Structure: The Key

 STRUCTURE: WHERE FISH LIVE AND LOAF ...

20 more areas to look for fish

From a March 1976 Wisconsin Fins and Feathers story by Steve Grooms. Credited as a Lindner map, so it likely originally came from one of the earlier In-Fisherman magazines or possibly a Fishing Facts article that Ron or Al wrote.

(1) ROCK DROP-OFF - It holds crawfish and is generally good for walleyes and smallmouth bass is particular.

(2) ROCKY FLATS - Most productive in spring of the year for walleyes and smallmouth bass.

(3) WEEDLINE - (Where weeds end) - Good for all game fish, particularly largemouth bass and northern pike.

(4) STAIRSTEP LEDGE - (below the weed line) - Good for walleyes, smallmouths and big northern.

(5) MOUTH OF CREEK OR RIVER - Productive for all game fish during early spring.

(6) SUBMERGED TIMBER ON BANKS OF CREEK OR RIVER BED - Best for largemouth bass

(7) SUBMERGED TIMBER AND/OR BRUSH INSIDE THE CREEK BED - For largemouth bass and crappies.

(8) OLD CREEK OR RIVER BED CHANNELS - Home area for largemouth bass in all reservoirs. The movements of these schools will be based on weather conditions. Schools either moving up the creek beds during warmer weather and dropping back out after it cools off.

(9) TIMBER AS IN RESERVOIRS AND FLOWAGES. Outside edge of the timber is productive at times and other times you will have to move all the way into the timber itself. Fishing the heaviest, bushiest trees.

(10) SUBMERGED ROCK REEF - Productive for walleyes and smallmouths throughout most of the fishing season.

(11) CLIFFS — In the south these are generally Kentucky (spotted bass) waters; in the north, smallmouths, walleyes, northerns and lake trout in early spring (if other conditions are present.)

(12) SLOPING UNDERWATER POINTS SURROUNDED BY DEEPER WATER - Productive on all fish, especially during the summer season.

(13) RIVER OR STREAM OUTLET - It can be productive for roving schools of fish at times, but most of the time, some surrounding area would be much more productive.

(14) BUSHY POINTS - Very productive at pre-spawning periods and throughout the spawning time and night fishing through the summer. These are key times but are generally good all through the fishing season and should be checked at regular intervals. (Directed to largemouth bass in reservoirs.)

(15) HARD BOTTOM SURROUNDED BY SOFT BOTTOM - By hard bottom we mean sand, clay, gravel, rock surrounded by large areas of mud, silt, etc. This area can be a small rise as little as one foot difference.

(16) REEDS OR RUSHES - Productive for largemouth and smallmouth bass especially in spring of the year. In certain areas these are good walleye waters in fall when frogs go into hibernation (Only where frogs are prevalent.)

(17) STAIR STEP LEDGE ON A CREEK OR RIVER BANK - Generally a hard spot to locate but very productive for all species of fish.

(18) SUBMERGED (WEEDY) ISLAND - Productive for all types of fish in all areas. The edges of the drop-offs most productive..

(19) SHALLOW WEEDY BAYS - Good for largemouth, northern and musky early in the year and again for a short period in the fall. The nearest dropoff to the deepest water in the area will hold most of the adult game fish through the. summer season.

(20) A DEEP HOLE OR CAVERN - In shallow lakes an area like this will hold the whole concentration of game fish. In deep natural lakes and reservoirs the drop-offs surrounding these holes should be fished. Look for a break on that drop-off, example, a pile of rocks, a sunken tree an exceptionally heavy patch of trees. Something that makes it different from the surrounding bottom. In very deep lakes this can be barren water.

Spinner Bait Tips

 🤔 Can you name this popular 1980s spinnerbait brand from just the unique blades shown in the picture?

hint: it rhymes with "pike ring," and the brand is still with us today.

In the meantime, here’s some additional spinnerbait fishing tips to remember from the Spence Petros article it appeared in:

• keep hooks razor-sharp

• the heavier the cover, the shorter the cast

• use tackle heavy enough that will allow you to control the fish in the cover being fished

• plastic or pork dressings work well; use colors that contrast with lure's body color

• for maximum blade action and feel, use a ball-bearing swivel between wire arm and blade. If lure doesn't come with one, I put on a Berkley ball-bearing snap-swivel (size 0) or a swivel (size 0 or 1)

• to give lure more action or a bigger silhouette, reverse rubber skirt so the strands bulge out more

• bass will sometimes nip at back end of the skirt during spring. Trim skirt down so it ends at hook's bend

• try faster, steady retrieves for more active fish

• try slower, deeper retrieves with pauses that allow lure to flutter downward when fish are less active.

Fishing Facts, 1986

BASS...Catch More!

 A SUREFIRE WAY TO CATCH MORE BASS!

Author Larry Larsen says find or fish darker or more stained waters to up your chances at catching more bass.

> In dark waters anglers can generally catch more fish. The water clarity covers up mistakes, and we all make them. Fish are usually closer to the surface in off-colored waters, which allows all anglers a better chance to catch them. Since most anglers are better "catchers" in the easier-to-fish shallow water, their opportunity to battle fish is better in waters with reduced underwater visibility.

> RAINSTORM RUN-OFFS - Waters can be dingy for various reasons. Muddy run-off that continues for weeks may drastically change the water clarity of a reservoir or natural lake. Microscopic particles can suspend throughout the lake, leaving the waters with a cloudy, low-visibility look.

> SOUND COUNTS - Most anglers know that sound plays a vital role in the success of a lure retrieve or bait presentation. Vibrations (sound) excite fish into striking a piece of wood, metal or plastic. Vibrations are picked up by the lateral line that runs along the side of a bass. A bass can pretty much judge lure speed, size and direction thru its lateral line, and quickly compute whether to strike or not. The darker the water the more insignificant "seeing" becomes for them. In tests, blindfolded bass had no problem tracking down and striking lures.

👉 (Diagram) When working small protrusions, cast as far back into them as you can. Lure should be retrieved parallel and as tight to these edges as possible. Larger points should be worked at various depths, starting with casts to the shallower breakline.

Fishing Facts, JUNE, 1985

Post Spawn Blues...

 HOW TO BEAT Bassin' Post-Spawn Blues

Speaking of great illustrators, Tom Seward was another one of the best. As a former art teacher from IL, he drew all his own article diagrams. He was also a taxidermist and lure designer (Crankbait Corp., Natural Ike, Luhr Jensen, Yakima, etc.) and helped pioneer in the “natural” color patterns on crankbaits in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Here are his thoughts on post-spawn bass movements from a 1985 Fishing Facts article.

> Knowing what to look for and choice of lakes are critical to good post-spawn bass action. Fish can be tracked from creek arms and coves right into the main lake. Many apparently attractive spots hold no fish or just yearlings. 

🔑 Productive spots have been marked with a large dot. 

> Timbered coves without spawning flats or proper bottom content are eliminated by fish, as are areas without clear lead-ins from well-formed creeks. 

> Points with no surface area and far from feeder creeks are often poor choices. But notice how flats near deep water or creek edges hold fish on corners, cups or fingers, while slow-tapering flats distances from deep water are poor. 

> Areas shown…are also enhanced by cover in the form of stumps, brush cut to clear lake, or thicket edges at the ends of farm fields. 

> Fish especially concentrate on sharper projections that taper out into deep water or "cupped" areas near deep water. Fish may be a long way from shore, but the contours and edges of holding areas must be in the warmer 13 to 15-foot areas where the bass can be tempted with lures. 

> A study of this map section should give an idea of the selection process needed to find numbers of concentrated fish during the so-called tough post-spawn period.

Anchoring...Forgotten Art

 OLD SCHOOL: TECHNIQUE

Anchoring is quickly becoming a lost art thanks to technological advances like “spot lock” trolling motors and Power Poles. This was the way all the good casters worked productive structure back in the day. I still carry a 15 lb. anchor and 100 ft of rope in the boat.

Tips On Proper Anchoring

by VITO LICARI

Fishing Facts, 1972

Spinnerbait Flutter

 Because the basics never go out of style…and at one time, these were cutting edge techniques. Jimmy Houston won AOY twice on the B.A.S.S. tour, primarily on the strength of his spinnerbait game - 1976, two years before this story, and 1986, ten years later. Recently, I’ve read an article or two that said with all the guys jiggling minnows and sharp-shooting fish out in open water, spinnerbaits were about to make a comeback.

FLUTTERING THE SPINNERBAIT

👉 Fire your spinnerbait several feet past a tree [or moss bed], engage the reel and immediately begin the retrieve by reeling and lifting with the rod tip. Once the lure has reached the trunk [or edge or hole in moss bed] stop the retrieve, and allow the lure to begin fluttering to the bottom.

👉 It is important to let the lure sink as straight down as possible, right next to the tree [or moss bed]. To achieve this, slowly drop your rod tip as the bait descends.

👉 Follow it down… By doing so, you slowly give the lure enough line to let it sink almost vertically, instead of swinging back toward you in an arc. As long as you begin the flutter with the rod tip high, you are in good position to accomplish this. By keeping just enough tension on the line to eliminate slack, you can feel the pulsation of the blade as the lure "helicopters" to the bottom. 

👉 Single, large blade spinnerbaits are far better for fluttering than the tandem models. The two blades on a tandem lure tend to tangle when the bait falls, causing it to fall too fast. Tandems are much better suited for a steady retrieve, where the two blades work together to cause a great deal of vibration.

Excerpted from In-Fisherman, Feb-Mar 1978

Structure Fishing Basics

 Do You Know These “Basics” Of Structure Fishing?

By Buck Perry

Figure 1 - "If the fisherman does not accept the first part of the basic guideline, which states that fish spend the greater part of their time in deep water, further study of the structure fisherman's guidelines would be a waste of time."

Figure 2A and Figure 2B -  "A part of the basic guideline states another fact that has to be accepted. It says when fish become active and move toward the shallows, they do not go just any direction, but will use features OF and ON the bottom to show them the way. The most common 'structure' being a 'bar' (a feature of the bottom) extending from the shallows to the deep water in the area." It might be well at this point to say more about the terms used. "Structure situations" are features (OF and ON the bottom the fish use as their guides in their movements and migrations. "Structure" is a feature of the bottom that is different from the surrounding bottom area.

👉 "Breaks" are objects ON the bottom such as stumps, rocks, bushes, sunken ob-jects, etc. "Breaklines" are places on the bottom where there is a more rapid increase or decrease in depth, such as the edge of a channel. When the more rapid increase or decrease in depth occurs at a particular spot (a short distance) it is referred to as a "break." Fish react to other forms of "breaklines" such as: the face of a weedline, the edge of a current, where waters of different colors or temperatures meet, where a "clean" bottom meets a "dirty" bottom (clean versus muck, etc.).

Fishing Facts, 1985