Been bass fishing for as long as I can remember, but mainly in ponds & guided boat trips here and there. I'm a college student & i bought my first bass boat last summer. Been quite the learning experience as I have been learning how tough lake fishing truly is!

Just wondering how you all learned to fish in a lake? I'm not talking technique as I understand colors, baits, etc. More or less talking about finding good spots.

My strategy has just been find brush, timber, etc in creeks and such. But that often means I'm fishing in 2'-6' of water. I was able to find a little bit of success in the fall using that strategy, but now that the water temps are still in the low 50's, I've been struggling. I understand that they're probably staging for spawn, and i can see them on my sonar, but it's such a struggle to make a cast without a target.

Just looking for any advice or tips on how to catch fish in tough conditions like the current conditions/in the summer! I truly can't seem to catch a fish that isn't in shallow water haha.

Join a bass club?

Send me an Email and I will send you some articles on how to Break Down Lakes.
fishnteacher@gmail.com

Turn on the graphs and start looking for bait fish. You find them, the eaters ain’t far behind.

After a while, you will find that certain techniques fit you better than others. Once you find a few that you’re good at...fish those techniques at other lakes. It isn’t always gonna work. I like flipping, pitching, punching, and shipping docks. I really, really, REALLY love skipping docks. When I go to a lake for the first time with docks, it’s where I go. If their isn’t docks, I look for grass. If their isn’t grass, I look for rip rap. If none of those are present, I’m likely gonna blank, because after those things , it’s brush piles. Time on a lake is how you find brush piles.

Try to learn and focus on a new technique every chance you get. You’ll never get comfortable fishing 25-30ft main lake stuff with a c rig if ya don’t try. Same for football jigs and stuff.

Fish Everytime You Can Life Is Fast !Fishing is fun even if they don’t cooperate! Just enjoy the moment!

Get a livescope

What lakes are you fishing

You cover enough shallow water, all year around, and you'll get bit. Florida strain bass like to live shallow if the right habitat is available.

look for something different from everything else. the bank keys you into what is in the water. see sand going into pea gravel on the bank....itll be the same under water.

TacticalBassin and fishthemoment are probably the best free resources out there which can teach you everything you need to know before putting the knowledge into practice. you can spend the $15 and just binge BassU too. The pros dont give up their secrets there...but you really do usually get a nugget or two out of each video.

Don't run all over the lake looking for spots just yet. Pick a cove and fish it like you would a farm pond.

Retired grass grower