Same lakes produce in the same places during the same time of year but we're talking smaller lakes.

Just yesterday myself and my fishing partner fished a very familiar lake and we had to laugh.

We had a total of 9 rods & reels and only used 2.

Fished the same section of lake using the same baits and were well entertained like the many previous times before.

 

Last week was totally different.

Fished a 20,000 acre lake that I've never fished before and took 3 days before I figured out a consistent pattern.

Good question! 

 

I'm about 50/50. I'll always, always try something new... but when that inevitably doesn't work, I'll go back to tried and true. 

I keep an open mind .  I like to dabble with something new or a new place but wont commit to it  unless its productive.

Tried and true with stuff I know works but also exploring is fun. For example:

 

My home lake is 350 acres man made and shallow with an average depth of 5 to 7 feet. With the deepest being 13ft by the dam. There's a bunch of submerged weed beds mixed with flooded timber offshore i've recently been fishing. With the help of my Garmin Echomap i've been able to get on some fish. My usual approach on this lake is to just fish the back coves and pockets where all the homeowners have docks and pontoons. This pattern works pretty well in early to mid summer but once the fall transition starts (now) the fish are on the move and I struggled fishing those spots. So i've been exploring more and have had great results! 

I'm just like the original poster.  80% of the time I'm throwing comfort baits I have confidence in.  I know these baits will catch them anywhere, any season.  The reason I know that, I've been doing this 5 days a week, for over 50 years.  My comfort baits are a variety of plastics, rigged several different ways, and presented  various ways. 

The other 20% of the time I will throw a top water, crankbait, or jig.  These baits I find fun to throw and work, but I would not consider any of these my comfort baits.  My catch rate with these baits, is not at the level of my comfort baits.  I am for the most part, a methodical fisherman, targeting spots hard to hit, and overlooked by many.  It has become a game of darts for me most of the day!