My local lake has weeded flats around 40% of the shoreline, a few points that drop to 13', two humps surrounded by 8' and average depth of only 8'. It's an oblong lake - 2 miles from north to south and 1.5 miles east to west. Once the spawn is over and fishing pressure increases in spring, the fish hide and are tough to get during the day from July to mid August. Being that it is a shallow, basically flat-bottom lake with no channels, steep drops or steps, by comparison are mountain lakes or any lakes with depths 30 or more feet more productive because of the varied structure and greater depth?

 

I don't think so.  I think each lake offers its own set of challenges and to think that one is "easier" than the other is misleading.  Bowl shaped farm ponds, + or - 5 acres or so are an exception.

 

I'd say to start with basic Buck Perry principles, i.e. "the fish are deep, or shallow, or somewhere in between.   At that point you apply In-Fisherman seasonal patterns (described in detail at the In-Fisherman web site.  This gives you the place to start.  Then start fishing, change or adapt whenever you feel like it. 

 

Speaking as one who gets on Ozark Highland type reservoirs only a few times per year, I don't think that they are that easy to figure out.  Right next door to the classic Ozark Highland reservoir - Lake of the Ozarks, is 80,000 acres of flooded forest, i.e. Truman Lake.  I don't think that Truman Lake is any easier, and it frequently doesn't have much vegetation to speak of.

 

Week in and week out I fish several smaller conservation department lakes.   One, I think that these lakes are a little easier to fish because they are smaller.   For me it is easier to wrap my mind around 300 or so acres as opposed to 30,000 acres or more.

 

Secondly, these lakes all have distinct weed lines and post spawn through early fall I think  a weed line is a good place to start.

The problem with the lowland lake I mentioned has a problem of too little deeper vegetation because of the weed eating carp stocked a few years ago. If they aren't shallow (which is the case post spawn) then they are deep but there is no weed line to fish anymore. The large lowland reservoir lakes are always easy to figure out, but many have so much structure and cover  types  to chose from, you can't but help to get more than a limit. The higher elevation lakes in the mountains are also part of the reservoir system but there are far more rocky bottoms and drops than weed beds. They are tough to fish and are known mostly for large lake trout.

 

Greenwood Lake, (NY/NJ) border lake, is many miles long, fished heavily by clubs and very tough to fish post spawn. One main reason is that the home owners destroy every bit of weeds near there properties in spring after the spawn and like my like local lake (the first one mentioned), weedlines that used to be one of the most dependable cover to take fish out of are gone most of the year. This lake has large shallow flats but also depths of over 40' in the channel.

 

It's a mystery.

Well since I have grown up and only fish highland reservoirs 99% of the time I'm going to say they are easier to fish not saying I couldn't do it but I would be lost on a big flat lake with no contours and lots of grass.

My home lake is similar to the one you described Senkosam.  It went from being weed choked last spring because of a mild winter, to totally weed free from mid-June until late

august.  There is really no 'deep' water or structure changes and the shoreline cover is limited to felled trees and chunk rock lining the shore.  Bottom transitions are a big key as are gradual depth changes.  When the weeds are up, these areas are easier to find, so under those conditions, IMO, this type of lake is easier. On the other hand, deep impoundments like Table Rock can produce good numbers once the fish are located, but because of the many different structures and the depth you find them in, location becomes a difficult and often time comsuming task.

If your strength is fishing Senko type baits, your local lake is the type you should target.  If it were cranking, the opposite would be true.  It's like comparing fruit to vegetables. I'll target the shallower waters with fish scattered vs. the deeper ones where fish tend to concentrate and school because I know the chances of getting skunked are less on those waters.

The first consideration should be the food source (prey type) the bass are targeting seasonally., then take into the waterways depth, cover and structure elements. The lake structure has not changed unless the water level changes dramatically and that can happen on impoundments where flood control or power generation is the reservoirs primary function. Drought periods also affect water levels.

The weed or grass cover is changing and often does from both water level change and introduction of new species of aquatic vegetation, zebra or quagga mussels and grass carp in your lake. The real danger to the bass population is loss of nursery areas for both the bass and prey fish. If the lake prey is predominately dermesal that live in and around shoreline.

Deep structured lakes have more variety of structure elements and usually both dermesal and pelagic baitfish.

Regardless how deep a lake is it can be subjected to thermal layers, the upper layer being the thermocline during the warmer water periods.

Solve the bass location mystery by determining where the prey source is, the bass will be close to their food source.

Remember bass are sight feeders and can see better then their prey and this fact is a big advantage during low light periods.

Tom