I was hoping you guys could help me understand points a little better. I have a 400 acre lake that is close to me that has what I would call 6 main lake points 4 of which I can actually hit from the bank. I am wondering what you look for when trying to decide which point to hit? Being on the bank what should I look for on the bank to help me decide which one to hit or not? Just by looking at google maps I have a pretty good feel for which ones run shallower for longer oppose to ones that drop off to deeper water quicker. Which ones would be better to hit from the bank, the shorter distance to deep water or the longer to deep water? Is hitting points a first light type of spot or would it be a good spot to hit after the fish move from the shallows in the morning? From the bank I pretty much have to work the deeper sides of the point as I can not reach the deep water at the tip of the point. Should I work it from deeper water to shallow or shallow to deeper? Any other info on points that I may have left out would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks for your time. 

4 points on a 400 acre lake? Hit them all, with emphasis on seasonal strategies. Be aware that a particular spot may be better than another on any given day based on something tangible like wind, cloud cover, runoffs, etc, as well as just because the fish feel like it. If its a local lake that you fish often, you'll start to figure things out. On strange water, I like to move around until I find some active fish. I like long sloping points early and late when you can target cruising fish coming up shallow chasing baitfish. Another good thing to do is to check the shallower areas during the early season for evidence of nests, chances are those fish will stage near by during the season. Finally, a 2 or 3 oz bank sinker on a flipping stick or the like makes for a good way to check depth and bottom composition, you can even pseudo drop shot with it if you want to fish at the same time, but I find that just distracts me from the task at hand..

I always try to keep the sun behind me when fishing from land whenever possible and try not to cast a shadow on the water. I have  fished a lot of canals and do it early morning or evening and the sun behind you makes it hard for the fish to see you.

 

Post a topo map of the small lake so we can evaluate the contours.

In general the longer points that drops off into a channel are the first choice.

What separates a good point from the others is it's contour, the best usually have a saddle and isolated structural features like undercut rock, clay to rocky transitions etc.

You don't have a lot of choices fishing from the bank. I often start my approach to major points, fishing out of my boat,  close to shore by casting to the far side of base about 90' and work up and over the shallow water area. Next I cast to the ridge or top of the point fan casting about 10' apart working down hill and side hill. Last is moving about 10' from the base and casting out to the deepest areas and work back up hill. Do this on both sides of a point. With a boat it possible to work all away around a point from several angles and meter the area....can't do that from shore.

Tom

 

This is the only topo that I have found of the lake. It is not filled in on the navionics site unfortunately. The main points that I am looking at is on the east side. Thanks for the help guys. 

East being the right side the legend is shown on?

This is a 5' evelation map and good enough to get some idea what the topography is like.

The creek channel runs mostly along the steep east bank, the left/west side being a more gradual slope. The major point on this lake is at middle about half way down from the dam separating the main lake basin from the largest arm. The main lake points are closer to the dam, the first point on the right side near the dam is mostly underwater and looks good, creating a small bay followed by another main lake point that also looks good. The two main lake points that create the second small bay followed by a steep bank that transitions into the largest bay and major lake point.

All the areas on the right side that are 20-35' depths are good cold water locations and summer to fall. The left or west side being more productive pre spawn to spawn areas, the middle major point looking like a good staging area for the largest bay. 

The last bay shown on the left side has a hump off the end of what I would call a primary secondary point and spawning bay, check that area out.

Tom

Tom thank you for the reply. The big main lake point there on the east side and the one straight across from it to the right are the main two that I was talking about hitting as those are the ones that I can actually get to on the bank. The one that is right up on the dam on the east side is a cliff with no way to get down to it. In the back of the big arm with the main lake point is where I cleaned up on the smallies and largemouth last fall. I also seen some areas back there that that had beds.

There is one more spot that is interests me. On the west side of the lake there is a point right up by the dam and it is all chunk rock that drops off to 20-30 ft deep. I am thinking that may be a good spot to hit as well. 

Thank you for giving me some ideas of how to attack it. 

On February 19, 2016 at 8:58 AM, Florida Cracker2 said:

I always try to keep the sun behind me when fishing from land whenever possible and try not to cast a shadow on the water. I have  fished a lot of canals and do it early morning or evening and the sun behind you makes it hard for the fish to see you.

 

I was always told to fish with the sun in your face for that purpose bc with it behind you it casts your shadow.  But i guess if your mainly fishing the morning and evening it's not so important

53 minutes ago, Flippin4Biggins said:

I was always told to fish with the sun in your face for that purpose bc with it behind you it casts your shadow.  But i guess if your mainly fishing the morning and evening it's not so important

this is an interesting point of contention in many circles.  I read an old fly fishing book from the 20's that had a chapter about this.  I was always under the impression that cloudy overcast days were better because, well, that is what everyone told me.  His take was that super sunny days were better for fishing in clear water as long as you didn't spook them.  His thinking was hold a fly up in the air directly into the sun and see what details you can see and do the same on an overcast day.  With the sun high in the sky and singing down pretty much all detail is lost and there really is only a silhouette visible as opposed to the cloudy day view where you can see the thread wraps on the flies.  I then tracked my fishing for the next few months and sure enough, i did better on dry flies in the sun as opposed to cloudy days....

 

just some food for thought...

2 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

this is an interesting point of contention in many circles.  I read an old fly fishing book from the 20's that had a chapter about this.  I was always under the impression that cloudy overcast days were better because, well, that is what everyone told me.  His take was that super sunny days were better for fishing in clear water as long as you didn't spook them.  His thinking was hold a fly up in the air directly into the sun and see what details you can see and do the same on an overcast day.  With the sun high in the sky and singing down pretty much all detail is lost and there really is only a silhouette visible as opposed to the cloudy day view where you can see the thread wraps on the flies.  I then tracked my fishing for the next few months and sure enough, i did better on dry flies in the sun as opposed to cloudy days....

 

just some food for thought...

And that is.... I'm no pro obviously just what I was always told growing up.

Well this dumb Cajun sees more than 6!

I do however like the 2 you're talking about

Don't know why but something says Carolina Rig!

What kind of access ya got?

I am bank bound so the ones I am looking at is at least in walking distance and for the most part fishable with out to much fighting through trees to get there. 

A. Quite a bit of a walk. Big chunk rock that drops off pretty quick. Right by the dam. 

B. Not to bad of a walk. The bank is about 6ft above the water. It would be tough to fish effectively. 

C. Pull up to the point. Very shallow sandy area. To the left of the point is boat docks that can not be fished from the bank. To the right of the point is shallow sandy flat. 

D. Never been over there so can't really tell you but looks very hard to get to when I am out there and looks even harder on the maps. 

E. Little bit of a walk but doable. There is a little bit of a drop of from bank to water but it is fishable. 

F. Pull right down to the point. Very fishable. Never fished it so do not know anything about it. 

I am open to all suggestions if you see something that i am missing. I am really a rookie when it comes to bass fishing and looking for any and all info and it is greatly appreciated. 

I would concentrate my efforts on E/F on the cove in between.

Have you studied satellite imagery?

Yes i have looked over the satellite imagery quite a bit. Any body of water that I hunt or fish usually gets google earthed. On google earth you can go back to like 25 years ago on the images. I will look for when the water was low and try to find holes and drop offs and such. 

Just curious as to why you chose those two points and that cove? What makes them more appealing than any of the others? 

1 hour ago, aj88kc said:

Just curious as to why you chose those two points and that cove? What makes them more appealing than any of the others? 

I have access to every depth of water available & the cove appears to be some what protected.

I'm not looking far an area to fish for one season but a year round area.

If I were fishing in a boat that would be an area I would target.

I'd agree with the three points/coves on the south side.  When bass start to move into the shallows to spawn though in early spring, maybe fish more away from the dam where there will be more shallow stretches and I'm assuming a non-rocky bottom.

On 2/26/2016 at 9:29 PM, aj88kc said:

I am bank bound so the ones I am looking at is at least in walking distance and for the most part fishable with out to much fighting through trees to get there. 

A. Quite a bit of a walk. Big chunk rock that drops off pretty quick. Right by the dam. 

B. Not to bad of a walk. The bank is about 6ft above the water. It would be tough to fish effectively. 

C. Pull up to the point. Very shallow sandy area. To the left of the point is boat docks that can not be fished from the bank. To the right of the point is shallow sandy flat. 

D. Never been over there so can't really tell you but looks very hard to get to when I am out there and looks even harder on the maps. 

E. Little bit of a walk but doable. There is a little bit of a drop of from bank to water but it is fishable. 

F. Pull right down to the point. Very fishable. Never fished it so do not know anything about it. 

I am open to all suggestions if you see something that i am missing. I am really a rookie when it comes to bass fishing and looking for any and all info and it is greatly appreciated. 

Given your options I would be fishing point A. It has instant access to deeper water and will probably hold fish for longer throughout the year than some of the others that are more locked by shallower water. 

Plus it's adjacent to that riffraff next to the dam which will concentrate feeding fish. P

Probably the only time I'd imagine really struggling there is during the peak of spawn.

My second choice would definitely be C.

 

Heres my point fishing from bank advice . Get a lot of sinking lures . T-tigs , Spinnerbaits , lipless cranks , soft plastic swimbaits... Make long cast out on the point and around the edges . Let bait hit the bottom . Retrieve by following the contour shallow . T-rigs are usually hopped , the other lures can be hopped or swam . Sometimes I'll reel a lure in for about ten foot then kill it . You get a lot of hits when you stop it and it also will sink to regain contact with the bottom . Of course there are other ways to fish but this is how I do it most of the time .

Thanks a bunch for all of the help guys. I really appreciate it. 

As a primary pond hopper and bank fisher I can tell you some about baits to use.  Unless I can see for myself water clarity and Forge and other key factors I can't really pinpoint the best spots but for me here in North Louisiana,  I always use a 8-10 in grape twirl tail worm or a smaller spinner bait.  I like the strike king bleeding baits or single blade terminator.  I do use the larger sartruse and white war eagle spinners. Spinners work well from the bank due to the vibrations they put off that appeal greatly to the fishes lateral line.  The flash near cover also creates a nice chance for a reaction strike. You can fish it low or high  in the thermocline and it's just versatile. As for the grape worm, I mean... It just triggers the big bites around cover like nobody's business. Color doesn't have to be grape but around my bodies of water,  grape works good