May need some help if possible!

[Tyler882]

Hello all!

I have been fishing for a while but I am facing some challenges. Sometimes I get overwhelmed on larger bodies of water and I'm just not sure what I need to be fishing as far as structure. I feel like I'm fishing in the right areas and I'm seeing fish on the fish finder but just can't get anything to commit as I feel it should.

In particular I'm fishing TVA reservoir lakes which draw down and thats what I'm facing now. When my shallow structure comes out of the water then I get all messed up and start to struggle some.

I know its a loaded question but any help on learning lakes like this and fishing the best spots when the water goes down?

Also, my deep water confidence is little to none as I just can't seem to get deep water fishing to work for me? I go over the spots on my fishfinder and see fish but thats where it stops as I can't ever seem to fish the right bait on the fish I see. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated as well! Shallow water fishing has always been my thing but I want to get better!

Thanks all in advance!

[Walkabout7781]

Falling water levels isn't a good thing, but I was always told or read to pull back to the first drop and look for minor stickups. I believe that if you stuck a few bamboo poles or 1x2 sticks into the bottom on those drops and left them for a few hours, they'd have a fish on each when you came back.

Large bodies of water are a challenge. Cut them up into manageable sections and cover one each trip. Watch your graph and study the shoreline and exposed bottom to get clues as to where the fish might hold.

Absolutely take on the challenge of fishing deeper. It's not difficult to fish 20' to 30' with a Dropshot or Shakyhead. There are thousands of baits out there to use on either, but I'm always using a 5" Zoom lizard...sometimes 6"...or a 3", 4" or 5" Senko or Yum Dinger on either rig. Have some round head and football Shakyheads, round for weeds, football for rocks.

The bite will feel just like a Texas rigged worm, meaning it will be different every day. Sometimes they'll just "get heavy", sometimes they'll rip the rod out of your hand, sometimes you'll feel something like an electric shock. I don't find "line watching" to be very important. Sometimes you'll see your rod tip twitch or it will jump around like mad. I generally use 7' rods for about everything deep, except Ned Rig, at 6'6".

[LewStulePH.D.]

Here is some things to read and a video.

Good Luck

https://www.flwfishing.com/tips/2013...awdown-tactics

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing...drawdowns.html

https://www.bassmaster.com/tips/high-points-drawdowns

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/vlog...?ccode=VLOG273

[Tyler882]

Awesome!!! These are some great tips and exactly what I was looking for. I want to give those things a shot. I enjoy fishing a shaky head up shallow and I guess never really thought about fishing it deeper so I'm excited to try that for sure!

[LewStulePH.D.]

Well, after scanning those articles, it appears You have Your work cut out for You? Remember what some guy said "The more You practice, the luckier You'll get..."

You got Your whole Life to 'perfect it'

[Tyler882]

That is very true! And practice is what I need to do, I have trouble with fishing "history" and not fishing where I need to be so I know I need to work on that as well but like you said I just need to get out there and work on everything I can! Thanks again!!