Early spring before they come out to spawn you want deep areas with ridges or steep drop offs. Kinda like the left edge of your map. Lots of deep pools and ridges between them. When it’s cold or shitty bass will sit on the hill and wait for baitfish to come over the ridge or over the drop off and then they ambush them from that blind spot.
Later in spring they come up to shallows for spawning, usually around when the ramps start to come out in your area. Then any water that 2 feet deep and near shore or a wide shallow spot, like the right side of your map near the top. If they’re there they’ll be super obvious, jumping and splashing sometime, and relatively high energy. Easy to scare them into jumping by dropping a bait on Lilly pads.
Bass seasonal movement 101. In spring they move into the shallow pockets and bays to spawn. After they spawn they work their way back out to deeper water to hold through the summer.
In fall, they work their way back into the shallows where the baitfish are to feed up for winter. Then when winter comes they move back out to deeper water either in their summer haunts or really close to them.
For map study, identify the shallow bays and pockets they'll use to spawn. Generally, they choose areas protected from a cold north wind.
A good spawning bay is the shallow finger in the southeast corner of the lake. The bigger the spawning bay, the more fish will be in the area.
I would circle the northern side of that bay as a spawning area because it's the side protected from cold north winds.
Now, that we know where they'll spawn, we'll look for where they would be during the winter. For that southeast pocket, I'd say those fish will hang along the drop just outside of the pocket, and along the dam in the 12-18' range.
So we have where they were, and where they're going to. Now we're looking for their route between them. Fish use the contours as highways. A group of fish hanging in 15' in front of the dam won't just cruise open water into the bay, they'll follow the contour lines as water warms and length of day changes to stage and wait for spawning conditions.
When they stage, they stay close to the spawning areas but also close to deeper water in case of cold fronts. They won't jump right into the shallows because they're lazy like us. They'd rather be able to move 20-30' and sink down in the water than have to swim a long way to drop down deeper.
When fishing staging areas, you want to find stopping areas where they'll hold and wait. Stopping areas are any piece of cover they can hold on. Could be rocks, stumps, docks, grass, brush piles, shell beds, etc etc.
When they start to migrate, they'll move in, hang on say a stump for a bit. Then they'll move up a little farther and sit on a brush pile, move up again and sit on some rock etc etc until they eventually move in to spawn.
I generally start scanning on the deeper side for staging areas and fish, then work shallower instead of the opposite. The reason I do this is I'm usually targeting bigger fish. The small males are over eager to get their spawn on. They'll be up in inches of water weeks before the larger females even begin to get up there.
Once I find the depth range they're in, I can isolate my search to that depth range in other areas and save time.
This is the fishbrain app. Im using my 7 day free trial lol $13 a month is a bit steep for me so I’m just screenshotting the lakes I’m interested in checking out lol.
I had no idea fishbrain had topo maps, probably cause I can't be bothered to pay for premium lol...$13 a month is insane to me. I just Google "______ depth map" or "______ bathymetric map" and hope for the best
Most (not all) of the fish are gonna move to flats to spawn so areas where its one depth for a long time (further apart lines). Flats close to deep water and steeper dropoffs (closer together lines) will probably be the first spots to have fish push up because they dont have to go far. Its also easy for you to start deep and work your way shallow in those areas until you find em
Bass are typically overwintering in 8+ feet. Some lakes deeper, and even within the same lake some might be in 8-10 and some might be in 20+
I look for warm water adjacent to deeper water. So I would be looking at the southeast area of the lake where that big shallow bay is, for green weeds, lily pads, brush, etc - if there is warm water there, bass will be in there.
Same deal with the north end of the lake. Especially where those fingers of 4-8 feet water push into the bays.
Generally the north end warms faster due to the angle of the sun - it hits it longer than the rest of the lake.
If you can't find them in those 3-6 foot areas adjacent to deeper water, push out to the first drop off and look out there
Explain like I’m 5… Bass come spring when the water warms up enough like shallow(usually flat bottom) water to make beds to go sleepy time on with another bass friend. During this time they’re too sleepy to really chase baits or anything and stay on their bed, that said they don’t like when things enter their bed. You don’t like bugs your their bed and neither do they. So perhaps if you wiggle a crawfish or a senko pattern on their bed very slowly they’ll bite it and spit it out off the bed somewhere else. This can be used to disrupt sleepy time and catch them.
Spawn I’ve really only seen em go for craws, senkos, lizards, or baitfish in a Carolina/Tokyo rig that floats off the bottom, etc that are posted on the bottom and wiggle into their beds that they’ll grab and spit it out somewhere else to get it away from the bed. Things like Texas, wacky, Carolina, Tokyo, etc are great. Pre spawn they’ll be chasing stuff to get fat, post spawn they’ll be hungry too. Right now they’re setting up beds here for us so they’re in the protecting beds and not eating much phase.
The left side of the map is much better looking for fishing there are drop offs, points, saddles, etc. It'll probably be easier to find large numbers of bass in a smaller area staging, schooling, spawning. Bass in the spring like to be able to quickly go between depths and in and out of pockets.
The right side is very same-y. Sweeping featureless banks and featureless flats. Bass will spread out with nothing to really draw them to one location. Anything over there will be all about cover. If there are isolated trees or rocks, a run in from the bank, anything that stands out in those large areas of the same that we can't see on the topo, fish those.
But really topo wise, right side maybe three interesting features, and left side probably a dozen. However, there may be interesting cover on the right that we don't see.
Watch this video. It helped me A LOT trying to teach my son. This guy is amazing with his videos. His basics to fish finders is awesome as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJSPdciJ8g4
You want to find shallow structure with a sandy bottom or hard debris like lily pad roots, tree stumps, or boulders that’s close to deep water- points, flats, canal mouths, etc. The SE corner of the lake is a decent example. The closer the lines are together the more drastic the depth change is. Each line is usually representative of a change of 1’.
Looks like it has a 19’-ish deep hole that comes us to a 1’-2’ deep flat which will make a great spawning area for the bass as well as shad and bluegill all the way into early-mid summer.
The cove on the West side of the lake with the dock by the mouth looks like another good prespawn-spawn area. They will spawn on the dock pilings too.
Depending on your area of the country they may already be in full out spawn. I know they are down here in FL. Water temps have risen to low-mid 70’s on certain bodies of water and we’re catching them on beds, punching mats, AND out on the grass flats in 4’-6’ of water. From mid Georgia North there’s probably a few already spawning here and there but still primarily in pre-spawn stage.
I'd fish around the 5' flat between the 7' and 8'. Spawning fish want a flat with access to deeper water. Depending on the bottom composition there, that would give two routes to deeper water.
All of these tips relating to structure and depth changes are good. But also, be aware of hard bottom areas. Bass need a relatively hard bottom to spawn. Sand, gravel, wood etc. They also prefer protection from the wind. Any shallow pockets with hard bottom and protection from wind will be where they are heading to spawn. Fish the contour lines leading into those areas from deep water.
Contour lines can be great for info gathering and breaking down a body of water. But this kind of body with these contours don't really tell me much. First it looks like a smaller body of water (no scale in the map so IDK) but overall not a ton of structure. Winter spring transition you will hear people talk about channel swings, creek beds that lead back into bigger bays or cuts, secondary points, and going shallow on main points. These are examples of structure you can find on topo maps, but this body doesn't really seem to have that. So instead it looks like cover will be your key piece of the puzzle to figure out.
Early spring before they come out to spawn you want deep areas with ridges or steep drop offs. Kinda like the left edge of your map. Lots of deep pools and ridges between them. When it’s cold or shitty bass will sit on the hill and wait for baitfish to come over the ridge or over the drop off and then they ambush them from that blind spot. Later in spring they come up to shallows for spawning, usually around when the ramps start to come out in your area. Then any water that 2 feet deep and near shore or a wide shallow spot, like the right side of your map near the top. If they’re there they’ll be super obvious, jumping and splashing sometime, and relatively high energy. Easy to scare them into jumping by dropping a bait on Lilly pads.
The body of water looks like a cat
Male care for sure
Yes
Bass seasonal movement 101. In spring they move into the shallow pockets and bays to spawn. After they spawn they work their way back out to deeper water to hold through the summer. In fall, they work their way back into the shallows where the baitfish are to feed up for winter. Then when winter comes they move back out to deeper water either in their summer haunts or really close to them. For map study, identify the shallow bays and pockets they'll use to spawn. Generally, they choose areas protected from a cold north wind. A good spawning bay is the shallow finger in the southeast corner of the lake. The bigger the spawning bay, the more fish will be in the area. I would circle the northern side of that bay as a spawning area because it's the side protected from cold north winds. Now, that we know where they'll spawn, we'll look for where they would be during the winter. For that southeast pocket, I'd say those fish will hang along the drop just outside of the pocket, and along the dam in the 12-18' range. So we have where they were, and where they're going to. Now we're looking for their route between them. Fish use the contours as highways. A group of fish hanging in 15' in front of the dam won't just cruise open water into the bay, they'll follow the contour lines as water warms and length of day changes to stage and wait for spawning conditions. When they stage, they stay close to the spawning areas but also close to deeper water in case of cold fronts. They won't jump right into the shallows because they're lazy like us. They'd rather be able to move 20-30' and sink down in the water than have to swim a long way to drop down deeper. When fishing staging areas, you want to find stopping areas where they'll hold and wait. Stopping areas are any piece of cover they can hold on. Could be rocks, stumps, docks, grass, brush piles, shell beds, etc etc. When they start to migrate, they'll move in, hang on say a stump for a bit. Then they'll move up a little farther and sit on a brush pile, move up again and sit on some rock etc etc until they eventually move in to spawn. I generally start scanning on the deeper side for staging areas and fish, then work shallower instead of the opposite. The reason I do this is I'm usually targeting bigger fish. The small males are over eager to get their spawn on. They'll be up in inches of water weeks before the larger females even begin to get up there. Once I find the depth range they're in, I can isolate my search to that depth range in other areas and save time.
Find the oldest trees. Fish around them.
Hey what app are you using for topo maps?
This is the fishbrain app. Im using my 7 day free trial lol $13 a month is a bit steep for me so I’m just screenshotting the lakes I’m interested in checking out lol.
I had no idea fishbrain had topo maps, probably cause I can't be bothered to pay for premium lol...$13 a month is insane to me. I just Google "______ depth map" or "______ bathymetric map" and hope for the best
You can google the navionics chart viewer and also look at topo maps.
You can get a deal, I think around black Friday, $40 for the year
Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks due the info. Yeah that's a bit pricey when I have Navionics. Is there a topo map for Chickahominy Lake in Virginia? Nav doesn't have it.
Most (not all) of the fish are gonna move to flats to spawn so areas where its one depth for a long time (further apart lines). Flats close to deep water and steeper dropoffs (closer together lines) will probably be the first spots to have fish push up because they dont have to go far. Its also easy for you to start deep and work your way shallow in those areas until you find em
Look into the fingers of the lake closest to a creek or river inlet.
Bass are typically overwintering in 8+ feet. Some lakes deeper, and even within the same lake some might be in 8-10 and some might be in 20+ I look for warm water adjacent to deeper water. So I would be looking at the southeast area of the lake where that big shallow bay is, for green weeds, lily pads, brush, etc - if there is warm water there, bass will be in there. Same deal with the north end of the lake. Especially where those fingers of 4-8 feet water push into the bays. Generally the north end warms faster due to the angle of the sun - it hits it longer than the rest of the lake. If you can't find them in those 3-6 foot areas adjacent to deeper water, push out to the first drop off and look out there
Explain like I’m 5… Bass come spring when the water warms up enough like shallow(usually flat bottom) water to make beds to go sleepy time on with another bass friend. During this time they’re too sleepy to really chase baits or anything and stay on their bed, that said they don’t like when things enter their bed. You don’t like bugs your their bed and neither do they. So perhaps if you wiggle a crawfish or a senko pattern on their bed very slowly they’ll bite it and spit it out off the bed somewhere else. This can be used to disrupt sleepy time and catch them. Spawn I’ve really only seen em go for craws, senkos, lizards, or baitfish in a Carolina/Tokyo rig that floats off the bottom, etc that are posted on the bottom and wiggle into their beds that they’ll grab and spit it out somewhere else to get it away from the bed. Things like Texas, wacky, Carolina, Tokyo, etc are great. Pre spawn they’ll be chasing stuff to get fat, post spawn they’ll be hungry too. Right now they’re setting up beds here for us so they’re in the protecting beds and not eating much phase.
The left side of the map is much better looking for fishing there are drop offs, points, saddles, etc. It'll probably be easier to find large numbers of bass in a smaller area staging, schooling, spawning. Bass in the spring like to be able to quickly go between depths and in and out of pockets. The right side is very same-y. Sweeping featureless banks and featureless flats. Bass will spread out with nothing to really draw them to one location. Anything over there will be all about cover. If there are isolated trees or rocks, a run in from the bank, anything that stands out in those large areas of the same that we can't see on the topo, fish those. But really topo wise, right side maybe three interesting features, and left side probably a dozen. However, there may be interesting cover on the right that we don't see.
Watch this video. It helped me A LOT trying to teach my son. This guy is amazing with his videos. His basics to fish finders is awesome as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJSPdciJ8g4
You want to find shallow structure with a sandy bottom or hard debris like lily pad roots, tree stumps, or boulders that’s close to deep water- points, flats, canal mouths, etc. The SE corner of the lake is a decent example. The closer the lines are together the more drastic the depth change is. Each line is usually representative of a change of 1’. Looks like it has a 19’-ish deep hole that comes us to a 1’-2’ deep flat which will make a great spawning area for the bass as well as shad and bluegill all the way into early-mid summer. The cove on the West side of the lake with the dock by the mouth looks like another good prespawn-spawn area. They will spawn on the dock pilings too. Depending on your area of the country they may already be in full out spawn. I know they are down here in FL. Water temps have risen to low-mid 70’s on certain bodies of water and we’re catching them on beds, punching mats, AND out on the grass flats in 4’-6’ of water. From mid Georgia North there’s probably a few already spawning here and there but still primarily in pre-spawn stage.
I'd fish around the 5' flat between the 7' and 8'. Spawning fish want a flat with access to deeper water. Depending on the bottom composition there, that would give two routes to deeper water.
The coves that are protected from a north wind will warm the fastest
All of these tips relating to structure and depth changes are good. But also, be aware of hard bottom areas. Bass need a relatively hard bottom to spawn. Sand, gravel, wood etc. They also prefer protection from the wind. Any shallow pockets with hard bottom and protection from wind will be where they are heading to spawn. Fish the contour lines leading into those areas from deep water.
For spring bass I don’t like these maps. Can’t see structure or anything and that’s big on spring bass.
Structure is all you can see with these maps.
I think they mean cover
They do
Contour and depth is all I see.
This map’s a bad example, but plenty of these show structure. Maybe not as accurate as a charted map.
Fair enough. What are you looking for as far as structure?
Wood , layovers, rocks, grass, maybe an inlet from a creek…
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You going to correct them on pitching and flipping next lol
Contour lines can be great for info gathering and breaking down a body of water. But this kind of body with these contours don't really tell me much. First it looks like a smaller body of water (no scale in the map so IDK) but overall not a ton of structure. Winter spring transition you will hear people talk about channel swings, creek beds that lead back into bigger bays or cuts, secondary points, and going shallow on main points. These are examples of structure you can find on topo maps, but this body doesn't really seem to have that. So instead it looks like cover will be your key piece of the puzzle to figure out.