Fishing A Lake
I use the steps below to increase my chances for success when
fishing a lake for the first time or even on repeated trips. Let me put it another way; any water hole that I
may visit I look for certain items.
A lot of the time preparation for the fishing
trip starts even before you leave the house.
Things to Do Before Fishing A
Lake
-
Get the latest up to date weather report
for the day you are going fishing, and I know before you even say it...the weatherman is
never right.
-
If possible, call the bait
shops near the lake or the government agency responsible for the
lake to verify the present water level of the lake. What I am doing here
is to ensure that they have not pulled 4 to 5 feet of water or added 4-5 feet of water to the lake
level. It hurts when you have been to the fishing lake before and the spots that you have caught
fish might be out of the water or under the water. The newspaper covering your local
area may also report on local lake levels in the sports section.
-
If at all possible, try to obtain a
map of the lake that might show creek channels, ditches water inlets, drop offs, and flats. Hot
Spots cover a lot of lakes that will clue you in on all of the above and let you know what kind of
fish are in the lakes. They can be found either on the web or Walmart, or any bait
shop.
Everything Above Checked Out Perfect...Let's
Go Fishing
Okay, we have made it to the fishing lake that we are going to
fish for the day and have got the boat in the water.
I am letting the big motor warm up while I lay out 4
rods set up the following way: one with a top water lure, one with soft plastic, one with a crank bait, and the
last one a spinner bait. These are what I call my
search baits. Believe me, one of them will work then I
can fine tune to the color that the fish are after that day.
Let's Go Find That Bass
Hog
-
What I am going to do now is try to determine where fish
are holding in the water. Fish usually hold on the following: Wood, Rock, Grass, or pebble bottom
Flat.
Wood Structures(Trees): I will proceed to what I
can see with my eyes like a tree laying in the water. Caution: Do not run the big motor all the
way up to the tree. About 50 yard or more out from the tree; shut the big motor off and rely on the trolling
motor which will not spook the fish.
As you approach the tree...Now comes the
debate...All the pros say work the tree from the out side in...my thought to this is if I throw a bait to the
out side of the tree first and there is a big bass hog inside it might pull him out to the outer edges and by
the time I work to the middle of the tree I do not get any bites...Why...Because the big boy or girl is coming
out to see what is making the noise.
So what I am saying is try both and see what works
best for you, but I go for the heart of the tree then work my way out.
Don't just throw once or twice, I have been know
to throw 10 to 20 times to the same spot. I will throw a Texas Rig Worm or a Spinner Bait. I would not advise
throwing a Crank Bait if it is very heavy cover as you will donate it to the lake.
Most of your Big Hogs will hit the bait on the way
down on the first cast, if not let it go to the bottom and without moving it to much wiggle the tip. This will
allow the worm to wiggle like all get out and any Big Bass in the area can not turn down that meal. Do this for
about three or four minutes, before you bring it in and try another spot. Take the tree apart each limb. You
may want to use the Flip, Pitch, or cast method that I will cover in a later article.
|