I have fished the Central PA rivers for many years.  I would like to start fishing some local lakes but I know nothing about it.  What do you feel the differences are between fishing lakes and the river?  Lure selection, lure presentation, edges or middle, depth, etc.  One thing I can say is that the lakes have largemouth and the rivers do not.

 

Based off my river fishing experience (I am very average skill level) I would fish the edge of lake with pretty much any lure I want (I generally use spinnerbaits, topwaters, a couple cranks, and just started using senko).  With river fishing the edges I am pretty much near the bottom at all time, so I guess I would try to keep my lure near the bottom of a lake as well.

 

Any tips here or comments/suggestions on my current thought process?

Totally different animals man in terms of presentation imo. I have always prefered faster retrieves in rivers and i tend to pay a lot attention to currents, breaks, eddys, and rock structure

I lakes i slow it down some and prefer more bottom contact baits however i usually have my usual assortment of spinnerbaits, cranks, and topwater on deck as well

In a nutshell the priciples remain similar when it comes to bait and color selection and if you can find moving water on a lake you would be wise to fish it thouroghly!

The main difference is current, the most important variable in river fishing. A second aspect is

structure verses cover. Lakes have both and to some extent rivers do, too. However, on the rivers

I fish it is ALL about structure.

Rivers have constant flow of moving water or current that the smallmouth bass you are used to catching use to their advantage bring prey to them. River bass face into current and most rivers do not have thermoclines.

Reseviors are rivers with a dam that created a lake or can be a natural lake, not man made, both are very different. Most lake have very little current or moving water unless it is a power generation lake. Bass in lakes can be nearly anywhere and can face in whatever direction that gives them a advantage to catch prey. Lake water tends to stratify into thermal layers and develop thermoclines, bass rarely go deeper than the thermocline.

Locating bass, largemouth or smallmouth takes time to learn and is far more important then lure selection.

Welcome to the world of bass fishing in lakes.

Tom

The main difference is current, the most important variable in river fishing. A second aspect is

structure verses cover. Lakes have both and to some extent rivers do, too. However, on the rivers

I fish it is ALL about structure.

I am a river rat and it is all about current and things they hide behind. When I fish lakes, I find myself looking for anything that provides current. Once that water is moving a little it supercharges fish into being more active.