I've heard KVD, and other pros, indicate that one big mistake that amateurs make is to fish spots to long.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to be on the water 2-3 times a week but only during the week, no weekends. I have to take the kids to school and pick them up. So, I'm usually on the water at around 8-830 ish and off no later that 330. I'll fish until it gets hot, then I'll start my graphing.

I'd venture that he's say "dead water" too long. I've seen him sit on a spot working it for an hour and catches 2 one pounders.
Tim

The key that most people miss when fishing offshore is timing. I�ve seen too many guys get discouraged offshore fishing because they just never hit the right spot at the right time. I don�t care how many are down there, if they aren�t actively feeding when you�re there, you aren�t gonna catch them. This is something I�ve just recently started getting better at the last couple years. I like to have a rotation of baits and make 6-10 casts with each. Start with either a swimbait or crankbait, then either a big jig or big worm, then a shaky head with any straight tail worm. If I know the sweet spot, I can usually go through this rotation in 15-20 minutes. If I don�t get bit, I�m moving... even if I see fish down there. Fishing deep isn�t like fishing shallow where you can just get a fish to react by dropping a bait in his face. You have to hit them when they�re feeding. Period.

No doubt, this is me. I've been offshore, fish for 20-30 minutes and give up. Mostly because I'm not confident and go back to my old ways.

Do you guys find that certain spots are fairly consistent as to when they will feed or is it random and you make your milkrun until you find them biting?

Gonna sound dumb....but it's both. Sometimes deep spots are like clockwork. Sometimes it is VERY hit or miss. I have some deep spots that do very well, consistently, from about an hour before sunset till dark. Then I have some that, for whatever reason, seem to work on windy days, regardless of the time of day.

Any of you use the Ultrex autopilot Link follow-contour feature?

Yep. It's both. Some of my deep spots only have fish on them 2 or 3 times a year, but when they're there....... you load the boat. Others, I can pretty much count on almost any day to be there and feeding at some point. Some of these spots I wish I could see exactly what it was on the bottom that held them or drew them. I find that part to be fascinating. I need to get an under water camera I can drop down.

Not much to add to the above other than to say when I'm learning lakes and have the time, I spend quite a bit of time on spots/areas to get a feel for whats there in and around what I would assume is the spot. Somewhere on every piece of structure is the sweet spot, just like there's a certain tree big bucks pass by or a corner of a field they go through. It take time being there to identify that. But once you've been on these area over and over you start to understand where they want to be and when and once you put pieces together, you understand like Jaret said, they bite when they are set up right. So a few casts and you will know.