I have been reading a ton since when I look outside I get blinded by all the white!   I was wondering if you guys try to find the sanctuary, migration route, and shallow spots. I am reading Advanced Bass Fishing and it seems that the author really pushes the deep water structure and migration routes. If you do indeed find the sanctuary and migration routes do you fish both or one or the other? Do you pick out each potential area on the maps and then use your sonar to see if it will have structure and so on? The author also says that the fish for the most part wont hit. Would you try to get a reaction strike in these sanctuary spots. It is said in the book that the fish will pile on the contour lines and wait for a bit of time then eventualy move to the shallows. How long would you fish this migration route if you fish it at all?

Always looking for drop offs and banks that drop off.

Bass hold to these banks and use them as part of their migration routes.

This is why a topo map illustrating the depths of the bottom is important when planning your fishing expedition.

Buck Perry has a great artilce on his web site. Just Google Buck Perry and read his information.  It will compliment what you are now studying.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes, yes, and always. Did I answer them all or too many? From what I've learned:

Bass generallly move along the same contours, structures, and sanctuarys. They are creatures of habit. They will find spots along these routes that meet the most comfortable depths and that's generally the same depths at which the food likes it, too. Find structure or cover at these depths and you'll find baitfish and sometimes the bass.

There are times when they might not be actively feeding, but they MUST eat every 36 hours or so, depending upon water temps and activity level. Sometimes you can get reactionary strikes, but you REALLY have to tick off a sluggish bass to get one of those hits. More often than not I've found that a SLOOOOW presentation during these periods works best. With BIIIIIG lures. The problem with cold-water fish is that the strike zone is very small, as they don't want to expend any more energy than they have to since food is scarce. A big ol' high-protein crawfish is just the entree that they're looking for, and the bigger the food, the bigger the strike zone.

If a bass EVER gets full after feeding in the shallows in warmer water, he will ease deeper to get out of the sun and heat, and to digest his meal. He'll use his regular paths untill he gets more comfy. You can most always find bass somewhere along his favorite routes at one time or another. That's the essence of the hunt.

I know folks really frown on suggesting other sites to visit, however I have posted a lot of seasonal information regarding bass location and habits elsewhere. Take a look at TBH site under Tips & Tactics, seasonal periods by Oldschool. Also look at the posted sonar by Doc Sampson under Electronics. This is an board topic with pages of information that would be very difficult to repost.

Keep in mind that Buck Perry was promoting his Spoon Plugs, however he did awaken lots of fisherman to outside structure elements. In regards to migration routes; IMO most of the stuff that has been written is guess work. How bass behave may be predictable within the same classification resesrvoir, natural lake or river system, one generalized statement doesn't come close to fitting all bodies of water bass live in. Most of my experience is with high land, hill land, canyon resevoirs and natural lakes. If you want to focus on one lake classification, I would be glad to answer more specific questions.

WRB

Take a look at "Fishing Articles" at the very top of the page. The BassResource.com library has an extensive collection of articles addressing "Seasonal Fishing" as well as "Tips and Tactics".

I'm a Jr member on this site, not a jr bass fisherman; Charter life member BASS, fished the 3rd All American, IGFA record holder, over 300 10lb+ bass, several bass over 17, pb 19.3. The article archives are excellent, however you don't have the In-Fisherman articles that I have written or the vast amount of seasonal period information available.

I appollogize for making reference to another site, however I have no interest to spend the time to repost information that is availble.

WRB

Structure is a portion of the bottom that is different from the surrounding area, like bars, humps, creek-channels, riprap, and submerged points of land, according to Buck. A structure fishing situation consists of a structure, breaks, break lines and deep water. "Breaks" are things on the structure's bottom like stumps, rocks, weeds, logs, and bushes. A "break line" is a line or lines along the structure's bottom where there is a defined increase or decrease in depth, either sudden or gradual like the edge of a channel, hole or gully. There are other break lines, too, like a weed line wall, a brush line, where two bodies of water meet which differ in temperature, color or water current. Deep water to the serious structure fisherman is water with depths greater than 8 or 10 feet.

It's at this point, according to Buck, that a budding bass angler must get a proper mental fix on structure fishing. Buck says anglers must recognize from the beginning that not all good-looking structures harbor bass. But, he explains, never will bass be found that are not related to structure in some manner.

Thus, an angler who learns to recognize a structure, and where and how to fish it on its breaks, break lines and near its deep water sanctuary, will be far ahead of other fishermen who do not understand such things.

Elwood L. " Buck" Perry

I'm a Jr member on this site, not a jr bass fisherman;

Same thing according to "them"  . I know how that goes..... :