The simplicity of consistently catching bass

[Mobydick]

I've learned more in the last 15 minutes than I did at school last year!

This stuff is great, thanks guys!

                                                             Ian

[Randall]

OK, that sound great for impoundments. I have used that strategy for fishing the local phoshate pits with a lot of success. BUT

will someone please translate that to natural shallow lakes. For example, Lake Kissimmee. 35K acres of MAX 18' of water where a 1' depth change takes 25-50' to find. There is NO structure other than brush piles complements of a hurricane or two that happened before I started fishing. Thanks to you guys I am starting to have some consistent success pulling the fish out of the cover off the bank but I really would like to understand how to find them elsewhere.

Good structure is relative to what else is in the area or lake. If there is a flat that is 6 feet deep on almost all of the flat that is a mile long and 500 yards out from the bank I can find a drop to seven or eight feet over ten yards or so that is good structure in that lake. It can hold as many fish as a big drop from 10 to 20 feet in a highland type lake. Good structure is relative to what other structure can be found in the same area and lake. Doesn't have to be a big drop or rise just different when compared to what else is around it.  

[5bass]

By checking two or three or more structures in this manner throughout a fishing day it's a good bet an angler sooner or later will hit a school of active, feeding bass.

Thats funny. Keep moving 'til you find 'em.....

I think it means until you find active, feeding bass which does not mean there are no bass on the other structures.

Yeah, I know, I just can't explain what I meant in my first post without it sounding sarcastic so I'll just leave it alone.

Good thread Catt. Carry on.  

[Catt]

Another great misconception is that structure fishing is all about deep water but this is totally untrue. Structure starts at what I call bank shallow and extend out to what ever is the maximum depth of a body of water. The angler who fishes solely from the bank as well as the angler who loves to target shallow water from a boat must know what structure is, how to identify it, how to read it, and how to fish it effectively.

Catt how can I do this when I'm stuck bank fishing?

Look around at the lay of the land around the body of water you're fishing it will give you a pretty good idea of what the bottom looks like. If it's a man made body of water or small natural lake learn to let you lures tell what is below the surface. I often see or hear bank anglers catch bass never having a desire know what lies beneath the surface. They simply cast a lure out and if while reeling it back in it hit some thing like the bottom they simply get ticked.

WRB, I don't care what season of the year or what type of lake it is bass will be related to structure, breaks, and break lines either using it to travel to spawning areas or moving back into deeper water. For that matter even river bass are found on structure of some form just ask roadwarrior who catches huge smallmouth in those Tennessee Rivers.

Now Lake Kissimmee that is a horse of a different color, while I have not fished it personally from what I gather it is more like marsh fishing than lake fishing. George Welcome could explain it easier than I could because I'm trying to put something together on marsh fishing and all I've got is a couple paragraphs and a head ache. I'm also working on some thing for natural lakes that isn't to confusing.

[Gatorbassman]

Great post Catt.

My favorite question that I have been asked many times on the dock is, "What were you doing out in the middle of the lake?" My answer is always the same. "Fishin" lol

You introduced me to Buck's book and I am forever in debt to you for that. I am more comfortable away from the bank because of it.

[Muddy]

I spend at least 90% of my time away from the shore, including topwater fishing at night: THAKS TO ZEL!

 I think it is important to know When to fish the shallows, or there will be missed oppurtunities. If 90% of the fish are in deep water and only 10% in shallow, on days when the agressively feeding bass are among those 10% it seems logical to concentrate on those instead of just always going deep. Is this the case or has it just been co incidence that this seems to pay off at times?

[Catt]

Natural lakes bring us to the next step and that is breaks and breaklines.

Breakline: A breakline can have more than one meaning. It can be another word for a drop-off/ledge, or a point of any quick change in depth. It can also be used to describe the edge of a vegetation line. For example, a "weed break" is the area of the weed bed where the weeds meet up with open water; or, where one type of weed meets up with another. The last example happens when bottom composition changes, as different weeds prefer different types of bottom composition. A breakline can also describe a line where rock meets mud, pea gravel, etc. In other words, the most correct definition for a breakline is "Any distinct line that is made by cover or structure which leads to an abrupt change in bottom depth, composition, or cover transition".

Remember, bass must have a visible path of breaks and break lines on a structure from deep water all the way to the shallows, which is where the bulk of food is available to game fish. As bass move along a structure they pause or stop at "things" (breaks and break lines) on the bottom. It is at such "things" that anglers can expect to make consistent contact with fish as they migrate along a structure. This is why a certain stump or flooded tree, dock piling or submerged rock consistently produces bass for anglers.

[Muddy]

Hey Catt can you answer the question about if sometimes ( rarely) it pays off to fish the agressive shallow fish, Thanks

Dominick

[Brian_Reeves]

I try to find as many things about an area before I even travel there to mark structure or fish it.  I look for key things like current breaks, depth changes, ambush zones, natural transition points, and potential cover.

One huge factor that I take into consideration fishing Louisiana Marshes and natural lakes is moving water.  Generally, with the fluxes of river stages, heavy rains, irrigation or drainage will all have a huge effect on both bass mood and location.  When fishing some of these "featurless" bodies of water, usually I will start by finding some sort of moving water entering the lake.  That philosophy has helped me find bass on everything from highland reservoirs to marshes and swamps.

Once some sort of oxygenated, cooler, moving water is located, you can easily find ambush points, breaks, forage, and cover.  Also note that when I find moving water, I rarely find bass hanging out where it enters the lake.  They are almost always positioned near it, but out of the direct current hiding around something.

On highland impoundments, the key structure will often be near a creek or main river channel.  Though this water is very slow moving, I will always try to fish the down-current side first if the situations allow it.

[Raul]

OK, that sound great for impoundments. I have used that strategy for fishing the local phoshate pits with a lot of success. BUT

will someone please translate that to natural shallow lakes. For example, Lake Kissimmee. 35K acres of MAX 18' of water where a 1' depth change takes 25-50' to find. There is NO structure other than brush piles complements of a hurricane or two that happened before I started fishing. Thanks to you guys I am starting to have some consistent success pulling the fish out of the cover off the bank but I really would like to understand how to find them elsewhere.

Brush piles complements are not structure, structure is what those brush piles are sitting on ( the bottom ), so you have two elements: cover sitting on structure. What determines if the brushpile is improductive or productive or how productive a particular brush pile is in relation to the others is the location of the brushpile in relation to other elements that come into play which are other types of cover, other structural features nearby, where it 's located in relation to elements like wind direction, depth and current, that is why not all brush piles are as productive as others.

Lets say for example that the brushpile is sitting on a flat and there 's nothing else more attractive than the brushpile in hundreds of feet around, everything around the brushpile is barren terrain, then that brushpile will be the fish magnet, now let 's add something else, you got the same brushpile but there 's another a couple of hundred feet away but located shallower where light can penetrate enough to have a few weeds growing around it, the effect of those few weeds is so great that the fish would rather be on that one than on the other even though to your eyes the first one is better looking.

That 's exactly what you are looking for, the more features the better.

[hamer08]

"Take nothing for granted," Buck states flatly. "Never assume bass are shallow, because they may be deep. Never believe they will hit a fast-moving lure, not a slow one. You've got to work an entire structure from shallow to deep with lures that touch bottom [but do not gouge trenches in it], and at different speeds, to be certain the place has been completely checked. If no fish are found, move on to the next good-looking structure and repeat the process. By checking two or three or more structures in this manner throughout a fishing day it's a good bet an angler sooner or later will hit a school of active, feeding bass. When that happens, you can fill your limit fast, and you gotta work quickly, because a school won't stay on a break or breakline long. Elwood L. " Buck" Perry

I kind of have to laugh a little bit at this, it is about as precise as a fortune teller reading. In others words, keep fishing and varying your tactics until you find the fish, then repeat.

I agree using "structure" and other transitions is a great way the focus your fishing on areas likely to be productive. The point I'm trying to make is its the fishing that makes a great fisherman. In the end, you don't know what is good and bad place to fish until you actually fish the lake multiple times, under mulitple conditions and actually catch the fish. Its easy to make up an explanation why the fish are in a certain location after you have found them. Its a lot harder to explain why the fish aren't where they are "suppose" to be.

The reason I say this is seems a lot of times people are looking for the easy answers. When they should really be taking the basic guidance offered here and beating the water at a specific lake to try to understand how the fish live. Then come back here a tell us what the patterns are at your lake.

[Eddie Munster]

"Take nothing for granted," Buck states flatly. "Never assume bass are shallow, because they may be deep. Never believe they will hit a fast-moving lure, not a slow one."

Very good post Catt; Buck's philosophy seems to scream 'Keep it simple, stupid!' or not to let your ego get in the way of catching fish. Let the conditions, lake and fish tell you where the productive spots are at.

[Catt]

Structure fishing is not exclusively about deep water; I don't think everyone understands this. Even when I'm fishing the shoreline I'm looking for structure and not just aimlessly wondering down the shoreline. Again remember there must be a visible path of breaks and break lines on structure from deep water all the way to the bank, this is where the bulk of food is available to game fish.

Muddy you never pass up bass that are aggressively feeding regardless of where they are  

[fourbizz]

Muddy you never pass up bass that are aggressively feeding regardless of where they are  

Unless they are small ;D

I can fish a spot with no cover, but I can't fish somewhere without one of the big  structural features:

Points

Ridges

Humps

Creek Channels

Flats (must have immediate deepwater access for me)

As Catt alluded to, "structure" can be in 2ft of water. But I rellay prefer the 10-30ft range. That is my comfort zone.

[fishbear]

My brain is on information overload.....  I guess I am one of those people who have to see it to understand it.  I need to find someone to show me how to fish structure.  Because the middle of the lake is a foreign place to me. :-[ :-/

[Muddy]

Muddy you never pass up bass that are aggressively feeding regardless of where they are

Unless they are small ;D

Im feelin you 4bizz,unfortunatley :-/