I live in St Cloud, and a lot of the lakes I fish around here have very little in the way of structure...very few sunken islands, points, rock piles, etc. Instead, we've got lakes that are more or less round, more or less shallow, and more or less void of the kind of structure where bass are "typically" found (except for weeds, of course).

Of course, there are lots of bass in the lakes, and some people apparently catch them consistently. The question I have is, How do you find the fish? I've been out lots this year throwing cranks on weedlines, drop shotting and/or worming them when I find them, but I can't get into anything with any consistency.

What gives?

I normally find bass in thick areas, of isolated clumps within the weeds, and transitions in the weedy areas from one type of weed to another... To find larger bass it is tough to go wrong with a jig/pig or t-rigged brush hog to start with.

carmike, those kind of lakes can be tough, and seem more responsive to weather changes. Tough weather conditions can really be tough on these lakes. do your best to try and find transition areas, even slight ones, where the bottom composition changes slightly. IF you can find even slightly harder bottom in areas that can hold fish,. Otherwise I would concentrate on weeds and docks.

I do spend some time skipping docks, but it usually seems that every other bass guy on the lake has the same idea.

So how do I find these transition areas? Feel them with the lure?

if you are good with your electronics, its probably the best way. I know on my unit, the bottom will change color as the bottom changes hardness.

Finding spots with your electronics is the quickest way, I think the best way to find fish is to fish for them. It will take a lot more time, but if your fishing smaller lakes over there like Grand or Pearl it can be done. You will find little spots within an area that could be miss if you just driving by. All the fish don't hang out on the best looking spots on the map. Fishing the area can expose these special spots.

When you catch a fish be sure to stop and fish that area good. Usually a fish is in that area for a reason. Small lakes with not a lot of structure can be good mines if your willing to put in the time and experiment a little bit.

Just my thoughts.

the lakes around st.cloud are very good dock/weedline lakes. till you get south of sylvia/twin. keep at the weedline until you find them. i liked the lakes around there because there are better weedlines than were i'm at now and don't have to deal with muskies. Even, Pleasant has some nice fish in there but they can be tough some times.