Best way to get bit? Fish where the fish are. Way too often fishermen fish where it's convenient or where they caught them last year without using the advantages of modern technology.

Don't just pick out a random tree in a 100 acre patch of trees. Something makes one tree better than another. Try to figure what that is. Could be a creek channell or depth change but you can bet that there's something effecting that tree.

My favorite tree would be one apart from the rest. The farther away the better.
Same for brushpiles. Sure a brushpile in a forest will hold some fish but one alone on a big flat should hold a lot of fish. If there's a drop off there so much the better.

Logic will help you a lot but electronics will help a lot more if you learn to properly use them. I constantly talk to fishermen that don't know what a brushpile looks like on their sonar unit. Take some time and learn a bit. Build a brushpile
and then practice looking at it from all angles until you know what you're seeing.

By the way, when you build a brushpile, build a big one. A bucket with a few branches in it may look big on your driveway but it's a dot in the lake.



This is how we do it. A willow tree that's 6"-8" in diameter (or two of them tied together)will make a nice pile that's easy to find and will last for years.


I rarely start fishing anymore unless I can see fish on the spot.
Sidescan or down scan sonars are real effective, see below. You don't have to have them if you learn to use your 2D sonar but it really helps.

Almost everytime I fish I find a few new spots like these.




Trees that you can tie to are certainly convenient but they are also the ones that attract the most fishing pressure.



My favorite ones are the ones that you cannot see from the surface, Use your sonar to locate them or look around when the water is down several feet and mark them.



Crappie love concrete. Look for old home sites or foundations that are under the water. This old house foundation had a rock wall beside it and the fish are all around the wall.




This is an underwater pipeline that is a fish magnet. Lots of lakes have these
facilities that pump water for local use. Scan them carefully sometimes there
Crappie and other time they are hybrids or catfish.



When you do find an Isolated stump or tree you want to fish the ones that have
a lot of clutter around them. Sometimes it's just bait but usually Crappie are there also.



This tree has a huge school of big Crappie around it.



This log has a school of Crappie tight on it, a school of White bass near it and a school of Hybrids near them. We caught all three depending where we threw.



Learn to use your sonar and catches like this will be the norm.

Good post.

Thanks for the insight!! Just got my 898si mounted and plan to go learn it in the morning!! Cant wait!

Thanks for the informative post!

This is why I love this site! What a wealth of knowledge.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us! Good post!

GO TEAM GO......

Awesome Ernest. Thanks!

Thanks a bunch Mr. Paty! Great Info.Also your Video(Fishing Electronics 101) has helped me alot.A must buy for understanding what you see down there.

Excellent insight Ernest! Things we often over look.

Thanks for the info Ernest. Is that you with the fish?

Great post. Getting my 998 installed soon cant wait to get it out on the water and learn it.

Good post Ernest. Thanks.

That's why I call Mr. Paty the GURU....
Thanks Ernest, things I learn from your posts are PRICELESS>>>>>

ok, now I can become a guide!