The theory of shallow fishing is pretty straightforward - graphs not really needed.

Offshore however, that's what I'm trying to figure out. First and foremost - are you guys fishing areas on your graphs that SHOULD hold bass (rocks, brush, timber, humps, ditches, etc.) even though they may not be showing up on your graphs but DO have bait at the moment? I mean, you aren't always looking for bass on your graphs before you cast, correct? I'm having a hard time trusting a spot I think is good but don't see bass on, stopping and fishing it. Thoughts?

If there is cover and bait....there is at least one bass nearby. I'd at least cast at the spot a couple times.

absolutely.

Don't forget, you are only seeing a cone or thin slices of certainty pieced together on the screen, the probability ranges for staged fish are much wider than your transducer can see. At least that's my theory. Find an offshore specialist, they may tell me I'm an idiot. Well, they would probably be right.

It is all about the contours between your shoreline spots and the main creek channel. If it is out on the main lake then it is the contours between your spot and the channel. These contours work as highways to deliver Bass to the shallow water spots. Any irregular feature on that contour, the route to the shoreline cover is where they like to hold up and retreat to after the early morning bite.

"(rocks, brush, timber, humps, ditches, etc.]"; are the feeding areas. With deep water close by they will produce if the contours are right to deliver the fish. Look for irregular feature on and next to these kinds of spots to locate the fish. I want these to be in 15 to 20 ft. of water.
- Look for small rock cropping's on the sides of points which will be an irregular feature.
- Look for a patch of heavy brush on the side of a point.
- Heavy timber next to the creek channel just on one side or on the inside bend is an great feature.
- Look for a hump with protrusions sticking out off of it or a gouge in the hump. It may also have heaver rock in a small spot somewhere on that hump.
- Ditches that run out of the creek toward the shoreline are excellent spots. Look for rises on the ditch bank, gouges in the bank and any humps that may have been formed where the ditch leaves the main creek.
- Look for long points that have a hump or rise on the end of the point.

This is how I find these spots through Mapping. I start with a good paper map, Nav. maps and going back to low water times on satellite views. I know the spot thoroughly before ever going there to fish. Everything is ready on the depth finder with the spot GPS marked, way points dropped and symbols that represent the irregular features have been placed while sitting in the shop. Once you reach the spot on the water you know what to do and exactly how to fish it. I want to keep the boat in about 20 ft. of water as not to disturb the fish and be able to cast from the front deck to the irregular features as well as some of the shoreline cover on points and protrusions. The man in the back of the boat drags a Crig to help find the deeper water hide outs as you take the boat in and out following the 20 ft. contour through the area you have chosen.

If a spot looks good to me, I'll at least make a few casts. Nothing wrong with that.

WOW. Thank you! That is a lot to process when I'm actually trying to interpret what I'm looking at and apply it. Good info.

If you have a graph that will accept a Navionics or Lakemaster chip I would highly recommend getting one. I only know Navionics so I'll talk about that one. The Hot Map Platinum South is the one you want. I bought mine on Ebay. The night before I go to the lake I look for some of the features Mr. Harper was talking about. You can surf the whole lake on your graph before you leave the house. I try to find good structure, ( humps, ridges, points ) with deep water close by and then use my graph when I get on the water to look for cover and bait on those spots. It takes time and lots of it but if you can find 2-3 of those honey holes you'll be set for some deeper water fishing. On Richland Chambers I found 4 cattle humps in 20 FOW that had brush on them and it served me well many times.
On Ray Roberts I found a ridge out in the open water that came up to 10ft. on top and had brush/small trees on it and certain times of the year I could really catch'em. People will see you though and after awhile everybody's on it. Hard to keep a secret out in open water. Good luck, hope you find your own honey hole.

I like using the navionics webb app on my computer, its the exact same as the chip but without the satellite view,,,,, have to cut and paste cant get it to link

https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@6&key=srpeEnk%7CpQ

One thing I have learned about fishing humps is try and cast on top of the hump before idling over with your graph. Typically the fish on top of the hump are actively feeding. If they are off to the side of the hump they get harder to catch. Hope that helps.

I do have Navionics HMPS plugged into my unit and networked to my bow graph as well. I just found out about Navionics web app and some of google earth's advanced tools to help locate things that aren't shown on the aforementioned. Piecing them all together and then controlling the boat on these spots will be my biggest challenge. After finding the spots first of course. But I feel much more confident with the information and tools you guys have supplied here. Come on Thursday!!!

One thing I have learned about fishing humps is try and cast on top of the hump before idling over with your graph. Typically the fish on top of the hump are actively feeding. If they are off to the side of the hump they get harder to catch. Hope that helps.