Fishing A New Bass Lake
Fishing a lake for the first time may sound intimidating, but if you follow these tips from bass pro Gary Dobyns, you'll have no problem mastering any water that harbors bass.
By Chris Shaffer
Sloughs, canals and bypasses often have similarities to river systems. "They usually have a lot of cover," Dobyns said. "They have some current, usually. In the springtime, you don't want to be in full blown current."

Instead, look to current breaks and bends, and fish all available cover.

CHECK YOUR TECHNIQUE
The final recipe to success comes with technique. If Dobyns had six rods rigged with six baits, he would choose: a Revenge half-ounce chartreuse blue and white spinnerbait with gold blades; a half-ounce Smithwick Rattling Rogue with a black back, silver sides and orange belly; a Rivers2Sea topwater frog; a flipping stick with a Yamamoto Kreature Bait; a Yamamoto tube; and a 6-inch Robo worm.

These, according to Dobyns are the best baits he has to throw at springtime bass. How does he determine color and size with spinnerbaits, for instance?

"A half-ounce is the most universal size. You can fish it deep or shallow and it's the top seller by 90 percent. It's what I throw 98 percent of the time," he said.

The baits above are effective under different circumstances. In natural lakes and ponds, it's a good play to call on spinnerbaits, jigs and frogs.

"I'd grab the Revenge spinnerbait and look for tules or some kind of ambush cover. That would be my first choice," says Dobyns. "I'd try to parallel the spinnerbait alongside the brush, tules and weeds, and fish it right inside the cover."

His second choice would be the Kreature bait or a jig fished in the same places. If you can't get a reaction bite off the spinnerbait, maybe they'll grab the jig. Frogs, on the other hand, are big-fish bait.

"When I pick up and throw the frog, I'm trying to catch better quality fish. If I can't get them out of tules on a spinnerbait, or even if I can, I'm still going to be looking for other fish in there," Dobyns said. "I'd cast a topwater frog as far as I can throw it in the tules. There's a lot of fish that are going to be way back in the tules that I can't throw a spinnerbait into, but I can get a frog to those fish. My favorite bait in May and June is actually a frog. You'll get big fish on it."

 In reservoirs you don't have a lot of cover. More often than not, you are going to be fishing rocks and boulders. "My first choice would be a Senko. That's my number one bait in May and June on clear-water reservoirs," he said.

Dobyns chooses to keep green pumpkin or watermelon Yamamoto tube bait fished on a quarter-ounce dart head or an oxblood or Aaron's Magic Robo worm on a 6-inch straight tail close by at all times when fishing reservoirs in the spring.

"The green pumpkin works no matter where you fish," he said. "It's brown and green. It's a natural-colored bait and does a great job at imitating crawdads. I start on points and work my way back into the pockets or coves until I find the bass."

Oftentimes when you fish worms you are going to attract bites from smaller bass. On the other hand, big fish can be available on worms. The trick in the spring is to fish them shallow. It's best to target zero to 10 feet. There's no need to fish deeper.

You can choose the same baits to throw in river systems, canals and sloughs. You can't go wrong with half-ounce spinnerbaits and flip baits. Again, stay off the main river as much as possible.

"If I've got structure and I can throw a frog on it, I'm going to throw it," says Dobyns. "I'll get bigger bites on a frog. I'm going to try to get into some place where the fish would look to spawn. Flats, protected bays or anywhere I can get out of the major current are good choices."

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