I fish a lake MUCH smaller than the ones you are, this lake has at least 5-7 tournaments EVERY weekend day from mid April through early June. I always do well there, I just love fishing this lake, does not matter how many tournaments are going on. I adjust and catch em!

Best of luck!