by TJ
(Southern California)
Q. I live on a private man made lake surrounded by houses, concrete bottom covered in dirt and some weeds. The water is extremely dark and stained blue by dye to keep weeds from growing too rampant. The edges go from about a foot deep down to only eight feet max in channels from a center out into 5 fingers.
17 acre lake with Bass, crappie, bluegill, carp, and cats. There are several fountains and oxygen bubblers. Most cover is boats and small docks along the edge. I am having an extremely hard time finding the fish, too shallow for fish finders, and nothing is biting. Its January and the water is 54 degrees at this time. Does not rain much, cloudy usually around 60 to 65 degrees.
All the fishermen around are catching pretty much every kind of fish in here on.......pieces of hot dogs.... yeah. I like to fish worms, jigs, cranks out on my kayak, and it seems the majority of the food is shad. As the weather cooled in the fall cranks were great, but nothing works now. I get an occasional bite on wacky rig worms but would like to find a way to locate the fish. Any help would be appreciated. I know its winter, and slow is expected but there are not many tips for the unique situation I am in.
Thanks for your time.
A. Hey bud. All I can offer are my thoughts on the issue. It is definitely made harder if you are unable to use a fish finder, although I do believe you can use one in those deeper areas like the 8' channels. You could at least eliminate those areas if they are not there.
Other than that my first suggestions would be to try areas with moving or flowing water nearby, like those bubblers and fountains. Cover near those may hold fish.
I'm sure you're already trying around those boats and docks. If there is any kind of a current on that lake go to those docks, boats and banks that the current is hitting against.
Also, if the water is that dark make sure you are using lure colors that are going to be visible. Sounds like the environment for bright colors like Fire tiger.
Go bigger on your lures during the cold. I know that's not a location tip but with no sonar you don't know if you they are actually there and just not biting what you're throwing.
I hope this helps you find something that will get you on those bass.
Let us know if you find the trick on that lake so others can try what works for you.
Good luck,
Raul
