New Lake

[triggertrav]

When setting up on a new lake/or one that you aren't familiar with, what would be something that you would look for as far as structure, vegitation, bottom, depth for a place to spear? I am looking at trying a lake with a tremendous amount of depth changes and very little vegitation, should i stay shallow on the flats? Find a dropping edge? Or what would you look for?

[fisherking01]

My first go to spot would include 1 bullrushes next to a steep break. Setting up near or in the rushes can produce exceptional results if there is good water clarity. 2 off of a break along a point, 8-10 feet of water. Keep mobile, if you spend a couple hours without seeing a fish, move. I know that is tougher this time of year, but if you want results, you have to work for them. Brent

[merkman]

I am by no means an expert on any of this since I am just starting out, but I will post here anyway.

If I am all wet let me know.

When I look for a place to set up my spear house on a new lake I will first look at the contour map of the lake.

The way that I think is:

The fish are going to move from the deep and into the flats and back to the deep water again.

When looking for a place to set up I will look for any draws that lead from deep water to the flats.

I will look for channels that fish move between two or more connecting lakes. (Be careful of thin ice on any area with current!!)

I want to set up on the most logical place that they are going to travel in.

It varies from lake to lake but think like a fish and try to figure out where they are moving.

Try to find the "expressways" from their home to their "work"

The other thing that you need to take into account is structure.

Set up on the edge of a weed line or next to any structure that small bait fish would feel safe.

This will get you to the areas that the fish are feeding around.

For the most part these are not shown on the map.

To find these places that are not on a map drill some holes and place a blanket over your head as you look down the hole.

Take a peek at the "layout of the land" before you start fishing there.

Most of all be aware of the surroundings underneath you and pay attention to where the fish are coming in from.

Generally the northerns are going to want to push the fish from the shallows and other structure such as weeds and into deeper open water.

Set up close enough to the structure but far enough away that your decoy looks like an easy target for them.

They are looking for the cheap easy meal.

It is kind of like the donuts sitting on a plate at the end of the countertop. You are much more likely to grab one quick and as you are passing by rather than opening the cupboard, pulling them out of the bag, etc etc.

Just my 2 sense.

[bassNspear]

tigger, i am running out of time, i will reply to this tonight

[triggertrav]

I have a pretty good idea of where there was a cabbage patch in the lake last summer. I don't know of anyother of this type on the lake. There is a decent draw from shallow to deep in a 'U' shape, and that is the area i am thinking about setting up for a try.

I was going to try and get into the weeds, if they are still down there. But Merk makes it sound like i would be better off on the edge. These weeds are fairly sparce and last time i noticed ranged from 6 - 8 feet in length.

[bassNspear]

this is a great topic.

The biggest thing that i do if i have never been on the lake, is first check out a lake map, and second, when i get to the lake, i look at all the different shorelines, weeds, cattails, anything that might make a point on the lake. After this, i usally drill a few holes where i think there is different structor in the lake, and place my camera down to check out what im looking at.

The thing that i try to do the most, is understand how the points work, or understand how big of drop off that your working with.

99% of the time, i will try to set up on a point or i will set up on break where i cut the hole just outside the weedline. This way i dont have all the weeds in my hole, and I know that there is deep water in front, and shallow in the back.

All in all, try to come up with a game plan where you can work to find some structor that is the fitting piece to getting some nice fish.

[triggertrav]

Thanks for the pointers fellas.

[bassNspear]

your welcome. Hopefully you have some luck. Like to hear what happens for ya as well.

[cherokee]

Flats, points, outlets, inlets. Like others have said, look at a lake map. Inside corners can be a great spot. The first main drop out from a bay can be another awesome spot.

The good thing is, once you've learned the lake, a good spot will be good from year to year.

On a lake with milfoil you have to get out deep enough but stay close enough to it. I learned this the hard way. Cut my hole, set house up and speared for an hour. Only after I got down on the floor and looked around the hole did I notice I was fishing in a barrel so to say. Milfoil all the way up to the top around me.