Yesterday

[Cindyjo]

Went out for a couple of hours. Tough in the wind. Zero, nada. Decided to scout for other locations with potential. Saw fish on the graph but they were not interested. That is how it goes. The day before I couldn't keep them away, the largest at 18". 6 whites also. As we all know, the most successful fisherman are the ones who spend the most time on the water. Generally speaking if I don't locate fish in the 1st 30 minutes on the graph, fishing will be poor. If I locate them on the graph but do not catch any in the next 60 minutes it is time to go in. I have lake property so on and off the lake is convenient. Most days I'm out there. Conversely, the graph and side sonar are the best tools I have. The side sonar is immensely helpful in staying 20-30' away from underwater shelves and running parallel to them. Of course on this lake underwater shelves (old riverbed) are plentiful, and so are the fish. The other day I saw a posting regarding whites being open water fish. My experience suggests the white generally can be found in specific areas. These may often appear to be open water areas on the surface, but below it is a different story. I often find whites and blacks in the same area. Of course that is where the bait fish are. They lay in ambush waiting for the large schools to drift by.

Keep in mind I rarely fish shoreline. This lake has an abundance of structure away from the shoreline. There are only 4-5 locations I generally fish. If the fish are not hitting I sometimes explore looking for other secondary turns and shelves in the riverbed. That is how I find fish on this lake. But it takes time and patience. One last note. These 4-5 locations produce fish year after year. So that confirms what most of us already know……fish relate to specific structure.

Till next time...

[Champ188]

There are definitely certain places that fish just "live" year-round and leave only to go spawn, and then they don't go any farther than necessary.

These places can be points, bluff ends, boat docks, channel bends, etc. I use them as checkpoints ... to try and learn what the fish are doing that day --- what kind of cover are they on, are they feeding "up" on shad or "down" on crawfish, are they aggressive or sluggish, how many bites can I expect in an hour, etc.

Once I've learned what I can from those areas, I try to expand it to others --- maybe a place I've never fished before but that seems to have all the right ingredients. This is the part of fishing that I enjoy most these days ... more than hooking a fish and reeling it in. It helps that I have Donna with me 95% of the time and she's all about the hooking and reeling 'em in part.

Of course, there are times they just don't want to bite worth a darn and on those days you can stay with your "checkpoint" spots and try to beat out a few. At least you know you're around some, which goes a long way towards keeping my spirits up when they don't want to play.

[J-Doc]

All good information and what I've been telling people for a few years now. Now if I could only master my own theory and put it in practice! Lol. I have high quality graphs now so it shouldn't be a problem. I have been chasing food so much these last few months that it's time to get back to chasing bass for the fun of it again. I've got a few areas on Beaver that I know hold fish most of the year but not all year. This time of year, they all but disappear on me everywhere I look. This year I'm determined to figure it out. Finding them is one thing. Catching them is a whole lot harder.

But like Champ said.....k owing they are there and you just haven't gotten them to bite is better than casting to water and hoping to stumble onto something. I hate that as much as knowing there are tons of fish below me that refuse to bite.