John,

I fish the Winnebago system (which includes Lake Winnebago, Lake Poygan,
Lake butte des morts, Lake Winneconne, the Fox River, and the Wolf River) as
well as various creeks that come off of each body of water. This system is
HUGE. Bottom line is, and this may be an over simplification, knowing the
habits of the fish is the only way I find fish. We have mid lake humps
(rock), points, slop, flats, bridges, (not much wood), and tons of Rip Rap.
One thing I did once I finally got a decent boat was take my topo, highlight
areas where I felt fish would be, or near and spent a day or 2 discovering
those areas, using my electronics. The beauty of it is 90% of the spots
have held fish consistently, granted the quality is not always there, but
the areas do sustain life. One problem I have is that I am always in
tournament mode, and not in recreational mode, so maybe catching 20 smallies
in an outting would be a good time in recreational mode, but if they are all
12", it is worthless to me, except for the fact that there is life in that
area.
I know I don't have to tell you to trust your instincts, but I break this
system (and every lake I fish) into parts, almost segment it out, and
concentrate on that area. To me viewing a lake as a whole it to
intimidating, you need to find areas that you feel will hold fish by asking
yourself all the standard questions.. spawning access, cover, food, deep
water escape.
The nice thing about living on this system is that I get used to big water,
I have a plan for every wind that blows , and every significant weather
shift. When my dad views this lake he rolls into the fetal position in a
dark corner somewhere and cries for hours. That is not how I wanted to be
:-). Something I read in a computer programming book sometime ago told me
to break things down further and further until I could easily understand it
all, that is how I approach things now.
I don't want to come across like I am so pro, and have it all figured out,
but this is just how I disected the Winnebago system, and have had a lot of
success catching the fish I target.

Chris Rennert
http://www.chrisrennert.com

"John Kerr" wrote in message
...
I havn't been posting much lately...been out fishing . As many of you
know, I am a transplanted Californian, now living in Kentucky. I live a
few miles from Kentucky and Barkley Lakes...big lakes! I can catch bass
consistently, but that is when I am fishing the spots I know that they
are there...boat docks, and inhabited areas of the lakes. But I love to
fish in the more natural settings...just me and the wilderness so to
speak. But theses lakes are really big.....just too much water, can't
seem to find "that" spot" on them. In California, the lakes were "ponds"
compared to this, and I could always pin point the "spots" pretty quick
out there. I have all the maps, talk to all the local "in the know"
people...but I still see too much water out there, and move around way
too much I fear. "The water's greener on the other side of the hill
thing". I keep seeing what I thnk are better areas .
Anyone else have this problem.....yea, I know, what a great problem to
have, hu? grin
JK