I really like fishing hybrids and whites but can't seem to find them in any numbers. I went yesterday and tried some wind-blown points to no avail. What do you guys do to locate them at a new lake?

Look down at lake Livingston adventures post. They also fish Conroe and been doing very good!

Best advice I can give you is hire a reputable guide that specilize on winter hybrids for the lake you are visiting. No matter how much help you get on this forum there will always be that little detail that will be leave out that makes the difference in catching them winter hybrids successfully or not. I say give LLA (Lake Livingston Adventure) a call. You'll be catching them with amaze success the next day. LLA were my first tutor in winter fishing technigues. It's money well spent and will pay back over and over again in the form of successful trips.

^^^^^^ What he said, call Michael, he'll get you hooked up! For what a trip costs with a couple bud's along to slit costs, you'll be money and time ahead, compared to trailering your boat, and making allot of trips to gain the same insight.

I totally agree. LLA is money well spent and knowledge that can be taken to any lake.

Thanks for the advice guys. Guess I know what I'll be asking for for Valentine's day! There's a lot of videos and the like out there for how to catch them once you get over the top of them, just not a lot about how to find them in the first place.

Whites/hybrids/striper typically don't hang around in totally open water. They like to lurk in deeper water which also has shallower water nearby. So the type of underwater structure where you look for fish is things like humps and ledges.

IMHO, the key to locating the fish is having a total understanding of how sonar works and how to use it. Side and down imaging really gives you an incredible view of what is in the water and lets you know whether fish are nearby or not (getting them to bite is another matter though). Instead of spending money on guides, I suggest saving that money up for awesome electronics. Seeing fish on a 10 or 12" screen is a whole lot easier than on a 5" screen for sure.

Thanks D Miner. There are a couple of humps that I haven't tried yet. I've also been looking at some of the sonar threads on this forum and the technology is amazing especially when paired with the skill at tuning it in that some of these folks have. Right now, I'm running the old-school down-facing sonar on a Lowrance HDS5, and I still have a lot to learn before I can say I'm confident that what I am seeing on the screen is what is actually down there. No structure scan yet.

Hopefully as the technology becomes more readily available, the price will come down some, but I'm not holding my breath.