New to all of this....

[chren]

So I've recently caught the swimbug, and I need some advice. Living in NE Ohio, every lake I fish are kettle lakes, meaning they have not much variety in shore line structure. The main forage in near all lakes is bluegill. Two of them have perch, and afew have bullheads. Record bass in my main lake is 8lb. Best structure I have found so far is creek mouths and any openings in the arrow-like leaves that grow 3-4 inches out of the water. Besides that, not many points or drop-offs or rock shoals. What swimbaits do I go with, and what technique would be the best one to be able to pull some swimbait fish outta these styles of lakes? Any help is appreciated!

[Fishingallday31]

For sure pick up some smaller baits before the huge ones, it will boost your confidence and ease you into swimbaiting instead of jumping full in with a 10 inch bait and not getting solid bites regularly. I suggest Black Dog Shellcracker, SPRO 6 inch, 5 or 6inch Lunker Punker, 6 inch Hudds, and a few 8 inch Hudds. These baits consistently produce fish for me, and the range of fish is really good on each. What that means is that you could stick 2 and 3lbers, up to the biggest fish in your lake. Good luck!

[MikeyG23]

For sure pick up some smaller baits before the huge ones, it will boost your confidence and ease you into swimbaiting instead of jumping full in with a 10 inch bait and not getting solid bites regularly. I suggest Black Dog Shellcracker, SPRO 6 inch, 5 or 6inch Lunker Punker, 6 inch Hudds, and a few 8 inch Hudds. These baits consistently produce fish for me, and the range of fish is really good on each. What that means is that you could stick 2 and 3lbers, up to the biggest fish in your lake. Good luck!

I would also add 3:16 rising son and mission fish to the list they produce and are in that range of fish as well

[Primus]

If you have the chance get a Matt lures hard gill. I've also caught a solid 4lber recently on a Got 'em coach gill bait along with a few others on that lure . This bait is more readily available through Tackle Warehouse which is a sponser of this website. Just click the banner if interested.

[Fishingallday31]

For sure pick up some smaller baits before the huge ones, it will boost your confidence and ease you into swimbaiting instead of jumping full in with a 10 inch bait and not getting solid bites regularly. I suggest Black Dog Shellcracker, SPRO 6 inch, 5 or 6inch Lunker Punker, 6 inch Hudds, and a few 8 inch Hudds. These baits consistently produce fish for me, and the range of fish is really good on each. What that means is that you could stick 2 and 3lbers, up to the biggest fish in your lake. Good luck!

I would also add 3:16 rising son and mission fish to the list they produce and are in that range of fish as well

For sure. 6.5 Rising Son in Bluegill is a staple.

[Mason]

I fish a lake similar to what you described. Very flat and not much cover. I would recommend holding your rod high and waking your baits and also don't hesitate to 6" to a foot off the bank parallel to it.

[flaswimbaiter]

I found that bass in deep lakes with no structure seem to suspend a lot. I would suggest a mid-water slow moving bait (hudd, rising son) or a glide (gan craft, s-waver). If you find them hugging the dropoff on the shoreline, try a wake bait at night or early morning, those bigger fish are going to move shollow during those times.

[chren]

I was actually lookin at the huds and the shellcracker. Any good experience on the weedles 6" hudds? Weeds are a HUGE reality and In some places nothin short of a Texas rig will get through. Also, I apologize, as after posting that, I realized I forgot to mention that the lake is not deep at all. 10 feet is the deepest hole in the main lake I fish one more question, any good ideas for fishing a filled-in gravel mine? Shore only, but it's only about 500 yards across. Throwing into about 30-60' of water here. Sorry for all the questions, don't know a good swimbait spot from a hole in the ground

[Spectrum]

I used to live up that way. Fished Erie mostly, but send me a PM and I'll get you my phone number and email. If I can help at all, I will. I think you need like 5 posts to PM though.

 

What lakes are you fishing, or what town are you in?

[chren]

Fishin bass lake up in Chardon township. The old gravel mine I'm talkin about is Walter C. Best preserve. If you have any experience on Ladue, I'm planin a trip up there. Other than that its just local ponds and lakes that may or may not be "opened" to the public. Pays off though, got me a 5 1/2 lber on a Jackall giron a few hours ago. Any good lakes you know of? Other than those, a golf course pond and a yearly trip to Canada for smalies, I don't get much new lake variety. Limited to a canoe, sooo just keep that in mind. P.S. got some niceeee river musky near a place I lifeguard, and I'm assuming that those guys will hit most of these bass baits?

[honestabe101]

I was actually lookin at the huds and the shellcracker. Any good experience on the weedles 6" hudds? Weeds are a HUGE reality and In some places nothin short of a Texas rig will get through.

 

Then you def want weedless..come through grass/weeds with nothing on them. The line tie being in the nose helps tremendously.

[Bassindon69]

Post up a pic when you get em

Try to keep it simple.

[chren]

Will be sure to! Can't wait to hit the water now!

[Top Ramen]

meaning they have not much variety in shore line structure.

 

 

Keep in mind that when there isn't structure that's obvious to you, that doesn't mean there isn't structure that the fish notice and use to position themselves. Even subtle changes in contour will hold fish, as will places where the bottom composition changes.

 

Also, in lakes like that, some of the bigger fish will be "flush feeders." That is, they will cruise a specific area over and over and see what they can make panic into making a run for it. Once a bluegill or shad panics, it makes mistakes and the bass will key in on it. In these situations, working the bait roughly parallel to the shore can be very productive.

 

Good luck!

[chren]

That confirms my thoughts then, as most of my bass and my biggest ones were caught by stream mouths where the bottom went from sandy into weeds and had a slight drop-off. This also explains why I keep on catching one big ole momma in the same location every day of every year. Bass are creatures of habits, and I just need to find out what they are!