Great read.   Thanks.  Got me visualizing more while 25F outside.   ? 

A lot of times while deer hunting and it's slow, I visualize what the various structure (draws, benches, flats (not usually exactly flat), creek bends, etc. would look like under water tree hike fishing.  Has been helpful however, I still am not at all confident fishing offshore.  The visualization of while hunting has been helpful though. 

8 hours ago, scaleface said:

I dont think there are that many people who cant read a topo map or a depth finder . They may not know what to look for but thats a different story .

 

 

I agree with Scaleface.

Finding a compression point or expansion point in contour lines is child's play.

But oddly enough, there's a high percentage of anglers who simply do not believe that it really matters that much.

Even seasoned anglers I've known are easily distracted by primary points, chart-labeled hotspots

and eye-catching cover "above" the waterline (i.e. Step 2, before Step 1).

 

In any new spot, I spend a great deal of time sounding the bottom with 3D sonar before ever wetting a line.

My wife can attest to the boring waiting periods while her husband is making figure 8s & tossing buoys.

Trust me when I say, once you have found a site that you deem structurally superior, you have already

located a holding site whether you make contact or not (keep coming back). More times than I can recall,

I've been able to foretell the event well in advance. Needless to say, "Cover" is next in command,

but since cover is much easier to pinpoint than structure, it doesn't carry the same importance.

As Becker once said: "Too many people know where I live". 

 

Roger

@RoLo excellent points

 

#1: understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively. If one were to look at some of my deep water offshore structure you would not find any bass. Why? Because is pre-spawn/spawn!

 

#2: cover; I can not tell y'all how many anglers randomly fish grass flats instead of fish the structure under!

 

#3: timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure. When you drop buoys or mark a GPS ya don't do it directly over where ya gonna fish!

 

I don't know how y'all mark a stop but I'll have 3-4 buoys or GPS waypoints each is where I position my boat allowing me the hit the structure from different angles. 

 

 

 

i have always been jealous of guys that are proficient with electronics.  every time i've tried, my fishing seems get worse rather than better.  the word that comes to mind for me when i think of electronics is "distraction".  i always spend too much time with my head in the graph and not enough paying attention to what is going on around me.  wish i was better at it but i doubt i ever will be.  maybe this thread is a start though.

Quote: "Lucky is the guy where the fish are on the structure the first time he hits it."

 

-Buck Perry 

As has been said, look at the above water topography and follow the natural lines into the water.  If you want to simplify, take a look at the contour lines on your GPS then go to where you think the bass are holding (steep banks/flats/channel bends/points and just fish it.