Good morning! The lake I want to catch on is a river damed up, Lake George in Lake County Indiana. I'm fairly confident in my fishing abilities and locating bass, but my knowledge on lakes and what makes them productive isn't as sharp. I'm a shore fisherman so I have to go off what I find online and what people tell me. The things I hear about this lake differ with everyone I talk to, but I think I've got it somewhat narrowed down.

 

Couple things I'm pretty sure are spot on 1) lake is filled with silt 2) very shallow, about six foot throughtout 3) almost void of vegatation except lily pads 4) water is almost always murky

 

My question or concern is should I keep trying various locations on this lake or am I just that unlucky that I can't snag one here. From my understanding when a lake is filled with silt and is void of good vegatation the fishing wanes.

 

Anyone have any insight on this situation? I would love to pull some hawgs from this lake, I know they are there but I am just going about it wrong or am out of step with something! So frustrating =)

lilly pads provide oxygen shade and a harder bottom. not to mention food. you should be fishing them.

Indeed! That's what I've been targeting heavly there is no shortage of them! I've worked a couple of little 'coves' very throughly with everything I've got at all times of day. These coves are covered in lily pads and I throw frogs over them punch through em with plastics and jigs work spinners through em all to no avail. It's a challange and I love challanges! But almost feel like there just aren't the numbers or bass in here to keep it up. I've caught zero bass here, warmouths slam my spinners and I've caught bluegills (albiet unlucky ones) on pop-r's. I've tried under the dam too but not as hard as the main lake. Do lakes ever get so bad that the bass population dwindles to tiny numbers? I'm not giving up yet I just want to catch a d**n bass from here! I fish the main two thirds up from the dam, the last third isn't really accessible.

Hollow body topwater frog through the lilly pads.

I would find somewhere else to fish.

Hollow body topwater frog through the lilly pads.

 

couldn't have said it any better FROGS FROGS FROGS FROGS

Lots of our lakes are shallow and silted in, usually comes with very turbid water also. A black chatterbait reeled just fast enough to make the blade work is what does the trick for me on these bodies of water.