Fishing New Water

[jckjes7]

Hey guys. I've been fishing at a lot of new places recently. Some places, I've done decent. In others, I haven't done well. I live in the Southeast so I mostly bass fish.

My question is this: when you fish a new body of water, what is your "go to" lure? Do your vary your lures just due to the conditions/surroundings?

I love using lures that cover a lot of water like crankbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. Yes, I know it's cold, so I really slow down the retrieve. When those don't work, I go to a plastic worm or lizard. I'm still learning with the top water lures, so I'm not real confident in using those as of now. When I'm not successful, I begin to doubt my lures and location.

Thanks in advance for any tips or advice you guys have.

[flippin and pitchin]

It's relevent to the body of water itself. Do your homework on forage base. Look at the season, prespawn, spawn, post spawn and fall feed-winter. Spinnerbaits, cranks, jerkbaits and jigs. Water temp and clarity will direct you to the area and choose a bait that gets you through the cover options quickly. I like a spinnerbait as a search bait alot. I would pick the jig over plastics in cold water. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[roadwarrior]

Try to talk with some locals to find out what's been working. Specific depth, structure and lures work at different

times of year. Right now the hottest new thing on the planet is Alabama Rig. On the Tennessee river square bills,

jerkbaits, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits are working in 5-15' of water along rip rap and on the outside of gravel

flats.

[Nitrofreak]

New water requires homework, I hate homework even as a kid in school, but I love to fish so I do my homework first.

I let the moment decide for me, when I pick a spot off the topo map, I first arrive, I look around, take it all in, lets take a look at the spot I just picked out, it's a little cool outside just enough for a sweatshirt, the water is clear you can see down 4 feet or so, at the surface it's slightly bumpy water with a little tiny bit of wind, I am approx. 30 yards from the shore looking at a point that shows a good bit of red clay and a couple of lay downs on both sides of the point.

Forget about the electronics and you tell me what you would reach for.

[bayouXpress]

its a lot easier these days with the internet.

Research past tournaments at certain times of the year. The map available on the internet also is very helpful and the local tackle shops.

[jckjes7]

Thanks for all the info everybody!

I am not able to go up and down channels because I only have a little Pelican Predator with just a trolling motor, but I am able to do a lot of backwater fishing. I don't use a fish finder, but it's on my birthday/Christmas/good husband wish list that I have given to my wife. LOL

I will definitely be doing more research via the internet, the locals, etc. Once again, thanks for all the tips! Best fishing site on the web!

[Gatorbassman]

I love to fish new lakes. It gives me great personal pride when I go to a new or rarely fished lake and have success.

The first thing I look at when I get to any lake is the water clarity. This gives me an idea of what color and type of lure I'm going to use. It also gives me an idea of how big or small the strike zone is.

Muddy - Dark colored jigs with rattles and dark plastics with good vibration like Rage Tail, loud spinnerbaits or crankbaits. The strike zone is going to be very small requiring multiple, very accurate casts to visible or known cover. You can get away with fishing close and making shorter casts.

Stained- Dark or natural opaque colored plastics, Willow leaf spinnerbaits in white and charturse and shad colored crankbaits with rattles. A larger strike zone allows you to cover water a little faster and find fish then slow down and work the area with a confidence lure of your choice.

Dingy - (IMO the best colored water) Natural colored plastics and most moving baits work just fine. Back off and make longer casts. Cover water until you get a bite and then stop and fish the area hard until you loose confidence in it.

Clear - Light line, natural colors, very natural looking crankbaits work best. Very long casts and cover the area fast. You also may find the fish down deeper where they feel safe. But the strike zone is huge and they are more willing to come and get your baits.

This is very basic and will change a little depending on water temp and weather.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

First off if a map is avalible I will try to get a topo map of the lake, if a Topo map isn't aplicable I will look for structure or fish off points, it also depends on the weather and what season you begin to fish on.

I look at the birds on the back or in the water feeding and most always fish trees that submerge into deep water or shallow water dropping into deep water. You can't go wrong with fishing a point with a carolina rig.