Unknownwaters

My local fishing hole, a roughly 50 acre urban lake in Georgia, has been down about 8 feet since last summer. it has a lot of shallow cover, but now all of that is out of the water. They are not planning to raise the water level again until summer. Will this hurt the spawn? There really isnt much else in the lake besides the exposed shoreline cover and a creekchannel that is immediately below the current water level. What happens if the fish spawn but the water is raised before the eggs hatch?

huh, interesting. Thanks for the help

I guess I never expected the thermocline to still mess with my fish finder even when I have it on the lowest sensitivity and switchfire in clear mode. Nor did I expect it to cause weak signals throughout almost the entire water column like it did in the top photo. And is it suppose to show up on DI as well?

Whenever I go to the deeper part of the lake I fish my fish finder starts picking up all kinds of weak readings throughout the water column I tried turning the sensitivity all the way down, but there is still some wierd stuff appearing on the bottom A few more photos of these weird readings. I only get these readings in the deeper part of the lake, and my fish finder does not have a problem on other lakes that are just as deep. My best guess is that it has something to do with the fall turnover, perhaps abunch of debri was sucked into the bottom of the lake when the water turned over. Its my first fish finder, so I am still learning how to properly read it. its a Humminbird 596c HD DI

Here is the situation: I have been fishing this 40ish acre lake for years. It is about 100 years old and just about all of the significant structure has been covered in several feet of mud and silt. All thats left of the old creek channel is a slight 1 foot depression that is pretty difficult to locate. The only significant cover that I can see are trees that have fallen in a long the shoreline. Throughout the year, the only fish that i catch fishing the fallen trees are 10 inch or less bass on plastic worms. However, in the spring there are quality sized bass under almost every piece of shoreline cover, and it is not uncommon to catch a couple 5 pound plus fish in a single day. A friend of mine even landed a 10 pound bass in early spring under a dock. After doing some research, I concluded that all of these lunker bass must be staying in the deeper water somewhere all year before migrating to shallow water in the spring to spawn. I recently got a fish finder on my small boat, but when I searched the deep water all I saw was featureless bottom, save for one deep 20 foot hole right by the dam and the 1 foot creek channel that runs through around 15 feet of water. I thought I found some scattered cover in the deeper portion, but the sonar signal for it is weak. Even more concerning is that my fish finder did not show any fish on any of this structure or cover. On a related note, every time I get out to water that is deeper than 15 feet my fish finder gets a lot of strange interference. You can still make out the bottom and cover, but it picks up consistent weak signals throughout the water column, almost like a static fuzz. I have absolutely no idea what this is, I do not get these readings on other lakes i fish. Does anyone have any experience on lakes like this that could give me some advice? sorry for the lengthy paragraph, but its better to be more detailed than less detailed on these sorts of things.

Pretty much anything within a reasonable distance. I usually like to have diverse fishing opportunities, so I try to find lakes that present different challenges. Have a riverine lake I like to fish, a deep rocky lake, and several old 50 acre nieghborhood ponds with some lunkers in them.

So many books, thanks for the helpful thread

My girlfriend is a huge bookworm, and she is wanting to know some good bass fishing books she can get me for birthdays and whatnot. Any suggestions?

Definitely a McGyver Addict and occasionally a philosopher. Gone swimming after snagged fishing lures on multiple occasions and just do not feel like a fisherman unless I look like a redneck. It is almost a requirement if you want to be my friend you have to go fishing with me on weekends

Been looking at quality portable fish finder for awhile now and I have limited down to three options 1)Humminbird 570 http://store.humminbird.com/products/356211/570_Portable 2)Humminbird DI 570 http://store.humminbird.com/products/410764/570_DI_Portable 3)Humminbird 385 combo http://store.humminbird.com/products/410764/570_DI_Portable They cost roughly 250, 350, and 450. The humminbird 570 and the humminbird DI 570 are completely identical except for the addition of Down Imaging. The 385 combo has GPS and several other features significantly more expensive then the other two. My question is are all of the features worth the increase in price? I currently fish a wide variety of lakes, from 50 acre neighborhood lakes to deep mountain reservoirs. Due to personal circumstances, I do not know were I will be fishing in the future and could use a good quality portable fish finder that I could use on a wide range of lakes for several years. I cannot test them out for myself without buying them, so I would appreciate any advice or personal experiences anybody could provide. Overall price is not necessarily an issue as much as getting a good deal for my money.

I have never fished a floating worm but have been interested in trying to add it to my weekend fishing arsenal since the lakes are usually pretty heavily fished in this area. I was wondering what are your personal preferences as far as rigging/color go. I know they are often fished weightless but I have also heard/seen people using em on C-rigs or shakey heads. Secondly, how do u fish em weightless? do you just let it sink and occasionally twitch it as it falls?

Caught this 6lb 23 inch largemouth today, been a good weekend on this lake. Also caught a 4.5 lb bass but didnt take a photo of it

I fished some big plastic worms and caught a pale 2lb bass that smelled like it was dieing Also caught a 3-4lb bass I met a 15 year old kid who fishes youth tournaments. Apparently he forgot his spinnerbaits at home so I let him borrow this big strike king white and red spinnerbait with a trailer hook that I had never even used and he proceeded to catch 2 one pound bass, 2 four pound bass, and a big 6lb 4 ounce bass pictured below That spinnerbait had been sitting in my tacklebox for over a year and I had hardly used it. Slightly embarrasing Edit: I also hooked what was probably a 4 or 5 lb bass on a texas rig brush hog, but set the hook a tad bit too early because he was taking me down into some heavy structure and he spat it out after jumping 3 or 4 feet in the air Edit 2: I mystyped the size of the lake, its actually around 40 acres or more. Still has plenty of water to hold big bass in it.

If it helps, we got my 9 foot fishing raft and the outboard motor for perhaps 500-600 dollars combined off of craigslist. Ofcourse, my dad also travels to florida a lot and so we could shop around each city looking for the best deal. Plus they love their fishin down in florida, so there were more options. I would certainly recommend it, or perhaps a fishing kayak. really depends on your individual situation tho

Okay, heres the situation. A local small lake, maybe 2 acres, is down 10 feet because they are doing work on the dam and will be down till next spring. This has made the fish heavily concentrated in a few spots (there are maybe 4 spots that are still underwater with significant structure for large bass) in the lower end of the lake. Now this lake produces some lunkers by small lake standards, and I have met people who claim to have caught 7-9 pound bass, and rumor has it that their may even be some 10lb+ lurking in the lake. I figured with the water so low and the fish so concentrated, this might be my best opportunity to catch one of these lunkers. I figured i would use a heavy duty rod/reel/line and tie on some big creature baits or jig n pig and just fish the few spots the fish can stay all fall/winter until the water goes back up in the spring. I was wondering if anyone else has any good suggestions? I have not fish in the fall very much.

You wouldnt happen to know any mapping software for smaller lakes would you? and most of my money is going to pay the ridiculous costs of education nowadays. Hard to invest when every semester of school is costing you some serious debt, but that is a discussion for another forum. My dad is helping me pay for my raft/other devices because he knows how hard I work and thinks I deserve it (he also seems to be pretty set on a fishin buddy for some reason, says it would be easier than other portable units because its all in one piece and is less hassle to mount/unmount) Its pretty difficult to find anybody who likes to fish at my current school, its in the heart of downtown and most of the people there seem more preoccupied going to parties, clubs, or playing videogames, but you do have a point. Hopefully grad school will be better. But I definitely appreciate the advice, I certainly plan to focus more on investing when I no longer have to worry about paying for textbooks, tuition, meals and gas. But that too is a discussion for another forum.

I fish in a large array of places. I usually fish abunch of two acre nieghborhood lakes that are far, far too small for my dads boat. Once summer rolls around and the fish in those lakes move deep I usually give up fishing em cuz I do not have a fish finder. I also fish this heavily silted riverine lake that is difficult to navigate with a larger boat because most of the water is 1 or 2 feet deep. Although I do not necessarily plan on going fishing on massive bodies of water too much, the raft has proven sturdy and fast enough to fish on big lakes. The issue also is that I live several hours from my house when I go to school most the year so using my dads boat is not an option. I also have absolutely no idea were I will be living once I graduate, but chances are ill be going away for grad school and potentially will move out of state to look for a job. Likely wouldn't be able to afford a house big enough to store my dads boat the way the economy is and how low my starting salary will likely be. I was considering just getting a fishing kayak and selling the raft, but then I wouldn't be able to take my friends out fishing with me (its like a requirement to be my friend that you go fishing with me at least once in my boat), which is something I thoroughly enjoy. Finally, another less significant issue is that my dad does not like to fish with artificials and is purely a minnow/worm fisherman. If I take his boat out he always comes along and we anchor or troll one spot for over an hour before we move on, and he usually mocks just about any lure I put on. Makes it very difficult to fish artificials, and also makes me really want to fish by myself. I suppose I am anxious to have my own craft and fish the way I want to fish, cuz fishing live bait just isnt as exciting as lures to me. Note: I am not planning on buying anything new, my dad and I are patiently watching Craigslist looking for a great deal on a quality portable fish finder. We have found some of the higher models being sold for about as much as a new 110.

The raft is all I can fish out of. I am still a college student and will not likely have significant money of my own or even a place for a larger boat for several years, probably longer. My dad already has a sizable bass boat with pretty nice fish finders that he said he would give me when I am old enough and have the space, but until then I will have to make due with what I can fit in a college dorm room.

I could probably afford the 110. How detailed is the bottom definition and such, i wonder if I should save up to get a 120 or 140

I have been looking around and I gotta say the Hummingbird fishing buddy seems like it would be perfect. Now I just gotta search for weeks on craigslist till I can find one for cheap

I feel like somewhere on this forum this question was asked before, but I couldnt find it so I figured id start a new thread. I remember this one night when my dad and I were fishing for crappie (I was like 2 or 3 years old) I stared at the shad as they circled the underwater light and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Then my dad dimmed down the light a bit and all the sudden these massive striped bass started shooting up from the depths to chase and eat the baitfish. Ever since then I just couldnt get enough of the lake or fishing in general.

If the link doesnt work just manually go to the Georgia DNR site

http://www.georgiawildlife.com/Fishing/Seminole

I fish out of a 9 foot fishing raft that does not have a hard bottom to mount a transducer and really doesnt have enough space for a battery to power your standard fish finder. I have heard about portable fish finders that run on batteries, but know absolutely nothing about them. Does anyone have any idea what a good portable fish finder would be? or know what kind of quality this type of fish finder is? I am getting frustrated because I have a hard time fishing when the bass are holding in deep water. I cant even tell the depth unless I have a contour map of the lake, and even that entails a lot of guesswork. Pretty much just look at the shoreline and guess based on steepness. Id appreciate any help

I will probably start trying it this Winter. Need to do something over christmas break while I am still in school