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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.

Hopefully, you've already read my bass boat tips and bass equipment sections and you're ready to go catch a bass hog.

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.

What I do first is turn on my Depth finder to get the surface temperature.
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.