I have been studying the Buck Perry System for Structure Fishing. It is
very informative, but I am still having some difficulty with a couple
things. He emphasizes that he believes that bass spend the most of their
time in the deepest water in the area. (Not to be confused with the deepest
water in the whole lake.)

He goes onto say that the fish are often contacted by fishermen when they
are moving up or down the structure from deepwater to shallower water to
feed. Even more so he goes on to say that the bigger fish often do not move
up as much as the smaller fish.

Would that indicate that if your are nailing down 1 to 2 lb fish you should
drop back to deeper water along any structure or break leading back to pick
up bigger fish?

In the area I fish there is almost no really deep water. Ten or twelve feet
would be considered deep, with very few holes anywhere going more than
fifteen feet. I have consistantly caught fish off of weeds with a drop to
6 or 7 feet off the edge of the weeds, but I have caught very few fish in
deeper water, and very few fish up shallow. Almost nobody I talk to around
here spends much time in the deeper water except catfishermen. A lot of
people talk about pitching way back into heavy cover like it is the holy
grail of big fish. I have to be honest. I spent a lot of time pitching and
flipping last year with little success. I caught a few fish, but nothing
spectacular with maybe 3 lbs being the biggest.

The weed edges have produced more fish consistantly, but not all that large.
On the other hand I would rather weigh in five fish from one to two ponds in
a tournament than just one 3 lb fish.

I am trying to figure out when or at what ambient light level to try the
different areas. When I used to fish the canal banks regularly my best time
to fish was from the hottest part of the afternoon until that light and
temperature break that happens in the late afternoon. The fishing usually
picks up about that time and then tapers off until after sunset with an
occassional good bite just around sunset.

Now I look back and analyze that to try and understand what is happening.
During that hot really bright time of day the fish are concentrated on cover
like bridges and pipes. That afternoon temperature drop is usually paired
with a slight reduction of light level. If you aren't tuned to it you don't
really notice it because its still darned bright out there in the desert
sun. The fish get active then. If you follow Buck Perry's advice he would
say it is because of the change in light level. If you follow what I always
believed its because of the temperature drop. The light level makes a
little more sense to me now because the fish can always go deeper, and in
the canals the constant current keeps the water conditions slightly more
stable.

I think that time is more productive because they are becoming more active,
but still close to the cover where you can find them. Then they begin to
spread out. Still active but harder to find any concentrations of fish. I
actually suspect that the sunset burst of activity that sometimes happens is
when you find a larger group of fish in an area as they become the most
active for a short time.

I am trying to figure out how to transfer this knowledge to the river and
lakes along the lower Colorado or even if it does translate. Since I mostly
fish on the river from before sunrise until early afternoon the conditions
are obviously different. In addition my best times in the past are not even
fished. Add on the super abundance of cover along the river and all the
lakes there really isn't anyplace that concentrates fish that I can figure
out.

I have fished other places in the past where I could catch a dozen or more
fish in a very small area or off a single spot in a very short time.
Usually there is something distinctive about the spot that I could use
elsewhere to figure out fish. In the river and back lakes I have found a
few areas that will produce four or five small fish or one or two larger
fish, but the areas are larger and the single spots are almost nonexistant.
One or two spots have produced a fish or two on successive trips, but not
consistantly.

The closest I have come to finding a good spot was areas that seemed to trap
baitfish. I could usually catch fish in those spots for upto a half an
hour, but as soon as the bait fish break out of the area the bass and other
predatory fish are gone. I can't seem to find them and catch a single fish
when that happens. They have to go somewhere. Where?

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