Structure Tips

[Catt]

A productive contour change doesn't have to be dramatic. In fact contour changes that are almost nonexistent with only a 1 or 2 of change can be highly productive. People will miss a lot of these looking instead for dramatic changes, but these small contour changes will hold fish.

Do not to dismiss a spot where you only see 1 or 2 fish on your depth finder, what you have to remember is that in 20' of water you are only seeing about 8' of the bottom because of the cone angle of the transducer. If you run over a couple of fish in the space of 8' odds are there are others in that area.

Another mistake is to dismiss a spot simply because you didn't bit after only fishing it for once or twice for 20-30 minutes. Sometimes it requires returning to a spot a dozen times before it proves to be productive. Each return trip to check a spot is never done it at the same time as previously trip.

[brushhoggin]

the depth finder that came on my fishing buddys little bass tracker seems like one of those toys that just scrolls around randomly showing fish just to make us think it works (the LOWbudgetRANCE)...we dont use it for anything but determining depth and water temp now. really cant wait to upgrade a bit. ive pulled my lure through a tree before and turned the boat around to see if it would pop up on the screen and showed nothing. we've resorted to observing the bank trying to determine how the land juts out into underwater points or whatnot. but finding underwater brushpiles, rockbeds, or these suddle changes in contour you speak of is not easy.

[ABLE2DISABLE1]

What I found out is, it depends on how frequent the fish are using the area;so frequent visits are mandatory to determine the peak time of travel along the structure in which there territory is.Or staging areas.

[WRB]

Agree with Catt and will add the most obvious structure areas are also the most fished areas. Take your time and study topo maps, observe the topography of the surrounding area. Breaks don't need to be big, the need to be in the right location.

Metering bass that are wary from boat noise or moving to avoid the boat is rare. The bottom structure and cover doesn't move and the bait fish usually move very slowly.

The new StructureScan and SI units with both look down and to the side scanning will help to clarify what is there, but you still must interpret what you see and fish the area quietly and effectively.

WRB

[Fishbone]

the depth finder that came on my fishing buddys little bass tracker seems like one of those toys that just scrolls around randomly showing fish just to make us think it works (the LOWbudgetRANCE)...we dont use it for anything but determining depth and water temp now. really cant wait to upgrade a bit. ive pulled my lure through a tree before and turned the boat around to see if it would pop up on the screen and showed nothing. we've resorted to observing the bank trying to determine how the land juts out into underwater points or whatnot. but finding underwater brushpiles, rockbeds, or these suddle changes in contour you speak of is not easy.

I know what you mean with entry level sonar. I'm going to move mine to the bow for depth readings and get something decent at the wheel. I read about interpreting all kinds of stuff under water and think they have to looking at a better screen that I have.

My wife fishes with me. I'm going to see if she will swim under the boat so I can verify readings on the screen. LOL

[Crestliner2008]

Don't focus on finding fish on any given structure either. if you find bait on it - after visiting it a few times - chances are it will have fish as well - eventually!

The problem is that some sonar units do a poor job at finding bait on structure. You should have at least a 240 vertical pixel resolution on your unit. And for goodness sake, turn off that "Fish I.D." feature and learn to interpret what your sonar is really trying to tell you! That alone will put you way ahead of your game.

[Hot Rod]

"entry level sonar" is better than no sonar IMHO. 

When I got my first sonar it was an Eagle Cuda.  True, I don't every remember looking at a blob on the screen and thinking, "Ah ha, a pile of old red oak branches holding 5 LM, 4 bluegill and 56 crappie!"  ;D

But it was very useful in locating the subtle off shore structure such as subltle drops, small ditches and humps like Catt was speaking of.  I started catching fish in places I never had before. 

Don't get me wrong, it was a long way from what today's HD SI systems are.

[Catt]

Y'all may be surprised but on my boat I have an Eagle Cuda 168EX on the console and a Hummingbird 535 in the bow

It aint the depthfinder it's knowing how to read it

[Shad_Master]

You are right - in fact I haved the fish identifier turned off on my depth finder (I don't want to know there are fish there and I can't catch 'em ) - I only want to know what's going on down there - the fish will show them selves soon enough.

[ttufishinman]

i recently fished a tournament on tims ford in tennessee and i had most of my luck on banks with transitions going from rip rap type rock to big boulders like bluff type rocks. i always key in on any kind of transition because 9 times out of ten there will be a fish on that structure the key is getting them to bite   

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

You are right - in fact I haved the fish identifier turned off on my depth finder (I don't want to know there are fish there and I can't catch 'em ) - I only want to know what's going on down there - the fish will show them selves soon enough.

Right,plus everything is a fish on the screen.Weeds,brush,air bubbles,turtles,litter,even water density and or temperature changes will trigger a "fish" symbol at times,at least on my cheap eagle unit. I am trying to learn to not use it and to see how well it can locate bait. More importantly, like others have said,I am now fishing lots of places I never even imagined before.Subtle breaks,secondary points,and even small creek channels that I was not aware of before.

[Lund Explorer]

You may also want to start looking at that echo to try to determine what type of bottom you're on top of. 

Besides looking for small depth changes, or a sunken brush pile, a change in bottom content will create an "edge" that fish will hang on.  A quality sonar will give you that information as well.

[Needemp]

Hey Catt, good topic. You say to return to a spot a dozen times. How do you personally do this? Would it be a matter of leaving the spot and going to just one other spot, then returning and repeating this over and over? Also, how much time would you spend at the spot on each return? 5 minutes or so? Thanks for the tips.

[Catt]

#1 locate structure

#2 locate bait/bass on structure

#3 timing

Establish timing can be the most difficult part of the equation since it is effected by so many variables.

I spend a couple hours on newly located structure in the morning, midday, and evening but never at the same time. Example if I tried a spot today at daybreak then the next time maybe at 8:00. It may take several return trips over a period of days depending on size of the body of water and size of the structure.

What I want to establish is how big is the resident population, some times it maybe only a couple fish holding occasionally while in transition, these are not the bass I want to target...I want their home.

[87 champ]

It looks to me like catt is the only one here with spoonplugging knowledge.So for the rest of you, you need to get BUCK PERRYS home study course.Once you have this you can learn how to go onto the lake and locate the structure situations that the fish use in their movement and migrations.You will be able to tell which bar or point will be used by the fish.You can have hundreds of points on a lake with just a few of them being used by the fish.You must also remember that it is depth and speed control that catches the fish once the proper structure has been located,for the time of year.

[Randall]

Y'all may be surprised but on my boat I have an Eagle Cuda 168EX on the console and a Hummingbird 535 in the bow

It aint the depthfinder it's knowing how to read it

YEP. I also have the Cuda. It works if you know how to read it. Most people who fish with me are shocked to find out their cheap depthfinder was working right all along but they just didn't interpret what it was telling them correctly. Very good info in these posts. Some of my best spots are just one and two foot breaks on a flat that is the same depth for a few hundred yards before the one or two foot breakline.

[LoudounFisher]

On the topic of structure, I'd like to get opinions on where everyone would fish my local reservoir. If you follow the link in my profile it will be a page showing 50 photos of the reservoir during a drought a few years back. So a lot of the bottom is visible. For reference, where that submerged bridge is, is 25ft deep when the reservoir is full. The bridge used to go over what used to be a creek that runs up the middle of the reservoir.

I have an Eagle Cuda 350S/Map on my kayak and I've successfully located and marked the bridge. Viewed with the sonar the contour of what I haven't seen exposed seems to be how I expected it to be. All gradual slopes the same as the exposed slopes.