Metro Structure Breakdown... New Spot Every Week!!!

[MDM1969]

Matt, I've had luck pulling a variety of baits on Green in those areas. I was out last weekend and crankbaits seemed to work best but spinners and swim baits have always been effective on all species. The problem I see on lakes like Green is the clarity and the weedbeds. What do you recommend when the lake is really stained (like it was this weekend) and the weed growth gets thick? I was out throwing cranks off of C this weekend and still getting into weeds growing near to the surface. I tried some jigs and other baits to get through the weeds as the fish seemed to be roaming throughout weedbeds but crank baits seemed to be the best option but fighting the weeds was a lost cause.

[Matt Johnson]

I find myself just moving off the weeds a little more, but still running the same tactics. We trolled crankbaits right along the outside weed lines in 12-15 feet and did very well on Friday. If you got into 10 feet then you got balled-up with weeds...

[Matt Johnson]

I did a short piece on some of these snap shots and went into detail a little more when it comes to trolling... Trolling Patterns - CLICK HERE

A lot of these techniques really come into play as we jump into late summer and early fall. Trolling can be very productive.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Hey Matt, what maps are you using in your posts?

[Matt Johnson]

They are just generic DNR maps for topo... you can find all the maps I'm using at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html

[Matt Johnson]

Anyone have an last-minute requests for the open water season before we switch gears to ice fishing?

[MNPIKE]

Hey Matt -

I have one for ya. Since we still have open water, do you mark most of your ice fishing spots now, or do you just use your maps and run and gun once the lakes/rivers freeze over?

Thanks

[Matt Johnson]

I mark a TON of spots right now and right up until ice-up. I've even broke thin layers of ice some days in the boat to put the finishing touches on the open water season. A lot of your work can be done now in the boat in order to make your winter more successful. I like to mark rocks/hard bottom within the weeds... deep structure... variance in weed-type... transition lines... all of things we spend hours punching holes to find. It's a lot easier to run around in the boat and mark spots on the GPS and then go back to those spots in the winter.

In fact... I'm in the process of putting together my last Deck Talk episode that will actually focus on this topic

[amateurfishing]

Matt,

I sincerely cannot thank you enuff for connecting the dots for me here. I always read turns, points, transition areas, etc but putting those words to a lake map and interpreting it personally is much more valuable than you can ever imagine for someone like myself who is being self taught thru this site and generally only has time to fish alone or making it a more successful outing with my kids. the info you are providing here im sure is worth hundreds on video, books, etc. which i do not have the time or $$$ to watch or pay for. for being an online teacher in such a forum brings me a smile and im sure my success rate will improve and info i can pass down to my kids. if i ever have the chance to meet you i will happily buy u a cold one as your info & kindness is invualuable. cheers to a great hard water season.

[Ishikawa]

Know what I'm excited for? Using what I learned from reading on here to catch more fish and move away from the shanty towns! :-)

[FLAG!!]

Matt, when time permits please reopen this discussion? Would love another Prior post relating to crappies or walleyes but now I'm just getting greedy.

[FisH_SLaYer24]

Like many of you died hard anglers, I am sure many of you have been anxiously anticipating a new lake post in this discussion. I as well was wondering if anything would come up anytime soon, but it is understandable because I realize that Matt has been very busy. However, I thought that maybe we could reopen this discussion and take it upon ourselves to list lakes or specific areas of lakes and "break them down" ourselves. Hopefully Matt will be able to chime in at times and point us in the right direction as to why the fish would be in specific locations and certain periods throughout the fishing season.

The first lake I have chosen to restart the Metro Structure Breakdown is Spring Lake in Scott County. The lake features points, steep drop offs, and a deep basin. All of these areas are perfect hiding places for fish of all species to ambush there pray (and hide from anglers ). I listed a couple different spots on the map ranging from A-F. Some spots have similar characteristics and some spots may be "the spot on the spot." These can often times be the most productive areas to fish because these specific spots are often the leading reason why certain species of fish are holding to the specific structure.

As many of you know, this lake has a very healthy panfish and walleye population. So, let's hear some ideas as to why the above spots hold fish and how they might be used. Also, are there any other areas that stick out? What makes these spots so good?

[Matt Johnson]

I really wanted to continue this topic but I received multiple "hate" emails regarding it because I was told I was "giving up people's hot spots." I don't want people upset over this so I decided to stop. We can give it another shot and see what happens...

[OnAFly]

A different way to go about it might be to take a random lake from other areas of MN without naming the lake and doing the same thing. At least that way you aren't being so specific. It was a very informative thread and really went towards teaching people why fish move to spots, not just telling people where to fish. Though, I can see how people might have gotten miffed about showing specific spots on named lakes, even though that was not the intent of the post, as I understood it.

[Lusid]

If you want to continue the lake map breakdowns I would:

1. Keep lakes un-named to reduce possible fishing pressure.

2. Zoom in to a segment or area which will reduce the chance of the lake being named

[tj417]

Well, I'll give Spring a quick shot based on that map..."B" is one of my all-time favorite spots on that lake - It's where the shallow sand & rock drops off on the east side. But my best and most proven spot on that lake over a period of YEARS is not pictured on your map. Again, it's where hard bottom dives into deep water.

[amateurfishing]

thats too bad....its one thing to teach someone possible spots & "help" locate fish, its a complete difft story to use the right tactics, bait, lures, technique, whatever to get them to bite & put on ice, last weekend is perfect exampe. i drilled 2 dozen holes on fri & sun, located fish, but could not get finicky buggers to bite for nuttin. just cause someone can find em does not guarantee a meal

[FutbolGuru]

I've always enjoyed this thread. Newbies can learn how to locate fish, while veteran's can reaffirm what they already beleive to be true through experience. Whether the thread is to be continued with unamed lakes/named metro lakes/whatever, it's entertaining. On a different note, the Metro lake spots Matt has been pointing out are more obvious/traditional fish holding locations anyways... IMO, if you can look at a metro lake map and suggest it may be a good fishing spot, it's not a secret; I'd venture to guess this is exactly the reason Matt used popular metro lakes as examples in the first place.

[DaveZman14q]

Well to those haters, I quite enjoyed this thread. Doesn't take a genius to know fish hang out on points, inside turns, steep breaks into deep water, and abnormalities on pieces of structure... I took it more of "why" the fish were here at these obvious spots at certain times vs "everybody go fish here now!" Nice postings Matt.

I think I'm going to start a thread giving up GPS coordinates of all the productive walleye rock piles on Tonka...

[FisH_SLaYer24]

I agree with all of the above posts. It was more of a reasoning as to why the fish were here or why they used this piece of structure versus others that have similar characteristics. The spots that are usually being covered are mostly spots that hundreds of people already know exist. It just allows us to break these pieces of structure down to be able to apply the reasoning to other lakes that we fish throughout the open and hard water season.

[Matt Johnson]

Well, it looks like we'll have to continue with new posts then. I think the majority rules on this one Let's use the above map for this one and I will come up with another one next week...

[mrklean]

Thanks Matt, i think its just said how selfish some are over fish, were getting free advice from a Pro and people complain just silly. Cant wait to see more good info from you.

[FLAG!!]

Glad to see you're staying with it Matt. No reason to let a few whiners ruin it.

As for Spring, I've done fairly we'll for walleyes in the winter at B and trolling from A to D n the summer. Crappies up on the other side in 22' opposite A on the hard water as well.

Anyone ever fish the deeper hole?

[Portlis]

I definitely have to echo the sentiments of others. It's not like these are secret lakes with a bunch of secret spots here. We're talking about lakes like Prior, Spring, White Bear, etc... You can drive past or ON these lakes any given day and look for the shanty towns that are all built up on these spots. No one's "secret spots" are being ruined here.

I like to think of this thread more as a learning tool for those less fished lakes. Learn what works (and why) on the popular lakes that everyone knows about, and take that information and apply it yourself to the other lakes that you may have never tried before.

Keep up the good work and know that for every person unhappy about this thread you have 10 that enjoy it.

[hart0670]

I agree Matt, please keep the posts going. I've learned a lot through them and really appreciate it! As to the map above, I'm most curious about the spot at the highest up D and the middle A. I tried a spot like A a few weekends ago in tonka, but the weeds had all died and fallen down around it, so we didn't do well. I've always been curious about sharp breaks like D where there isn't a shallower flat or weed bed between the break and shore. Thanks again!

[Ishikawa]

I definitely have to echo the sentiments of others. It's not like these are secret lakes with a bunch of secret spots here. We're talking about lakes like Prior, Spring, White Bear, etc... You can drive past or ON these lakes any given day and look for the shanty towns that are all built up on these spots. No one's "secret spots" are being ruined here.

I like to think of this thread more as a learning tool for those less fished lakes. Learn what works (and why) on the popular lakes that everyone knows about, and take that information and apply it yourself to the other lakes that you may have never tried before.

Keep up the good work and know that for every person unhappy about this thread you have 10 that enjoy it.

+1

My $10 navionics app shows me all of these "secret spots" besides, having fished WBL, I have not seen it where these secret spots were swamped with a town of people fishing over them. Some people just don't want others to catch fish. Me, I've been posting fishing reports to encourage others to fish and share tips! Plus, like I mentioned previously in this thread, I used what I learned here to fish away from crowds this winter and it has been an awesome season of ice fishing for me :-)

[Crappyfisherman]

Great job Matt, thanks for all you do to help us less gifted fishermen.

[Matt Johnson]

I was actually out on Spring yesterday for the UPL league I run. It was a tough day for most of the teams. The tourny started at 8am and if you didn't have your fish by 9am it was a long day... talking crappies here. Sunfish were basically non-existent. A lot of holes punched and this was the worst showing for sunfish in the league's history. No one weighed in more than 3 sunfish. In fact only 11 sunfish were weighed in all day, out of 25 teams. Here is a link to the final results from the event on Spring yesterday if you're interested... Spring Lake Results - CLICK HERE

The teams who did well on the crappies caught them out on the basin areas in deeper water. There is a flurry bite out there from about sunrise to 9am... sounds like a good bite too if you can get on the fish. Fish up to about 11" were weighed in, so respectable fish for the Metro

We decided to venture away from everyone and we actually fished a spot that's not even on the map shown above. We fished the GIANT flat out from the access a few hundred yards in 10-13 feet of water. We had to move a lot but found the crappies and sunfish. Seemed like the only consistent spot out there for sunfish. You would mark a few fish, catch them, then they were gone... then you moved about 20 yards and repeated the sequence. I don't think anyone has touched this flat all year by the looks of it... at least the hundreds of people who were out there drove right by all of us and I didn't see any old holes anywhere. Sort of dumb luck that we found it but it pays to branch away sometimes.

Case-in-point... even the obvious spots that look promising are not always what produces. The groups of permanents look appealing and while they do oftentimes hold fish, it might not always be the best choice. Throughout this topic we focus on "obvious" spots that seem to connect logic, BUT, it's the reasoning behind why fish use these spots that has value. Untouched ground (ice) can be worth a lot at times too, so don't be afraid to be that little dot in the horizon out in no-man's land... because you might be on fish!!

[Matt Johnson]

Here's a new snap shot. Let's take this from the current perspective in regards to the calendar period, so early March and only targeting panfish. I've marked a handful of spots with varying structure types. How and why would fish use the different marked spots? Are some of these spots feeding spots? What about time of day? Does it matter which species (crappies, sunfish or perch)? Can we connect some of the spots for fish movements? Let's hear some ideas...

[MNimport]

First of all I want to say thanks for these posts because they make me think about fishing more than just plopping down in a spot. They also make it easier to break away from other fisherman almost working in reverse of what some people think. Here are my thoughts on this map. A and B look like a softer bottom and probably some weeds. Good spot to look during the high sunlight hours for fish to hide out. D id a classic hump to look at at dusk and dawn because they slide up to feed during lower light. I can see Crappies chasing baitfish over C and I would probably set up there for a night bite. F would be a good staging area for fish to move off the flat during high sunlight hours. E is a nice bottle neck to look at, but it seems a bit deep. I would assume fish would be suspended in these areas. Another spot that looks interesting to me is the inside turn just to the right of B for a midday bite. Just my 2 cents from a novice fisherman.