well so far you have all been extremly helpful. ;D i fish in a lake in so-cal. i fish from the shore at around 4:30 to dark. i have tried spinner baits with no luck, but mostly i have used plastic worms. the water is rather murky with only about a foot or less of vison. casting off the shore the water, at the deepest point is probably about 5 feet deep and it gets shallower from there. the lake has tons of blue gill, millions of minnows, and i know that there are smallies cuz i have been with friends that have caught them, and have talked to people that have told me that they catch them all the time. i hope this helps. thank you once again