Fighting A Losing Battle

[McBee]

Is it pointless to to fish larger lakes during this time of hot weather with out a depth finder? A couple of lakes that i regularly fish have been producing fish well for me up until the last month and half ago when the heat has really cranked up.

I have a 14 ft jon boat, but no electronics. Only time i have been catching fish lately is when i go to the local smaller ponds. I feel i should just give up on anything larger until the temps start to come down.

[clayton86]

Can u get maps on the lake to find the points and other structure that way? I went out saterday on a co workers boat and paid no attention to the electronics and boated 5 good sized keepers all well he trolled it was tricky moving that fast but I got 5 plus a rock bass that hit a 1/2oz football jig

[Jigfishn10]

The old adage of 100% of the fish will be in 10% of the lake. Fish in small ponds generally have the same tendencies as fish in large lakes. It's up to you to figure out those tendencies. If you have no electronics then you need to go on a fact finding mission. Take a jig or deep diving crankbait and figure out the lake bottom. It takes longer, obviously, but you will figure it out and you will need to spend time to scour the bigger lakes. I personally find that to be the challenge to fishing the bigger waterways and when you do get that lunker, you have a greater sense of accomplishment. If you're an instant results guy, then start parting with money. JMHO

[McBee]

I tried to search for maps on the internet for the lakes i normally fish but no luck. I have not tried the local bait shops for the maps. But even with a map, i may find depths and some drop offs, but i dont think they tell u were underwater structure is.

I guess using the football jig would tell me that.

Im not that impatient when trying to figure things out, most of the time whoever i am fishing with at the time usually gets impatient pretty quick and is ready to leave if we are not producing and in return makes me feel rushed. I guess i need to start going alone.

[Catt]

Acme Mapper 2.0

mapper.acme

A Carolina rig is an excellent choice for find bottom contours

[gobig]

But even with a map, i may find depths and some drop offs, but i dont think they tell u were underwater structure is.

The bottom of the lake is structure. The other elements such as weeds, trees, stumps etc... are cover. Maps and electronics help for sure but you do not need them. With out a map or a depth finder this is how I would start.

1) I would ask people at local tackle shops and at the ramp, how are they are catching fish? and at what depth? Unless there is an up coming tournament you should get some strait answers and you may narrow things down.

2) I would start out on main lake points. These are the easiest places to identify with out electronics and should hold fish year round. I would start positioned in shallower water than you intend to fish and work your baits up hill from deeper water back to the boat. Move out on the point until you locate the fish.

3) I would have at least three different baits tied on. One that covers the top,one that covers the middle and one that covers the bottom of the water column. Make alternating casts. This works even better with a partner. If you count down as the baits fall you can determine depth.

[McBee]

Thanks on the correction of the difference of structure and cover. Also, please excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are u refering to when u say main lake points?

[Crestliner2008]

Before I got my first "green box" (Lowrance), I use to use a hand line to map the lakes I fished on. A large, heavy (1-lb. or so) nut & bolt, tied onto an 1/8" diameter length of parachute cord, can do wonders for your "visualization" of the bottom structure.

I use to tie simple overhand knots every 5', starting at 15' from the bolt and going up to 40'. Each knot would have a different color of ladies hair ribbons entwined. This simple "depth finder" got me onto many a good structures back 40 years ago or more. It can do the same for you today.

[gobig]

In the search tab enter "main point vs secondary?" read that thread. It should shed some light on points. It can be some what confusing based on region but this should give you some insight.

[gobig]

For some reason its not letting me add links at the moment but if you put "bend" in the search catt has a thread there call "so yall want to lean toleto bend" you can read through that and get some great stuff that can be applied anywhere.

[McBee]

Ok, will do. Thanks.

[NBR]

Crestliner is right on. Years before Lawrance came out with the "Little Green Box" I had the pleasure of fishing a good sized lake with a retired gentleman. He had his anchor rope marked in 1 foot intervals from about 10 feet to over 30. He would pull up on a point or off shore reef and ask me to put the anchor over and give him the depth. When I gave the depth he was looking for would have me set the anchor tell me what the bottom did around the boat and what the cover was. Structure fishing was done long before sonar was available.

Structure is easier to locate and more detail is available with todays sonar but sonar is not a must.

Oh! I have 2 graphs and a flasher on my boat.

[Big Fish Rice]

This is my first season fishing with sonar. You know the biggest impact that it has had on my fishing? Observing water temps and depth contours. Most of all, it helps you get lucky every now and then.

If you don't have a map with helpful information, message me and I will get you some info on your lake if possible. All I need is the name of the lake and the state/county.

We all hear about points and humps during the summer, but I was out yesterday (Pacific Northwest) and found a school of smallies in 20 feet of water, in the middle of nowhere. No points, cover or structure...just a flat bottom that attracted these guys for some weird reason.

I'm not into the science, but my point being, you can play the odds and sometimes get lucky with finding some fish. What techniques are you fishing? Just jigs? How about the dropshot?

Get back to me and I'll help you figure this puzzle out

[McBee]

I was mainly using t-rigged 6" lizard with bullet weight and then occasionaly using football jig and swimming jig. The last two largemouths i caught were using a spinnerbait off of a island in the lake.

[McBee]

The two lakes i am fishing mostly right now is located in Floyd County GA. Heath lake (AKA) Trophy lake is only open 1st ten days of each month, its not a huge lake roughly 200 acres. When that lake is closed i fish the lakes nearby which are open all month known as Antioch lake. I have a sat image of the lake but i could not get them posted on this thread.

[Big Fish Rice]

Ok, let's see if we can't get you on a pattern.

Antioch Lake

Green = Shallow water for spring/early summer and during the spawn. Fish inside the weedline that appears on the map. In and around docks is a perfect place for spawning females to take cover.

Yellow = Summer temps starting to rise. From the map, fishing through and outside of the weedline would be my choice. Creature baits, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Cover all of the water column until you find the bite.

Red = Mid to late summer. Baitfish, crayfish and other small creatures want to stay cool too. The bass will follow the food. Like you said, this might be where a sonar unit will help pick up structure and other areas of interest. Dropshot, dropshot, dropshot.

Dropshot Tips

Grab a 4.5" to a 6" Roboworm and rig it on a #1 dropshot hook. Tie on a 1/4oz weight for anything up to 20 feet of water (deeper depths call for a heavier weight). Cast it, let it drop and let it sit. Shake your rod tip slightly, moving it only an inch or two at most. Give it a rest, then slowly pull it back to the boat. Keep the weight in contact with the bottom at all times if possible.

Points

Do fish hold on points? Often, yes. But I catch just as much fish on areas of the lake that don't appear "special" in any way. There are 5 main points on Antioch that I would focus on, but if you are fishing for a couple hours without much action, you're on the wrong pattern for THAT moment. Hit those points. You could try topwater, move to a medium diving crank, slow roll a spinnerbait, and finally move on to your soft plastics and jigs. Don't fish one technique and then move on. Cover all the water that you can to try and find a bite.

Trophy Lake

Same color descriptions as above. You should probably focus on yellow to red at this point of the season. With smaller bodies of water, drop offs are gold. I can't tell from the map if any of the banks drop off dramatically. Move away from those "slow sloping" sides and find some deeper water.

No Sonar Tips

I fished all my life without sonar until this season. First, get polarized sunglasses if you don't have them already. Second, water color can tell you a lot about the depth. Dark water often correlates to deep water. Look across the surface of the lake...can you spot color changes? If so, get to that line and try and work your way around to get a feel for the bottom. Am I an advocate of the dropshot here? Yes, because it works.

Senkos and Plastics

From my experience, senkos and other soft plastics will usually tell you a lot about the fish's attitude. Do lizards work? Yeah, I've had decent success. If I had to pick two baits to fish with all day though, it would be some sort of stickbait and a jig. Don't worry about color...stick to your basic black, browns and greens. I rarely use senkos anymore simply because I know I can catch fish with just a flip of the wrist. It's a great way to find the bite and to figure out what depths the fish are staging at. Don't limit yourself to one technique though, a simple change in "action" such as a jig over a lizard can be a successful change. If you have to retie 100 times a day, then do it, but don't leave any stone unturned.

If you have multiple rod combinations, then you're set. Tie on a few different presentations and have at it. A boat helps tremendously, and sonar can help find certain useful features of the lake. But they don't shape who you are as an angler. Keep working and you'll come through the other side just fine.

[McBee]

I really appreciate your advice and help. The pictures u have listed of Heath lake and Antioch lake look nothing like the ones I fish, but I dont think it matters, i understand what u are saying with these two examples which makes it just as useful. Really though, thanks for helping me out. Soon as i make it out to the lakes i will let u guys know if I was successful or not.

[200racing]

check the laws on manmade structure. if its legal put you own structure in.