Can a large body of water be effectivly fished from shore? Ive only fished small reservoirs (less than 100 acres), but I do have some larger bodies of water that Im curious to fish.

I understand the advantage of fishing smaller waters, such as the fact that the fish can only be ao far, unlike a large lake where they may be 20 miles down.

Thoughts?

effectively?

 

 

 

 

How far can you cast?

Typically I'd say no. One day this summer. I went out caught 3 all morning. Went back to the ramp to load the boat, and caught 4 off the ramp.

Just like fishing from a boat, when fishing from shore, you have to do your homework, and choose spots based on seasonal patterns, the structure, and cover present.  Spring and fall are two of your best bets for locating shallow bass, easily accessible from shore, irrespective of how big the lake is.

Just like fishing from a boat, when fishing from shore, you have to do your homework, and choose spots based on seasonal patterns, the structure, and cover present.  Spring and fall are two of your best bets for locating shallow bass, easily accessible from shore, irrespective of how big the lake is.

 

This is probably the best answer you're going to get.

Yes you can do extremely well from shore regardless how large the body of water is.What helps me is to study the lake on Google maps and look for areas where there are drop offs,change in vegetation,where it opens or narrows,color changes,etc.I look for areas where there is a large concentration of baitfish, since bass won't be far away.Study bass biology of your area as well to be better able to predict where they will be at a certain time of the year.

I am going to have to say yes you can and probably most of the time you can't. It really depends how much shore access you have. Unless you had access from shore to some spots that consistently hold fish and you would actually fish from a boat then your at the mercy of the fish. If they are not around or active you have no choice but to sit and wait for them to turn on or come around.

Look for places where a creek or river swings in close to the bank.

I would first establish the places you can get to the water.   Look at maps and find what cover/structure is in those areas.  The lakes around here are mostly very large with very little shore access.  There are certain times of year where fishing is good at some of those places.  You just have to do the leg work to determine when/where/why those places turn on.  That is usually easier said than done and can take a lot of time.

Riprap is a good place to fish , if you have good  balance and go slow. That stuff can be treacherous .

Is it a dammed river that's used for water power? Look for larger areas of backwashes. Fish those. Look for points.

Get a hummingbird portable cast out fish finder. I use a cheap used rod n reel with braided like to cast the fish finder pod out. No fish finder? No problem. Cast out a topwater popper, a spook, shallow crankbaits, inline spinnerbait, inline spinner, a jig till up get action.

Even a black 6" rubber creme worm split shot rigged will work.

As long as you have confidence in yourself and the bass fishing skills nothing can stop you.

Just like fishing from a boat, when fishing from shore, you have to do your homework, and choose spots based on seasonal patterns, the structure, and cover present. Spring and fall are two of your best bets for locating shallow bass, easily accessible from shore, irrespective of how big the lake is.

This ...

I haven't figured out how to fish my small 1200 acre lakes effectively! There are only a couple ramps per lake, a couple roads or bridge crossings, and steep bushy hills everywhere. Its pretty darn frustrating without a boat. Better off to fish the smaller bodies of water.

Can a large body of water be effectivly fished from shore? Ive only fished small reservoirs (less than 100 acres), but I do have some larger bodies of water that Im curious to fish.

I understand the advantage of fishing smaller waters, such as the fact that the fish can only be ao far, unlike a large lake where they may be 20 miles down.

Thoughts?

 

Yes it can be fished effectively from shore, specially man made lakes. The better part of my life I fished from the shore, now I have a "boat" ( if you can call a 12 ft tub a boat ) and even though I have a boat I still fish half of the time from shore. It´s more a mental thing, btw, I´ve caught several big mommas while fishing from shore.

Why not most boaters are casting to shore lol

You can, but it will take a lot longer to figure out what is under the surface.  You can walk around a small pond 2 to 3 acres, and pretty much figure out where the cover and structure is located.  You can't do that on a reservoir.