just spent the last 3 days fishing a 480 acre lake,water temp 46 degrees,ice out about 2 weeks ago..only caught a couple perch...no weed growth to speak of and the deepest spots are 35 ft but i usually don't fish any deeper than 12-14ft...any suggestions?..was only out a couple hrs each day cause it was pretty breezy...tried spinnerbait,worm,jig,lizard,various crankbaits from 3ft to 12 ft....is it just too early..this happens to me every year

Try to find shallow water with rocks or shallow humps with rock. Really effective when you start to get 1 or 2 warm sunny days. These areas will warm up first. Slow Slow Slow on your presentation.

Any wood in the water will also hold heat so look out for that as well!

46 degree water is still pretty cool. Have you tried hard jerkbaits? Fish these with long - 30 sec. or more - pauses inbetween twitches (not jerks!). You have to have patience to fish this way, but it will produce. You might also want to try a drop shot if you know where they are. Use a Senko on it. Have you seen any bait balls on your sonar? If so, the drop shot can be dynamite this time of the year, under those conditions!

thanks for the advice....i idled around for awhile,didn't see any bait..not any rock piles or wood that i know of...i suspect the bass are just sitting on the bottom in what little weed growth there is.....i did try a jerkbait but wasn't patient enough

I'd try to find rocks. They give off heat.

Nothing-looking, worthless-appearing banks w/ little-to-no cover but dark mud bottoms. NE to NW orientation. Shallower water but not *too* far off the main lake. Pre-spawn crappie-ish areas but use bass-size lures and abnormal patience...It will work. At least for a few fish.