Posted by Charlie on 2002 AM:

Following on the Earthworm theme!

Picture this:

Sicily 1949 .... oh sorry wrong show!

Lake Y (I am tired of lake X ok !!!)

Calm day, blue bird skies. A storm front should arrive within 8 hours bringing heavy rain, wind and thunderstorms. So you know if you can find fish, they will EAT!

A light breeze from the north puts a light "chop" on the surface. Water clarity is fair with a pale green shade to it.

NO laydowns, NO visible weedline, NO rocks to be found. three islands in the center of the lake, also with steep drops.

Steep banks surround the lake with drops to 40 feet almost directly from the shoreline. You pick up on your electronics some "un-even" contour which looks like the surface of the moon. This place looks like a toilet bowl with ridges!!!!!

What do you throw, where and why?

Tight Lines!

Charlie

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Posted by BASSBOB5 on 2002 AM:

Hey Charlie .......I'd fish the south side of the lake .....maybe slow roll a spinner bait down the steep shore line or throw a football jig with a pumpkin twin tailed grub on it.........

Posted by JPBass on 2002 AM:

1st I'd beat the banks (islands and shore) a little with a rattletrap or a stickbait.

Then I'd work a c-rig down the shelf, find out what depth they're hangin out at (hopefully) then work that depth parrallel to shore with the c-rig or a crankbait. Unless the drop is too steep for that. Then I'd punt!!!

Pre-frontal, fish should be active.

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Posted by joe pido on 2002 PM:

left out one important detail.....

...what time of the year???

joe

Posted by Gregg on 2002 PM:

quote:

This place looks like a toilet bowl with ridges!!!!!

A hole is as good as a hill, don't skip over this it could hold fish!

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Posted by Cast-a-way on 2002 PM:

I'D BE FISHING.....

With a top water lure.....I've had some of my best top water bites on days like you described. My 2 cents..

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Posted by joe pido on 2002 PM:

id look at a topo map and hit the area with the slowest drop to deep water, the closest thing to a " flat" in this bowl shaped lake. Just sit and wait for the fish to move and feed before that front.

No rocks, weedlines, no nothing?...Sounds impossible for fish to be on that lake...

Joe

Posted by HugeFish4 on 2002 PM:

What the hell, this place sounds as good as any for me to learn how to dropshot.

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Posted by JOHN G on 2002 PM:

Sorry Guys, I have to go with Joe Pido on this one...ABSOLUTELY have to provide the time of the year and also general geographical area.....I think we can take it much further from there....Charlie, where are you? JOHN G

Posted by wnybassman on 2002 AM:

Unless it is during the spawn, I don't think time of year makes a whole lot of difference. Chances are, they are going to be relating to that drop one way or another. I would either sit in deep water and work an open hooked tube to shallow water, or sit in shallow water and do the opposite. Maybe run a deep diving crankbait from both positions as well.

You said no weedlines, but didn't say no weeds. I could assume the weeds very slowly taper off to nothing, making them increasingly more scattered the deeper you go. Perfect Senko water for me, if this is the case.

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Posted by earthworm77 on 2002 AM:

Not necessarily Noel....time of year is important and this is why....this lake Charlie painted out for us lacks cover. True, fish will be on the drops and ridges at one point or another but season is important...Charlie what kind of forage is in the lake??? I would assume shad or alewives.....are there lmb's and smb's or only one species??? Noel, in fall you'll find that the bass may not relate to anything but schools of bait. That is why season is important on a lake like this, no doubt those schools of bait will draw fish. It sounds like a cross between Ronko and Fort to me with a few islands thrown in. If I had the unfortunate experience of fishing this lake...and I would avoid a lake like this on purpose as I love getting into cover.....I would start out by watching my LCD religiously....I'd look for those ridges and look for schools of bait. I would most likely target the bait and fish just beneath the school with a small jigging spoon or a hula grub depending on depth. This is not a bank beaters lake so don't look for a shallow bite unless it is spawning time. I'm a firm believer that some fish remain shallow all year but I think it might be tough trying to pattern them on Lake Y. If my baitfish pattern failed to produce, I would hit the sheer drops near the shoreline...reminscent to the canyon lakes out west that have steep drops 10 feet from shore. These may be bluff walls with crevices that fish can hide in. I'd Hula them!!! If that didn't work I'd shoot whoever brought me to the friggin lake in the head!

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Posted by wnybassman on 2002 AM:

Yep Craig, I had forgot about the bait, and your right, it does depend what the forage base is. If it is palegic (alewives, shad or sometimes perch) then the bass will relate to them most of the year, and in my experience, they will relate to the school mostly during the late sprig, summer, and early fall months. Usually during the mid to late fall, these schools will move in shallower along the drops and up on the flats, as will the bass (although they will still be keying in on the bait, it just so happens they will be in a better spot to find them)

If the forage is mainly bluegills and sunnies, they will more than likely relate to that drop most of the year, maybe moving up on the shelf to feed at times during the day. We still don't know if there are very scattered weeds with no edges, or just plain no weeds.

I would dare say the main forage is probably not crawfish, as there is no rock. But if the shelf contained some gravel beds, then it could be an issue.

A jigging spoon may play an important role in catching fish on this lake, whether the bass are following schools of bait, or if they are relating to this very steep drop. It may be the most effective way to fish for them.

Maybe Charlie could give us a few more clues as to forage, time of year, true bottom content, depth at the top of the shelf, etc.

Posted by Bass Rat on 2002 PM:

I'd have a calander, compass & thermometer, so I could tell where in the world I was, what month it was & what the water temp was.

If we are speculating then I'll say it's 3rd Sat in June, in Westchester,NY and water temp is 59 .

I'd throw a senko to the humps and dips as well as the sharp rocky banks of the island.

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Posted by Paulie D on 2002 PM:

I fish a Lake just like this up here in Ct called McDonough except it is clear. Here is how I caught them on this lake. Power fish A Hula Grub on a 1/4 head. Stay off the banks and work the ledges and humps. I fish the bait fast. I mean pitch it let it sink. A couple of shakes and then back up another cast. The water in this lake is really clear and i want the fish to react quick to it and not think about it. Second plan is I would work a Clown colored Jerkbait with a fast erratic retrieve especially if smallies are present. The power fishing aspect allows you to work the lake void of cover and learn the structure and trigger some strikes. If this fails i would run the lake with a 3/8 oz wht/chart Spinnerbug and take my chances. I guess another pattern would be to drag a 4" worm along the bottom, but I am not good a C-riggn, YET! Good one Charlie!!

ciao

paulie

Posted by CTbassmaster on 2002 PM:

Hey guys I see there are a bunch of highly knowlegable tx. anglers on this website, cause to a degree almost everyones answers seem feasible. My choice in this fictional situation would be to know time of year, water temp, and predominate forage for time of year. If it was a type of baitfish then a crank, jerk, or trap on the south end of lake or north side of islands,(anywhere water was being beat up against the banks to congregate feeding baitfish). Spooks and Pop-R's also might work if fish are feeding up. (notice all my choices are treble hooked baits, for tx. reasons) . Next if I thought the forage was craws then I would throw a hula grub, jig, tube or worm on 3/16-3/8 oz. head to get my bait down quick in this deep lake of yours and fish it as fast as the fish will allow me to get away with. After a limit is in the box, I then would probably upscale the size of my bait in the same style and color to try and weed out smaller biters and catch larger fish. Well thats what I would do!

Posted by JOHN G on 2002 PM:

Quote from CT fisherman:

notice all my choices are treble hooked baits, for tx. reasons)

That's funny, because I always felt that single hooked lures, especially plastics have a much better hookup ratio if properly set.....trebles can be thrown more easily than single hooks.....Would love to have all the fish that jumped water and spit out a treble, but I have never had a fish jump water and spit out a plastic worm, oh , they might break the line or something, but a 3-0 gammy worm hook set good? I think that is a more sure thing than any treble hook.....what is good about the trebles is say, with a hard jerkbait where they thrash and stick themselves in the body also with some of the other hooks.... JOHN G

Posted by Dominic on 2002 PM:

He said no "visable" grass lines, which to me means find the invisable grass and find the fish. If you can find any grass, go for the steep banks that lead to some shallower coves, points and breaklines. Also fish those indents in the steep banks. 4" worm,
Spook, Jig and Pig, Senko and a Crank or Jerkbait. This pretty much covers all seasons for me. I would definitely start by finding that submerged grass though. Dominic

Posted by rightsidefight on 2002 PM:

hey.iv only been hardcoe fishing fo about a year now.fishinguse toonly be a worm bobber and hook but i startedardcore fishin at about 15.i dont use a boat or any electronics an i dont know anything about temp. winddirection, or stuff like that.i know enough of were to go though and ill alway find nice bass.i live on long island though were bass fishing is very bad.but what i do know is that when theres no grasslines like everylake by me thebest thingsto do are throwing on a nice inline spinner and working it slow at first the faster and faster until they dontbite.if they dont bite that,id usually throw on a kinami flash,thunder worm,senko, or slug-go, an fish parallel to the shore or id go to a far end of he shore an cast out on an outward angle towards the other shore.after an coupleof dozen cast il move down little by little until i find a nice spot.ifthat doesnt work i try some other random lues or just keep tryin different spots.

Posted by Charlie on 2002 PM:

Hi Guys!

Sorry but I am running around like a lunatic "pre-season" stuff.

John, I am touched that you miss me, ya big LUG LOL

OK, it was May so thats late spring, early summer. Low weeds were apparent but no more than a foot off the bottom (I think it was a bunch of that stringy grass, I cant remember the name).

Anyway, top water was the key!!!! Craig, you were right to ask about the baitfish. Alewife was the key and so was a strong supply of perch.

The jerkbait was also an excellent bait that day and I got my best fish on the slow rolling spinnerbait.

DAMN you guys are good..... I am going to think of a really NASTY place to fish, where I got my butt handed to me on a platter!

Stay tuned!!!!

Charlie

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Posted by JOHN G on 2002 AM:

See what I mean Charlie? Despite the shape of that water, it was nonetheless prime Prespawn and bass were hitting what you might expect them to at that time. Even if they were on Beds, some might be tempted on the topwater and anything roaming around the shallows would go for the hardjerkbaits....now , that same body of water, featureless as you described it and with the steep shorelines and all, would be whole other story in the summer, and that is where the forage, in this case Alewifes, would dictate a lot about where the bass might be....... JOHN G

Posted by Cast-a-way on 2002 PM:

Hey Charlie.....

So what do I win??? LOL... I love fishing those days when a front is coming. I tend to call-in sick to work on days like that..Next scenario...

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