Okay, I have a new private 16 acre lake I am blessed to get to fish. I even set my personal best last week in it with a 7.63 lber. I know the edges are pretty straightforward, fishing lay downs and vegetation and the shadow line. My question is this, how do I go about learning the rest of the lake?  I don’t have electronics but the majority of the lake is out in the middle with no visible structure. Are there any tricks to find bass out there?  The depth only gets to like 12 feet and the water is very stained. Are there any lures I should throw to cover lots of water and find structure or other spots holding fish?  Thanks for any advice. 

For clarification I’m not really talking about which lures to catch fish but rather techniques to learn the area quickly. For example I was thinking that maybe I could run a Rat-L-trap quickly with its treble hooks and that would let me find any structure out there. The obvious problem is that it could get pricey quickly if I can’t get them loose. I thought about a weedless jig to feel structure but that would be a really slow process. Anyway, thoughts are appreciated. 

Carolina rig is the standard old time lure for making a mental picture of the bottom. A carolina rig with braided mainline makes for the best feel.

 

Honestly, I can't feel much with a trap. But a trap is good for snagging vegetation, which will give you some clues.

 

Google Earth would be beneficial for you, as you can see low water ears and help you to see some structure that you otherwise wouldn't. I use it for all the waters I fish from farm ponds to lakes.

 

 

Like bazoo said, Google earth desktop will let you view historical images so you can look for low water years and maybe catch a glimpse.

 

If the idea is the learn the lake quickly maybe take the hooks off a lipless and drag that. You can move it quickly and feel ton find any type of structure/cover.

 

Either get omnia pro or something to drop way points, or I think you can drop a pin and save as favorite in your maps app.

With only 16 acres, you'll learn it quickly by simply fishing it.

 

When I guide people on my pond (170 acres) and my pal's pond (360 acres) and they're sitting in the bow, I can aim them at a fish-holding spot and tell them, "Cast there and you should catch one."

 

I don't always know why this spot and that hold bass because I also lack electronics, but I do know there's something about this spot and that that attract bass. You'll soon know that too by simply fishing. 

You can read the shoreline. Look at any points or cuts in the contour of the shoreline. These areas can sometimes tell you what's in deeper water nearby.

check google maps.  On the current mapping you should be able to see if there is anything interesting from the aerial view.  If you look into historical views you might find one when the lake was very low that shows more.

 

A carolina rig with a tungsten weight on braid will transmit every fiber of grass or grain of sand on the bottom.  And you're also fishing at the same time.  It doesn't have to be slow either.  Drag it 3' and let it sit for 10 seconds.  Repeat.  You'll cover the whole pond pretty quickly at 16 acres.

Talk to the owner of the pond would be my 1st suggestion.

What type of terrain is the pond located at? Unless the pond was dredged out the bottom should be the same as the surrounding area.

Does this pond have a dam? If it does start you bottom contact C-rig there.

Tom

Not that I fish a lot of places like this, but I like to start with a good old fashioned spinnerbait for this type of water. You can cover a lot of water from top to bottom (in a lake that's only 12 feet deep), bass can find them in stained water due to lots of flash and vibration, they're pretty good going through cover, and relatively unpressured bass seem to like 'em.