Hybrid Basics

This is my first year for fishing with a boat.
I have trolled around Lake Conroe, on the south side, with various crank baits, and the hel-pet combination.
I have not caught many, but I have caught a few.
Do hybrids have any type of annual pattern?
What depths do they like?
Are there other ways of catching them than with trolling?
I know this is 1st grade stuf to many of you, but I would appreciate anything you can pass on.

What kind of depth finder do you have? Do you have a map of Conroe? Spend some time using your depth finder in different areas you find on your map - if you have a GPS, mark those humps, deep points, river channel ledges. Hybrids relate to structure as long as the bait is there or nearby.

Use your eyes - survey everything - wind direction, wave action, water surface for feeding fish chasing shad, land structure along the water edge. Watch for birds (in the air and along the windblown shorelines) because they will be where the bait is and that's where the fish could probably be as well.

Wind blown shorelines/points would be an excellent place to start casting swim baits/slabs. Wind creates current which pushes bait onto these structures and they become easy pickings for predators.

If there's chop on the water, look for "slick" spots - these appear as "oil slicks" which break up the chop and generally indicate a school of baitfish (shad exude oil which is lighter than water) on the upwind side of the slick.

Pay attention to what the birds and wind is doing and watch your depth finder. Pick a depth (18-20 feet) and just idle along at 3-4 mph trying to stay on that depth and think about the turns you make in relation to the shoreline features which could indicate the end of a point coming out into the lake.

Look for big schools of baitfish on your depth finder, stop and slab the area when you find bait.

"""If there's chop on the water, look for "slick" spots - these appear as "oil slicks" which break up the chop and generally indicate a school of baitfish (shad exude oil which is lighter than water) on the upwind side of the slick."""

I mentioned this a few weeks ago and was passed on like a a plain girl at a hoe down.

Hey duece I heard about this too,and thought it sounded crazy.But was fishin the other day in steady 10mph winds,saw this oilslisk to speak of ran straight over it with my fish finder and it was stacked with shad.So I'm a beliver.Good luck LRS.

Surf fishing is more my line of experience, and yes, you look for birds and oil slicks there as well.

Focus your time initially studying a good map of the lake. I like to start out finding humps in the lake that have easy access to deep water. Seems like these humps hold the bigger fish. Once you mark these drift or troll those humps. Focus on the side the wind is blowing into. That is usually where the bait fish are. One other thing that is a big help, especially if you don't feel real confident in your ability to convert what the graph is showing you into usable info, make yourself a mental note to take a good look at the graph when you start getting bites in a given area. This is a good way to train your eye on what to look for next time. Good luck!

I think you were passed on like an ugly girl at a hoe down

Not sure about the oil slick theory. I have been fishing Hubbard steady for good amount of time and haven't seen such a thing. However, I have seen this while at the coast fishing for specs and reds and is caused by the reds and specs feeding on the mullet. But, that is saltwater, where the oil levels in the fish are greater than freshwater fish. Also, if shad are the cause of this, I would think that other lakes with shad would have experienced the same phenomenon

If you know where to look, what time to look and what to use the big hybrids are there for the taking on Hubbard

Heck, in salt water, when fishing for bluefish, not only do you see oil slicks, you can sometimes smell the fish.

So far, I've not experienced anything like that in fresh water.

It kind of smells like watermelon and you could smell it from a good distance off, if you were downwind

What? This is not spec-trout fishing.

I'll stick to finding fish on humps, points, & creek channels. I've never had any success here on CC with that theory and dont know anyone that fishes that way here. If your finding fish in the middle of the lake there generally relating to something like an under water hump, point, or creek channel. Find what there relating to and you can find fish in other similair spots. Current is the single most important thing for predicting fish location in my book. Learn to read it and it will pay off if you fish it correctly.

I agree with Chuck, but the oil slick process does exist. However, it's not something you can count on.

The next time you spot one, please take a pic and post it. I'd be interested to see it