Where do you guys fish if there's no cover?

structure.

structure.

pretty much covers it

also, search out submerged cover.  Sometimes even when there is nothing eye-popping about the shoreline, a good patch of hornwort (coontail) or hydrilla a few feet unther surface of the water can harbor large schools of fish.

Also, keep your eyes open for any baitfish or any other relevant activity.  I once caught dozens of bass in a lake with very little cover by looking for feeding activity and chasing the motion down with the trolling motor and making long casts with a popper.  The bass were suspended near the surface over 80 feet of water in the middle of the lake.  Go figure :-/

I fish irregular features like depth change, points, humps, or other  structure.

Breaklines

shady areas        sunny areas  

Sometimes deep weedbeds, I don't know if that counts as cover... Structure like drop-offs and humps are good too.

Between lower Florida and upper Quebec, I've yet to see a lake without cover.

Roger

Between lower Florida and upper Quebec, I've yet to see a lake without cover.

Roger

It's not a lake, it's a small pond in the middle of a neighborhood.

Put some cover in it.Just go out there at night and sink some branches out off the bank! :

Creek channels and drop offs, submerged structure also....

If It is a Pond, any Vegitation at all is a good bet, it is a good source of Oxygen, so it will attract bass. Also DRAIN Pipes or Inflow Pipes are good places to hit.

I started fishing a lake last year that you didn't automatically hit the shallow looking for bass. I had to get used to fishing deep (20-30 fow) and looking for depth changes like Chris suggested.

Avid- structure

ockechobee- pretty much covers it

lol

Always begin by searching the littoral zone first (shallow zone) for WEEDS.

Look for cattails, lily pads, bulrushes and also look for submergents like pondweed

or wild celery. Drag the bottom with a bottom-scraping lure with trebles

(no cover, no problem). You may discover short sand grass or nitella (algae).

If veggies cannot be found, look next for "WOOD": stickups, stumps, blowdowns and docks. That failing, look next for "ROCK": rock piles, manmade masonry structures, large rocks and rip-rap. Last but certainly not least, look for rapid change in bottom depth (contour).

In the absence of cover per se, then structure has to serve both roles.

Even a sharp pocket or acute corner in the shoreline can serve as cover.

This situation is something I have dubbed "The priority of poverty".

Roger

Humps, points, cliff walls, and ledges.

As Roadwarrior has said by the time I master fishing Bull Shoals I should be an expert at rock fishing. Those rocks sure don't put up much fight though. I just get tired of trying to reel them in and break off. ;D

My choice here are tiny rocks, small rocks, medium rocks, large rocks, and HUGE rocks.

Paparock,

Once you figure out Bull Shoals, you still have Norfork! I think we ought to talk Roger into some White River fishing. That should be a new challenge, fishing two lakes without a blade of grass or a stick of wood. I guess you already know what rocks are about, but not all rocks are equal. Some days gradual sloped, rounded points will hold fish. Other days it's steeply sloped and well defined.  I suggest you find the bait fish, the predators won't be far behind.