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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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What I do first is turn on my
Depth finder to get the surface temperature.
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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.
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These are what I call my search
baits.
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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
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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 got 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.
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