WRB-2.0

The screen shot displayed by the OP doesn’t look like a thermocline, too wide in lieu a few feet water density change. The dense yellow looks more like a secondary bottom echo. Team9nine is spot on! Tom

Having a smaller aluminum boat with OB that can troll at very slow speed is helpful, very maneuverable plus you can back troll as long as the waves don’t go over the transom. Trolling long under water points are prime areas. Approach the point parallel to the shoreline at the depth the lure runs. As the structure starts to get shallower make a 90 degree turn heading out towards deeper water will continue to so the lure is bumping the bottom or close to it. As you pass the deep end of the point make a wide slow loop circle heading back towards the shoreline parallel to the opposite side of the point, make a 90 degree turn following the shoreline. This is when smaller boats are a big advantage, the loop circle targets bass suspended off the end of the point that may have been spooked by your initial approach. Tom

Avery Label dots 1/2”D work. I use Kapton tape because I have it and it’s resistant so most fluid's, Mylar tape mentioned is good, not as strong or chemical resistance as Kapton.

If you think trolling is dragging a lure behind the boat in a straight line and constant speed you are missing a lot of fish. You want to vary the lures speed and direction by maneuvering the boat in a lazy S pattern covering different depth zones and changing the lures direction and speed. There is a lot more to trolling than dragging a lure point A to point B. Tom

Trolling is a lost art in bass fishing probably because tournament anglers are not allowed to troll. Moving a bass boat using the “trolling” motor is called strolling and popular with some bass anglers as it is legal in some tournaments. A controlled drift using the TM to stay with a certain depth range, is another form of strolling. Best method to learn how a crank bait works and what depth it can actually runs is troll it. I see lots of tournament anglers troll big swim baits! Tom

Your DNR probably had some left over fish and stocked them into the pond hoping locals would harvest them. Don’t over think this! Tom

That tells me it’s a spring feed pit lake and know one is keeping the small bass for food and it’s over populated with 2 years classes. Why the DNR stocked Walleye without a creek or stream feeding the lake is beyond me. Highway water runoff is full of chemicals that will eventually kill the bass in this pond if not diverted. Tom

The reason I ask what is the water source? helps to solve what type of pit lake you are fishing is. DNR’s do electro shock study to determine the fish population health and density. After the finding they usually post a slot limit or other recommendations. Did the Walleye and Perch show up in the study? Walleye have specific prey needs along with a water source to spawn. If this Pit lake is spring fed the Walleye my not survive. The fact they only found 1 adult LMB is disturbing. If the water source is a spring then it’s located in the deepest area, they stop digging after unearthing a spring. A spring also helps to break up thermocline developing in the Summer and prevents the pond from freezes solid in the winter. This time of year consider fishing at night. Tom

Sounds like the pond/lake is over populated with a year class of bass. What is the water source? Tom

If I know a tournament is on the same day I plan to fish that will switch to another lake that doesn’t have a tournament if possible. In our small local lakes the tournament boats get priority to be on the water 1st, don’t like that and the reason to switch lakes. Tom

PM your email and will send my Bass Behavior chart. Tom

Bass only active about 20% of the time during a 24 hour period, about 5 hours and inactive about the amount of time. The balance of 14 hours or so the transition between active and inactive in a neutral mood. Active bass are easier to catch with inactive bass nearly impossible and neutral bass are the fish we catch most often using slower lures like soft plastics. Bass are individuals but at times group to take advantage of prey a time period being called today a “ bite window “. The lakes I fish have short 20 minute active periods repeating throughout the day and night occurring about 3 to 4 apart. The bite windows happen about 6 times during the 24 hour period or 2 hours total of very active bass easy to catch. Timing can be very important to be at the right place at the right time, difference between a good day on the water vs a long tough day. Tom

Disk brakes don’t have shoes😎 Tom

I like to catch big bass and start my day off using my hair jigs regardless of the conditions knowing well my odds are very low. Force feeding bass our favorite lure rarely works out and waiting too long to adapt to what is obvious you may miss a good bite window. I can be slow to change hoping for that 1 bite. Hate the skunk so going to finesse to catch a few keepers saves the day. Why I didn’t do that hours earlier? It’s hard to put away a trusted friend and waiting for that 1 good bite. Tom

Garmin bought Navionics, Lowrance offers C-Map with Real for shaded contours. Lowrance, Garmin, Humming Bird all have detailed depth in 1’ increments. The good sonar units can make maps with current lake levels etc. Knowing the pool elevation you can change the maps automatically. Tom

Caught LMB everywhere I have fished across the country, Mexico and Canada. Some locations require adapting to the specific ecosystem the bass have chosen to locate. Most difficult for me is heavy cover because most of my experience is targeting bass in What is to normal cover that doesn’t require specialized tackle like heavy flipping/punching. Our CA delta has some extremely heavy cover and have some experience with catching bass in the Delta. When FLMB were 1st introduced we believed live bait was the best technique and adapted to using lures specifically for FLMB. Years of experience catching wary FLMB allowed me to catch NLMB, Spotted and Smallmouth bass everywhere else. It takes some time to figure out where the bass are located and what the bass are feeding on. When you figure out the location catching them is a matter of using a lure they will strike. Tom

Bathtymetric is outdated sounding method to map lake bottoms. Today’s 1’ sonar maps are far more accurate, however no map can keep up with bottom contour changes in man made reservoirs due to both man made changes and physical erosion. Tom

Update to 2025!

Southeastern division has #4 Albenarle Sound/ Pasqoutabk River/Roanoke River/ Chown River/ North River/ Alligator River, NC. #8. Jordon Lake, NC #11. Falls Lake, NC #15. High Rock, NC. #20. Lake Cartuge, NC.

No other MN lakes listed in the top 25 Central Div. Tom

That be yes Mille Lacs #3 Central and #8 nationally. Tom

#4 in the central division, behind #3=Mille Lacs. Lake MN

As always BM top 100 raises eyebrows! Top 10 1. Clear Lake, CA 2. O.H. ivie, Texas 3. Lake Fork, Texas 4. St Lawrence River, NY 5. Lake Casitas, CA 6. Orange Lake, FL 7. Santee Cooper, SC 8. Mille Lacs Lake, MN 9. Lake Erie, NY 10. Lake St. Clair, MI #5. lake Casitas is my home lake and has made a big recovery the past year and under the radar….until now! Tom

Don’t slip on the peel😎

I 2nd the cover plate, 1/8 thick aluminum cover plate with rounded off edges larger the area and simply use 6 a pop rivets or SST fast head self taping screws. I would use 3M 5200 sealant around the perimeter to seal out moisture or water. Tom