Hi I'm the new guy I guess.  I commonly fish a local lake here in Augusta, KS.  It's man made, I'd say about 60 acres, has one riprap point, a creek channel, and lot's of donated christmas trees dumped everywhere ???  The "community" thought that was what the lake needed for "cover."  But essentially all they did was create nasty lure stealers for all the bass fisherman who would like some natural structure and some open water.  Anyway, this place eats anything with treble hooks, such as Rat-L-Traps and crankbaits.  Any good locating ideas for bass?  So far my only luck is on the riprap point and right in front of the spillway using a Culprit fire and ice 6" worm t-rigged. :'(  Also I'm fishing from shore for now.  

This time of year I would be fishing all the deeper brush I could find with some kind of plastic bait.Day or night.

ya fish deep and try to find some stuff u dont think the fish have seen

Deep water with various plastics.

Have you tried topwater? That's something I'd certainly want to try during low light periods over those Christmas trees and other cover.

Welcome to the forum.

Jig and pig not only will it come thru brush but you will pick up better fish

One thing I always do if I go to a new lake that gets alot of action is to ask where the local tackleshop is. Then I go there to get a few things, while I'm there, I'll ask the owner/clerk/manager, whoever, what the hot lure is at the time. Then use/buy the farthest thing from it I can find! This is because if he's telling that to everyone then they are probably being done to death out there and the big'uns are just watching them go by while they laugh. Show 'em something different, and chances are, they won't be able to resist it.

Thanks for all the ideas guys.  Wow, this seems like a great board with lots of feedback.  I struck out again last night on this lake, but I think most of it is probably the cool front/ rain that came through.  Very unseasonal.  Not to mention the fact that I'm still bank fishing for now, which is not much fun when there are only a few clearings where you can even attempt a cast.  Hopefully the warm front that's here now will help me turn it around.  This is like 3 nights in a row of getting skunked.  I'll figure it out in time, especially with all my new brains to bounce ideas off of, and get some new ones.  Thanks again everyone!

Welcome fellow Kansan.

Try texas rigging some 4" tubes with a 1/8 oz bullet weight around the christmas trees. Also try fishing the riprap point with a jig with a twin tail grub trailer. try a spinnerbait around those trees too. start the retrieve as soon as it hits the water so it stays fairly close to the shore and it wont snag very easily. In the early morning or late evening try some buzzbaits or Rebel Pop-R's.

Also i would recomend getting yourself a small jon boat with a trolling motor. you wont be able to fish the entire lake with it, but you can get away from the shore and fish the deeper water cover and structure.

now go bring in that big one and dont forget we all want pics of it on here when you do

Im with Marty topwater during low light periods if that doesnt work try a floating worm hooked weedless/texas rigged Lightest wire you can get away with for your hook l/0 to 2/0 6 to 8  inch owrm and let it go right aournd the tops sides and into the bottom of h=those sunken trees Hold on tight this is my favorite way of fishin worms and it works

wow, thanks guys...all really good ideas.  I like that tubes are coming back again.  I used to catch a lot of fish on them.  Maybe not always hogs, but a good quantity of fish.

when u fish on the lake during those nights try finding those x-mas trees by casting ur worm out and draggin it on the bottom, and when u find em try fishing a black/blue/purple buzzbait over them vary ur retrieves and see what they want, that works for me when fishin gets tough ;D

Hey Playmaker.  I like your idea but are you putting the bullet weight in front of the tube or up inside it like some guys do?  Also do you reccomend the same popular colors as with worms?  Green Pumpkin and Watermelon and such?

I use it outside of the tube and i peg it with a rubberband so it stays close to the tube and gets the tube down deeper. to peg it just tie the rubberband in 2 overhand knots on the line right above the sinker. it works great and is more line friendly than pegging with a toothpick.

as for colors i like Black Neon/Red Flake as my #1 color. 2nd is Watermellon Red.  i dont use green pumpkin all that much because it is almost the exact same color as the water alot of times.

Are you sure that there's a viable population of bass in there? If there is I think I would try the buzzbait at night over the tops of them if you can reach them from shore. On dark lakes, I really like the fire and ice Culprit color, too.

Yes there are a good number of bass on this lake.  Not really abundant but good enough to fish in.  I've caught good numbers of decent fish in spring...just not doing too good lately that's all.  Tried the buzzbait this morning and caught one decent one (2lbs.) in about 1 hour of fishing two spots.

Hey fireandice, you must be talking about the Augusta city lake! I fish it a lot, and grew up fishing it. The fish right now are only one place: in the weeds along the shoreline. Whether you fish out of a small boat or from shore, get you a long pole (8') with some 10-12 # line, put a 2-3" plastic on (watermelon works good) Tex rigged, and flip it into the little pockets in the weeds along the shoreline. Let me know if you want some company sometime.

WAHOO!! Another Kansas Bass Fisherman. there used to only be a few of us on here but the population is growing.

welcome bentonbass