Deep Summer Fish

[Abu4life]

Hey all,

I practice fished a new lake yesterday for a tournament coming on sunday. I fished from 5:30 a.m. until 4 in the afternoon trying to locate spots on a big lake that is full of timber... I managed to put together somewhat of a pattern and a depth that the fish seemed to be at. I found 20 spots like this, only 3 or 4 of them put out fish, but the fish they did put out were all around 3 pounds, and there were ALOT of them there and were very aggressive, I left the areas alone as to not burn my potential tournament fish. My question is, these spots didnt have anything in common besides depth, the tree size didnt matter, one had a channel running next to it which makes sense, the other was a flat of 14 foot... What other factor am i missing?!

Thanks!

[rowyourboat]

could be a number of things...

-the bottom. if it had grass, stumps, rock, mud. things like that can make a difference.

-bait fish. did you notice if there were any in those areas and not in others?

-current. not sure if it is a issue in your case. but it could.

[Catt]

“I found 20 spots like this, only 3 or 4 of them put out fish”

“The tree size didn’t matter”

“One had a channel running next to it which makes sense”

“The other was a flat of 14 foot”

“What other factor am I missing?!”

If you really want help how about giving us more information, Ah maybe something like maybe what lake.

Tree size doesn’t matter but every type of tree grows in different soil

Was the flat in the middle of nowhere with nothing nearby?

You are probably missing a lot but so are we

[Abu4life]

I'll detail it better.

The lake is Brushy Creek located close to webster city in Iowa. The flat was nothing out of the ordinary, the lake is absolutely full of creek channels and a ton of depth changes, almost to the point of frustration. The bait fish consist of bluegill, crappie, etc... no shad or herring or anything. The first tree was a dead Oak that laid off of a creek channel with another one on the exact opposite side and sitting about 40 foot from shore off of a rock jetti. The second area is a main lake point that is 8 foot, covered in grass and drops off on both sides, 18 foot on one side and 11 on the other. My main hot spot were 2 clumps of trees, (Im thinking they were Elm) literally in the middle of 6,000 others that looked just like it , nothing out of the ordinary and no huge depth changes around it and a good 40 yards from shore, I didnt pull up any grass and it was not a rock or hard bottom. Clay is what I am assuming. No current on this lake.

[Glenn]

Perhaps of interest:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fishing_tips_summer.html

[WRB]

Perhaps of interest:

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/fishing_tips_summer.html

No shad, then crappie should fill the pelagic baitfish nitche.

14' shoulds like a thermocline could be affecting the depth. Crawdads; wood and rock, the some weeds fills their needs. Oak tree, big root system and prefers higher harder ground and hill sides. Any shade where you caught the 3 lb bass?

Did you happen to check out what those bass were eating?

No current? no wind? wind generates current.

Sometimes it a spot situation and not a pattern or several patterns and you found a few.

Tom

PS; Glenn, didn't intend to quote your thread.

[Abu4life]

There was little wind if any at times but nothing consistant.. no shade in any of the spots. I looked down the fishes mouth to see any crawdad punchers or fish tails..again nothing.. the only thing that leads me to believe that the crawdad was the go to was that one of the fish dedicated on my boat and it was red.. usually indicating a crawfish diet.. I appreciate the insight guys and especially the tree preference and different locations they prefer to grow. I guess ill see what Sunday brings and hope my spots and your Guy's information pays off. Thanks and I'll let you know how it goes.

[figure8racer]

Let me know how it goes at brushy. My buddy and I are trying to decide whether to hit it or three mile for our annual birthday trip. I've never fished brushy but have heard great things. Thanks

[Abu4life]

Will do. It will be my first tourney at Brushy but it should ne good. 3mile was our first tourney this year and it was rough but it was a colder spring.

That lake has been on fire from what I've heard lately. Ill let you know about Brushy though. Tight lines!

[Catt]

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. In rocky impoundments, 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, bottom 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.

Now take out the word “weed” and insert the word “wood”

You are looking for the obvious when you need to be looking for the unobvious 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.

To be consistent sometimes it requires running & gunning to several locations while other times it requires staying & playing on a couple of locations

[Sam]

To be consistent sometimes it requires running & gunning to several locations while other times it requires staying & playing on a couple of locations

[Abu4life]

Thank you! I'll try and find a topo map for this lake and see if I can more easily break down the spots with your added info and maybe even pin point a few more I missed! Thanks for all the help!

[WRB]

Thank you! I'll try and find a topo map for this lake and see if I can more easily break down the spots with your added info and maybe even pin point a few more I missed! Thanks for all the help!

You found bass and caught a few, now take a look at what you found with all the info given. There is a reason those bass were at those spots at that time; they were active and feeding.

Sometimes it's the shade cast by a tree or even a single stick up, located in the right place at the right time. When looking at tree's don't look at the whole forest. Look for trees with fish eating birds, they know where the bait is.

Tom