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"Thundercat" wrote in message
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On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 15:22:53 -0600, "Charles Summers"
wrote:

If you guys had a tournament on a lake that you have never fished before,
nor was given a chance to do any pre-fishing, how would you go about
disecting the lake? What would you look for, and how would you approach
it?

This has nothing to do with Okeechobee... just want to see how you would
handle this scenario.

In a nutshell:
Locate first major contour change and / or outside weed edge. Find
these both at the same depth and I've got a definite starting point.
In the absence of weeds I will likely look for bottom compostion
changes or significant structural elements like stumps, boulders,
ditches or holes. Points, I'd have to work across points. Keep an eye
out for baitfish or suspended fish. During the spawn or early fall I
would likely start shallower with laydowns, weedy flats and areas that
would funnel baitfish traffic; work more towards the inside weed edge.
I would initally arm myself with 5 rigs that should let me work
different depths and speeds (in no particular order).
1: SWSpinnerbait
2: Senko
3: Fin-S Fish
4: Drop Shot
5: Rat-L-Trap
All of these are baits that I have confidence in. Without knowing the
personality of the lake, I will try to find active and aggressive fish
first. Hopefully I would be able to load the boat on spinnerbait and
trap fish. Then again, when have I EVER put a limit of fish in the
boat...Never mind.

Harry J aka Thundercat
Brooklyn Bill's Tackle Shop Fishing Team
http://www.geocities.com/brooklynbill2003/products.html
Share the knowledge, compete on execution.