It's the summer and you're fishing a new (to you) lake. What lure do you start out with? If you get no bites how long does it take you to switch? If you switch do you stay with the same lure and simply change colors, or try something totally different? Or do you stick with the your first bait and try different depths? Or a combination of some or all of the above?

I guess my question is how do you work a lake and what drives your choices?

The only known factor is "It's the summer" so my mindset would be to start searching at a medium depth and search deeper.

Locations would be primary, secondary points, & creek channels.

My #1 confidence technique is Texas Rigged Plastic so instead of experimenting with color I would experiment with weightless, lightly weighted, & heavy weighted.

How long I stay with either would be totally based on instinct

I would start by getting a topographical map and like catt said looking for those interesting points with about a 30 degree slope and fish deeper, But my preferred choice would be the Carolina rig and stay with it and depending on water temp and clarity is what drives color choice.

How long I stay with one lure or color is also instinct But remember confidence in yourself is key and patience and lots of it.

I can say that agree with Catt. But to be a little more specific on the 'Texas Rigged' statement I can throw a watermelon yum dinger (basically the same thing as a senko but it's a little more durable) in ANY pond around me here in Northern Virginia and catch fish.

Although some of the ponds are starting to grow and abundance of algae, I have started using a weightless approach. Letting it sink, and twitching it just above the weeds in the water column.

I also have a lot of luck throwing jigs with a crawdad trailer, gold spinners, rapala x-raps (hot steel, glass ghost and silver) as well as crawdad plastics (also Texas Rigged).

Location I think would depend on what time of day. Around me bass tend to hide during the day. During the heat of the day they are in deeper pools, near drop-offs, or in cover. During peak fishing periods (early morning and later evening) they are perusing the banks for an easy meal. 

-Snogle

Before I'd even consider a game plan, I'd have to gather the data I'd need to affect a logical attack. How deep is the lake, what is the forage base, which species of bass am I targeting, what's the water temperature, what kind of weeds am I going to be confronted with, etc..

Getting some information on the above and getting a hold of a good map to study is paramount. Finally, I'd like to have a talk with a local bait shop to get their feel for how the conditions are on that day.

What you are tossing is of less importance than answering these questions. The answers will tell you what to throw.

I agree with Crestliner. Find out everything you can about the lake and then plan how to attack it.

First off, the answer depends on weather conditions.  I'm throwing different lures depending on if it's windy, sunny, overcast, pre frontal, post frontal, day, dusk, dark or  if there was a over night water temp change  that might effect bass behavior.

That said, if it's summer and I'm already on a lake I've never fished, without having done any research on it, I'm looking for the obvious.  Cover like weed beds, lilly pads, rip rap, laydowns, docks etc. etc.  I'm probably  hitting them first with soft plastics.  If I don't see any obvious cover, I'm hitting points, coves and rocky land areas that look like they might extend into the water. 

When I don't see cover, I'm ALWAYS starting fast.  Lipless and lipped cranks, spinnerbaits(if it's windy) buzzbaits, swimbaits etc.  Why start slow if there might be a fast bite on?  You'll never know if there's a fast bite if you start off with a slow bait.  If there's a fast bite, don't ever waste it, as you'll put way more fish in the boat then if you were fishing slow on a "fast" day. 

I'll work all levels of the water column until something works.  If nothing works, for 15 or 20 minutes at each depth I slow it down a little.  Perhaps fish deeper with a Carolina rigged lizard or other nice soft plastic.  Fishing with a C-rig also allows you to feel the bottom and figure out where on a new lake there's humps, brush, saddles, dropoffs, holes, rocks and changs in bottom composition.  It's a great bait to learn a new lake with if you don't have a depth and fish finder.

I'll fish the C-rig in different spots for 10-15 minutes at each spot, trying to disect the spot the best I can.  If that doesn't work, I slow down even more as well as downsize my bait choice.  Usually I'm catching fish by then though.  If I catch nothing at all after 3,4,5 or 6 hours I'd be pretty discouraged.  I'd go to the lake again and if I caught nothing again, I'd probably be hitting another lake from now on, but that's never happened.

I would find some deeper banks and try flipping a jig into heavy cover for a while, if no takers I would hit some main lake points with C-rigs and or crank baits working from shallow out to the deepest areas of the point. If I can find a topo map I would hit points that are closest to the creek channel or deepest water in the lake. If the above fails, I would work my way into a cove that has a feeder creek and once again work from shallow to deep with T-Rigs, Cranks, and C-rigs depending on the depth contour, water clarity, and weather conditions.

I'm with Bass_awkward. If I've never been to a lake before I will be fishing fast no matter the conditions. Since we are looking at Summer time. In the morning I would run some shallow water areas. In low light conditions may be your best chance to catch the fish that stay shallow during the summer. When the sun gets up, I look for current ( wind blown or dam released). Current positions the fish well and makes them more aggressive. Summer can be funny in that you can catch them at a number of depths, especially if you have good plant growth or plenty of current. Try fishing a number of different depths, areas, and cover types. After some time you should get bites to help you hone in.

   

Lure choice is mostly up to you. There are guidelines that can help. We all know them ( natural colors for clear water, darker colors for dirtier water). They could make a difference in the number of strikes you get in a days time but if you throw in front of enough fish you should catch one so just stay after it and keep experimenting until you get one to give itself away. When that happens, its game on.

Mottfia

When I am fishing a new lake I will typical start out with something slow like Carolina rig or a Texas rig to see if there are any Bass in the area I am fishing. 

If I am not getting bit I will typical change locations rather than changing lures, but I do change lures occasional.

I agree with Catt also,my 1# lures are t-rigged soft plastic's. I would add a couple of color changes,along with the different weights.

I guess my question is how do you work a lake and what drives your choices?

I find where shallow water meets deep water. Areas where the deep water is close to shore tend to be higher percentage areas. Shallow flats that dump of into a channel or drop off tend to hold fish around the break. If you have stumps or cover before the drop off the fish might position farther up on the cover and not on the drop edge itself. Any other depression like where a drain pipe dumps water or where outboards have cut out the bottom will hold a fish because it is different than the surrounding depth. Most of your shallow cover fish will be good for a fish or two unless something draws a group like wind. I had several good tournaments fishing parallel to the rip rap in summer fishing tight on out about 3 ft from shore speed reeling a crankbait. The fish where there because of the wind. Areas where the deeper water is close to the shore can be fished effectively with a crankbait. I try to position the boat parallel to the shore to fish a zone of depth. I change the depth I am fishing until I can narrow down what depth they are using. When you speed reel it the bait tends to react to the cover drawing strikes where a jig will not. As you move up you can pick off the stragglers with a jig or other slow moving bait. If the bass are positioned on a drop off edge like where a flat drops off into deeper water. I try to fish the bait from shallow to deep to try to figure out what part they are using. I want to position the boat out a ways from the drop to pick of any that might be suspended out off the edge. I don't want to be sitting on top of catchable fish. I then move to the edge itself and parallel it making sure the lure I use covers the depth I need. Next I position the boat in the shallow part bringing my lure from deep to shallow. If the edge has cover or some rock on it I focus on that first. I want to fish the bait the same as the edge bringing it from different angles. Shallow edges work about the same as deeper channels but your high percentage areas are going to be in the bends (deeper inside bend) and such. In the parts of the channels where you have a straight shot no bends focus on isolated cover or any depth change that might occur. Bass love little dug out areas where it is deeper than the surrounding depth.

What drives what I use? water color, depth, cover, and speed

Water color- shad or natural colors for clear brighter colors or darker colors in the case of jigs for darker water.

Depth- the right lure to effectively cover the depth I am fishing

Cover- If I can't get a crankbait through the stuff without much hassle I use something that will.

Speed- time of the year and mood of the fish determines speed.

In the summer I reaction fish more than any other time of the year in shallow water. Remember I am looking for areas where the shallow water meets deeper water so don't think I am just running the whole bank hitting everything as I go because I am not. When fishing a crankbait I speed reel it to make the bait react to stuff and bounce off it. If it is just a nothing break then I use lures that either drag the bottom to make the lure dart around or I use one that hunts or searches. If I am fishing a grass edge I use a spinnerbait and rip and jerk it to change the vibration pattern from time to time or make the blades smack together. I fish it real aggressively to draw a reaction. If I am flipping a jig or tube in the grass I want it to fall fast and hop it aggressively once or twice before moving it. If they will not react I might need several pitches to the same spot. Sometimes if they are sitting in a spot if you poke at them enough they will bite it just depends on mood. Weather conditions for me just tells me how close to the cover the bass will be and how active they might be. Weather and water clarity also influence how shallow they might move. Things like wind, shade, and bait tend to change these rules to a degree. Same as reaction fishing tends to change the bass's mood to bite. If your fishing grass mats focus on pitching to the holes in the mat or outer edge in about 5 ft. A frog, matts, and summer is always a good combo. Just like a jigging spoon, creek channel or point in summer can be a good combo also.