man made lake

[striker23]

what should i do if i am fishing a lake with very little structure because it has recently been man made, no fallen logs, all the timber on the side of the water has been cleared. this would be like your ideal neighbourhood lake stocked with fish. it took me about an entire summer to figuire out where the fish are and where i can catch them in a similar lake in south carolina.

[fishin_dude]

How old is the lake? I've heard that a newly stocked lake needs at least 7 years for it to be really productive, that might be the problem.

[striker23]

yep that must be the problem then, this one is 3 years old.

[Raul]

Man, STRUCTURE, is the bottom contour of the lake, that didn´t go away when they built it, it´s now underwater.

[KenDammit]

I thought I had posted that earlier, Raul. For some reason, my post isn't there.

Anyway, Cover is things like brush, tree's, rocks, weeds, grasses..things fish can hide in or under or whatever. Structure is basically the shape of the bottom of the lake. I will bet dollars to donuts that theres all kinds of structure..ledges, humps, dips, holes, flats, channels, ditches, rock structure, lots of stuff. Gotta get out there and use a depthfinder to search for them or ask someone who knows, but I'm sure they are there.

[Fish On]

Go throw some logs in near drop offs or etc.

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

Is it open to the public or privately owned? Obviously, if it's privately owned you've gotten permission to fish it. If that is the case, ask the owner if you can put cover in it, purchase bass fry or try to safely transport big bass there to stock it, catch crawdads, shad, and bluegill/sunfish for forage, and throw Wal-mart's Old Roy dogfood in for fast growth rates. Just my 2 cents.

Why is it a penny for your thoughts, but you have to put your 2 cents in? Someone's making a penny.

[striker23]

its a neighbourhood lake that i live in, fishing is allowed, but the HOA probably wont allow any modifications like that. Ive noticed though that there are weeds on the bottom, but they cover the entire lake, not just in a few areas.

[KenDammit]

thats good though, thats a start. Search for changes in the weeds, places where there are empty spots, severe changes in directions, some that are more dense, search through weeds on a flat, etc..etc.. That should get you started on finding some kind of pattern and will more than likely lead you to other types of cover and structure that the fish are using there.

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by Raul

Man, STRUCTURE, is the bottom contour of the lake, that didn´t go away when they built it, it´s now underwater.

Many of the man made lakes/ponds have little structure to them. They are dug out for drainage, or home lots with a lake to increase prices, so are just a big bowl, with little to no variations of structure that attract and hold the fish. At this type of place the cover is sooo important. Making a lake doesn't mean putting up a dam all the time. I have seen tons of lakes/ponds that have little structure at all to speak of.

Personally I would make my own cover and place it somewhere that isn't really noticeable and easily accessed by all. PVC trees or rock piles, or brush piles etc... If it's a new lake you have the opportunity to get the fish to where you want, not having to chase them all around.

Lizards

[Bass Ackwards]

The reservoirs around Northern CA throw Christmas trees in for cover. So if your neighbors are lazy like some of mine there may be a few laying around. Best of all it’s free.