Yesterday was a day of prospecting.

Some might wonder why, when I'd been catching plenty of fish which averaged about two pounds per.

It's a small pond, and I've covered the rocky shoreline pretty well, or so I thought.

I know where the bottom is clean and rocky, suitable for dragging lures across it.  I know where it is rocky, but is covered by a layer of filamentous algae, making it impossible to touch down on the bottom.  Even stuff rigged weedless will gather the gunk at the knot or any bump including the leading edge of the bait.

Haven't run the sounder in weeks, so yesterday I turned it on, and found a rocky patch in six to six and a half feet of water that I did not know existed.  

The shelf adjacent to it has been very productive this year.  

As I was drifting slowly at the bottom of the dropoff, I glanced at the sounder, and it was marking broken bottom.

I haven't seen the term used in fishing articles, but it is a term we lobstermen used to describe irregular patches in the middle of an otherwise smooth and featureless bottom.

I searched its perimeters using the trolling motor, then positioned myself to cast along its length.

Bang, bang, bang, three nice bass on three casts.

The first on the drop, and the other two during the retrieve on a ShakE2 jig head with a four inch SK finesse worm rigged weedless.

Found one other piece of interesting bottom that produced nothing yesterday, but I'm sure it will.

No matter how well you know your local waters, there are always surprises lurking at the bottom.

Good post. So true.

    Sonar and Side Imagining is a God send!!!!!!!!!!!!!!