Hey everyone,

I just recently bought a boat and motor, so I’ve been fishing my local lake.  Lake Cooley.  I cannot seem to find any fish.  I may catch one or two small bass on a good day, if I’m lucky.  I can never catch fish with moving baits.  Texas rigged Worms and flukes seem to work the best.  

 I’ve heard to fish the points of this lake.  I made a map with some ideas of where to start.  Can anyone give some tips on how I should fish these points or if I’m even doing this right?

 

Thanks!

https://www.gpsnauticalcharts.com/main/us_aa_sc_lake_cooley_sc-lake-cooley-nautical-chart.html

 

https://imgur.com/a/IpRvJCq

It's not only points but many other factors to consider. Best advice that I can give you is to look at the "best of bass resource" articles in the General Fishing Forum. There's tons of articles in there that cover just about everything you might need. Arm yourself with the tools, then slowly acquire the knowledge, then go get 'em! Best of luck to ya!

Any local tackle shops? If so, stop in and ask if they can give you any pointers.

 

Are you guys still in the spawn up there in SC? I'd try hitting the backs of some of those shallow coves.

 

2 hours ago, NavyToad said:

Any local tackle shops? If so, stop in and ask if they can give you any pointers.

 

This...its amazing what kind of info you can get in a tackle shop...especially if you buy a bait or two. Its in their best interest to point you towards fish so you want to come back.

Cooley has lousy fishing period. Cunningham and Robinson aren't much better. Some people say Lyman is OK.

 

Your best bets in that region ore going to be Keowee, Wateree, Murray, and Hartwell.

I've never fished Cooley, but being a small lake I'm sure the bass gets lots of pressure. They've probably seen every lure known to bass kind. 

Try something different from everyone else. I fish Bowen alot and it gets tons of pressure but I still manage to catch them by throwing something different. Just give the fish they dont see all the time.

How many hours do you fish. Maybe you missed the times they were biting.when I go it's at least 8 hours.

I fished for several hours yesterday post frontal conditions and I could not catch anything to brag about. Caught four small Smallies on Ned rig after all else failed. If you have not Ned Rig fished may I suggest you try. I've never caught size using the Ned but I've caught numbers and it is very easy to learn. And if the Bass are not willing, the Bluegill will keep you awake!

Definitely agree with the advice of checking out the best of articles. There's a certain learning curve between learning about bass fishing and hearing someone say "fish the points" and actually having an idea of what that looks like in a real life application, and everybody goes through that growing pain sooner or later if they get into fishing. Struggling is really the normal situation and that's because your doing it right. Ignore the seemingly simple and rapid success that a lot of YouTube folks show, where you watch a 10 or 15 minute video and see them landing fish after fish, that will not be how it works for you for a very long time, and even then it'll probably only happen reliably on your home lake IF you fish almost every day and keep up on what your fish are doing. You will eventually learn what shortcuts you can take where to solve the puzzle, but until then, the very best thing you can do for yourself is to get out there and try new things, failure is ok, because it's giving you a list of things not to do.

On 5/9/2022 at 9:32 PM, Koz said:

Your best bets in that region ore going to be Keowee, Wateree, Murray, and Hartwell.

Sounds like a law firm! 

Detailed .5 foot map, interesting structure elements.

The structure I am interested in are the random deep pockets and cup shaped breaks at the 8’ to 9’ main lake and bays.

Dam area opposite side there is a “fish tail” shape creek Shoreline Heights rd for reference. Right side of this creek arm has 2 deeper holes next the bank and 3 underwater pockets creating rounded underwater points on a otherwise straight shoreline.

I would jig fish the deep breaks and worm around the 5’- 8’ nearby areas.

The Hill Crest PT also has similar structure feature in the north side of the PT.

Andre dr area there is a deep straight wall that looks man made? Check that out.

This is my quick look and suggestions.

Tom

On 6/6/2022 at 5:07 AM, BrianMDTX said:

Sounds like a law firm! 

Dewey Cheetum and Howell.