How To Find Bass???

[OneFisher85]

Just curious of everyone's personal strategies, tips, or techniques for finding bass when your fishing a new place. I am kind of new to fishing from a boat and alot of times when I'm fishing I feel like I'm just throwing in empty water.

[aclark609]

I definitely try to read a topo map of an area before I fish it. I look for points, ledges, channel swings, changes in bottom composition, or even a mixture of some or all of these. Doesn't mean there's fish there but it helps a lot.

[Crestliner2008]

There is an enormous resource here in the Articles above. And the search engine here is great. I fish a lot of different bodies of water and at different times of the year, so it's a rather difficult to answer you. Start at the top of the site and I'm sure a lot of folks here will help you as well.

[nquattro0123]

i would say if there is a bridge were you fish run your worm or lure across the bottob of the pier

[Gatorbassman]

That's a hard question to answer in one post but it is the reason I joined BR back in 2005. I'm glad I did. Just hang out here for a year or two, read the articles, ask questions, help others out and your ability to find bass and catch them will increase tremendously.

[Michael DiNardo]

I think it was a tip from Denny Brauer that read something to the effect of: spring and fall look to the crreek arms that feed the main lake and summer and winter fish the main lake. From my own tip in rivers fish current breaks. Of course these are huge generalizations, but it's a start. Good Luck.

Mike

[roadwarrior]

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/98567-cartography-the-art-of-paper-fishing-according-to-rolo/

[Nitrofreak]

http://www.bassresou...ording-to-rolo/

This artical right here is well worth printing and keeping it with you at home especially when you are looking at new topo maps for waters you have never visited, it is also going to give you some tremendous insite on your home body of water, it works very well for my area here in Va. but the artical was written about a lake in Florida.

Homework is key when visiting new water, this artical is one reason why I love this site, the hard work and dedication it took to put this into words and then just give it to us for free was astronomical.

So for me it's homework, homework, homework, first, then after that I pick a spot, I will pull up on it, look at it, as far as water color, temp, wind, etc... and let the moment help me decide the manner in which I fish a given spot.

[OneFisher85]

Thanks guys! Hopefully this will give me a little confidence next time out.

[NCbassmaster4Life]

Topo map anywhere, doesn't matter about the high tech equipment for me. Find the patterns.

[Bass-minded]

If I were you,( which I am not) I would watch the bank. It can give you a good idea of what is underwater closer to shore. The steeper the bank, the steeper and possibly deeper water. And visa versa.

[tomustang]

I use a bass whistle

[deep]

For most of the little lakes I fish from shore, my first step is google maps -to check out the big picture for points, coves, channels, etc. If you have google earth installed (it's free), you can hopefully find a few older maps too. Next, I go to angling technologies, and overlay the topo map over the actual map. And that gives me an idea about the drop offs. After that, it's mostly trial and error.

[WookieeJedi]

Maps plus electronics. Find a few places that look right on the map, and go fish them. Watch your electronics even when you are between spots, sometimes you see something small enough to not be on the map, and it will hold fish. I'm in a kayak these days, so I try to find places as close to gether as possible. Since I'm no longer blasting down the lake at high speed, I sometimes pick up some details I would have missed. Sometimes those details will tug your line. Part of the fun of this sport can be learning new water.

[nquattro0123]

what ways to present a lipless crankbait

[shimmy]

I like what Catt has said in many threads. It is a misconception that you search for bass with your lures, you search for bass with your electronics. He is the man and can back it up, this advice is golden and saves a lot of time.