There are trout, crappie, cats, bass and carp in this lake. The lake is at 6% of its capacity, 47-49* and a clear day. I went out this weekend and found LOTS of fish coming up from the bottom and swimming in many directions. There were also tons of carp visible on the surface...so, I "think" most of these fish on the FF were the carp scattering as I went over them as they seem to do that visibly near the suface as well.  I also saw some fish stacked on top of each other on the bottom or suspended near the bottom, These fish did not swim away, but some would come up to the depth of my lure as if to have a look. So, the question I have is were the stacked fish most likely the bass? I tried to jig them with plastics on the bottom, jig with spoon, drop shot and live minnows. No takers.

Baitfish appear as wispy clouds, panfish are often stacked like Pringles, while game fish

are usually more laterally distributed. In any case, nothing is carved in stone,

for instance, bass in reservoirs often form towering schools during the winter.

 

I've spent lots of time peering into electronics over both freshwater and saltwater, but still cannot identify fish species

based on markings alone. I've been in the boats of friends who spent their day chasing fish markings

hither & yon, which can become an obsession with a low return. My best advice is to use your scanner/sonar

to analyze contour & cover, and you'll likely encounter game fish that never marked on your depth sounder,

more especially in shallow water. 

 

Roger