Is it possible to look at a form of cover and determine exactly where the bigger fish are going to be? How do you determine the high percentage places? How do you eliminate cover?

It seems like the generic reply would be edges and transition, I watch guys beating the bank all day long. But to catch bigger bass, here's my take: Cover attracts bait fish because (1) there's food, bugs, worms, smaller fish, etc. and (2) shelter, protection or a place to hide. Larger fish occasionally cruise the cover and we catch them and think that's where they live. But generally we catch small and medium size bass because the big girls are staging further out, off the cover and on or near some structure in deeper water. So...I'm looking for the ledge, submerged timber, boulders or hole out a little further. I'm working the theory that big fish want a bigger meal or at least and easier one. The smaller fish injure lots of bait fish and scare the hell out of the rest causing them to become disorientated. That's when opportunity knocks and that's why I catch bigger fish in deeper water.

Do a lot of motor work traveling back and forth looking for balls of shad.  They help determine where to fish.  Without them, I would have to try lots of places trial and error until I unlocked a depth, type of rock, transition zone, rock pile or some other structure that held the fish. Eliminate as many places as quickly as possible with deep cranks if feasible depthwise, jigs, C-rig, spoons or dropshot.  In an Ozark impoundment, I would try to eliminate either pole timber or cedars, smooth gravel bottoms as opposed to larger chunk rock, secondary points as opposed to cove banks, windy vs. calm. 15 as opposed to 25 feet, or 25 vs. 40 feet. Fish these opposites will help one tune in on the fish.  Also, check to see where the mojority of boats are positioned for a good starting point.

The way I eliminate cover is to cover water and fish until you can get something going and expand. I start by figuring out what the fish should be doing and test out areas where they should be. A big fish, small fish, or no fish help point you in the right direction. Its just basic pattern fishing. One of the ways i eliminate most cover is depth. What depth is the cover in and is it deeper then the surrounding area. Have you ever noticed that on a given lake there are just a few places that hold fish no matter what. Granted most of the body of water has fish but you can pull into certain areas and always pick off a fish or the place is known to hold better fish? Mostly its because of a depth change or something unique to that spot. High percentage places is a place that is unique. Its a cover or depth change that is different from the surrounding stuff that will hold the largest fish in the area. It could be a stump field and the stumps along the edge next to the deeper water would be unique. It could be an island of trees and the unique tree would be the one that is bigger than the surrounding trees or the one sitting a little deeper. Larger bass will take up the best feature. You can break down cover by taking a second and asking yourself if i was a fish where would i be and is it unique enough to cover most of my needs. Its not a science but it helps me out.

I'll back RoadWarrior on this. Edges, transitions and junctions between two different types of cover are where I key on much of the time.

Ok seems to me like the main question was where are the big fish?  I think there are 2 places big fish can be found.

1. Ambush points they can keep to themselves.  Ever notice quality fish are usually alone in times like summer?  Even on a flat you usually run a C rig across a stump thats in the middle of the flat and catch a 5 pounder then cant catch anything over 2 when you start cranking a huge brushpile you marked.  So my basic FIRST answer is lone areas that are positioned best for ambush.  A stump that they can refer to(like deer making rubs..this bass can remember this stick or stump) by a point that shad use to move out to a flat or hump or something.  This bass is dominant over the small bass and can keep this spot to himself.  So he sits there by himself and waits for shad or other things to swim by.

2) Deep into cover.  I think there are 2 times when this happens most often.  One would be heavy fishing pressure and the other would probably be high pressure fronts like cold fronts.  Just look for the thickest cover you can find and pitch right in the middle.

ok theres a 3rd that i dont really use that often and that would be on the tip of a laydown in a cove or creek.  If the creek doesnt have much shoreline cover it seems like the big fish hang on the tip of laydowns(deepest water) and then the fish get smaller as you head towards shore.  Not sure why though.

A MAJOR pattern i use early early spring is to target laydowns and points. The larger bass will use a laydown like a point and stage waiting to move up. Most of the time during this time of the season they will be on the end of the laydown. That Zorro with a #11 white Uncle Josh pork is an hard bait to beat along with a Bandit crankbait this time of the year. This is pig fishing so use the right tackle for it and be ready and fish slow. For the past few years this tactic has landed me several fish over 5 and one 9 1/2 lbs.

I look for cover that is not easily to spot, cover that is easy to find.  So has 99 other bass boats located.

I look for subtle changes that do not always stand out from the rest, such as a bearing section of ground amongst a thick grove of trees or a group of trees or a single tree.  That is different from the rest.

These subtle changes can mean bass bonanza on the untapped waters.

This hard-to-find cover is most overlooked, and sometimes it is not hard-to-find, but it is overlooked, because it blends into the surrounding area.

If anyone owns a pond with shallow stumps try this.

Go out in spring and find a stump that has the inside rotted out and swim a worm over it.  I have been doing this at many ponds and usually theres a fish in there in the spring(pre spawn).  Coincedence?  I think not

"Is it possible to look at a form of cover and determine exactly where the bigger fish are going to be?"

I call structure geological features, for instance, breaklines, cliff faces, channels, islands or humps, cuts or arroyos.  Cover for me is rock groupings, vegatation. brush, aquatic growth, stumps, salt cedars.

Once I am on a pattern, I can sometimes zero in on the high percentage spot.  I am best at this in Spring and Winter - of course those are the seasons I have fished most.  Many times, in the west, these are not the primary "hotspot" that everyone fishes, but subtle locations off the side of a structure. One of my biggest problems which I work to overcome is a tendency to NOT fish the high percentage spot first, trying to sneak up on the cover.

"How do you determine the high percentage places?"

Frequently they are "ambush edges"; that is transition zones between 2 types of vegatation. Different sizes or types of rock; two different types of brush. Classic, where I am currently fishing is the slight depression - almost like a ring of rocks "fire circle' and a transition spot like hard sandstone to chunk rock with the fish in the chunk.

"How do you eliminate cover?

Wintertime - to Prespawn

If I am fishing highland type lake then I will probably begin parallelling the shore or checking out primary and secondary points. After trying to make an educated guess about what the underwater structure might look like, I will begin graphing and casting diagonally in front of the boat, searching shallow to deep. Usually that will reveal some structure I did not know was there and frequently reveal some suble cover feature(s) and many times spook the fish.  If I don't get bit, but think there are bass present, I will leave and come back maybe 30 minutes to hour later, position and fish precisely.

Summertime - Post spawn I will be looking at offshore structure and walls. However I will using the same investigative techniques, factoring in aquatic weed cover.

Colorado River Lakes

Usually, I begin based on past season's experiences.  For instance a prespawn pattern would be fishing wood over reeds. I would discriminate between brush and brush near emergent weeds for instance.  Types of brush and reeds indicate bottom type.  I would begin looking for harder bottoms. Proximity to a channel and a channel bend (inside or outside for current) are also factors. Presence or lack of current is a primary factor as to where fish will be on the cover. I would probably begin looking for cover on structure which falls quickly to depth.

So most times I would start throwing a spinnerbait or a shadrap, then go to flipping and pitching to brush areas, but fishing deeper than everyone else. Then I might move shallower, or tighter depending on fishing pressure and weather conditions. Again the larger fish are usually at some subtler transition zone in the cover - whether the cover transition can be seen above water or not.

As with everything in bass fishing there are alot of factors to work in when reading structure.  Is there current present?  If yes it will, in most cases, position fish in eddys or any current breaks, behind the structure.  They will be waiting there to ambush prey that are carried by the current.  

If it is real sunny in summer or the post spawn bass tend to prefer the shade.  Not because it hurts their eyes, but sometimes it gets really hot and it helps them ambush prey.  The reason I say summer and post spawn is because in those times of the year bass tend to position themselves in the shade more.  They will look for shade all year but the shade is important in these times.  In the spring the bass may prefer sunnier sides of cover because they are bedding and they need sun to incubate the eggs.  In the winter bass will seek out the sun and sun themselves.  Look for the shadiest parts of cover.  

It isnt all that complicated. Fish the moment.  Think about what the bass are feeling, what would give them an edge to capture prey.  

Once you have found out a pattern, modify it.  Look for the cover you were catching them on but look for that cover near deep water, channel bends,  main or secondary points.  If you are catching bass on small patches of millfoil look for a patch of millfoil on some kind of drop, creek bend or other subtle structure changes.  

It is true that big bass are found near deeper water, so look for the cover that works but make it work better, by modifying the pattern.