Howdy Ags,

I got a Jon Boat a while back and have been fishing at my local lake, Lake Lewisville. I've been having a hard time getting on the fish because I feel like I am picking bad spots along with some improper technique.

I have been using that Navionics app to find flooded timbers, creek channels, points, etc. Also, I have been having issues regarding fishing at a proper depth. I have been using bobber stoppers, but they have proven to be somewhat of a hassle to adjust all the time and the accuracy varies on the depth.

Ultimately, if you know this lake, any spots or tips would be appreciated, and also any insight on how to take advantage of humps, points, and creek channels better would be great. This is the first time fishing on open water rather than the bank and I'm trying to learn.

Take what you know from bank fishing and apply it to "away from the bank."

Fish will be at or above the thermocline. And as you probably know most species relate to structure, current (I.e. wind blown in a reservoir), etc.

Exactly what are you targeting in Lewisville?

San Antone asked a good question. Are you targeting a certain specie or just wanting to catch fish?

Ideally looking for crappie, but happy with white/hybrid bass and yellow bass.

Attached are some spots that I try and hit when I go out but due to traffic and timing some spots are too much of a hassle.

Also worth noting is that I feel like half the battle is getting my Jon boat in the right spot when heading to these locations... For example, I fished that hump circled in the first picture and had a little bit of luck but nothing that was legal to keep.

When on the hump is is best to not be in the middle of the hump but rather on the edge?

Also is there another alternative to bobber stoppers to ensure proper depth?

Just responded to ya.

Crappie is the goal, any bass will be appreciated. Also, there are a ton of gars and they are tearing my lines up.

"Also is there another alternative to bobber stoppers to ensure proper depth?"

If you are fishing straight down jigging or with minnows; take a piece of tape and wrap it around your rod 1 foot from your reel. Manually pull the line off the reel reaching to the 1 foot mark each time.

Just take a bunch of beer with you and be glad to get out there. Fish are optional when it comes to fishing.

I also wouldn't get too discouraged in the summer, fish can be hard to find in elevated water temps. The morone bass are heavy schoolers that take a bit of luck to find. They're constantly chasing bait balls so they're either there or not. The dropoffs you circled are good points to target them from the looks of it. For crappie in a jon boat, I think your best bet is when they are up shallow during spawn in early spring. Minnows in shallow timber should work. As for this time of year, I would stick to fishing under bridges.

You might have to move several times until you find something. Half an hour and nothing? Move. The fish probably aren't there and they don't tend to rove about unless there are bass schooling.

Pay attention to water temps and if you have a good fish finder, you can also often see a faint line at the thermocline. It seems that suspended debris seems to concentrate there a bit. A bit cooler water just a degree might attract more fish.

In the summer, don't be afraid to go deep. I fish 20-40 feet down in the summer on Texas lakes. As long as the water isn't low oxygen then the cooler darker water will attract them during the daytime.

Points and humps.

If focusing on crappie on Lewisville you need to follow Kid Krappie on youtube. He's there a lot. Though lately he has said Lewisville, Lavon, and Grapevine are all really suffering this summer as crappie lakes.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll check them out!

I'm currently working with a Garmin Striker 4 as a fish finder. It helps to see where there are a lot of bait fish working and such.

Lake Lewisville has an abundance of flooded timber... which I think keeps the fish populations more spread out.

Except the GW's are pretty thick at Lewisville and he would maybe end up in the pokey

For crappie, in the late fall and winter, go to the dam (if it has a dam) - deepest water - and fish along the creek channel right off the bottom. Just troll along the channel vertical fishing on the bottom with minnows or jigs.

In the heat of the summer like now, you need to fish shallow timber in the creeks or up north, or perhaps for suspended fish on the main lake in standing timber in the upper water column. The oxygen levels in the lake are low and the fish will hang out more near the surface where the oxygen level is better. I'd never fish more than 10 ft deep right now. I'd fish some sort of slip bobber rig where you can cast out, have the bait go down and hang out right below float at some depth, then reel back to the boat slowly to cover that stretch of water in among the standing timber.

Must be a lake Travis thing, but I've been catching catfish in 30-40 feet of water, and as deep as 70 feet down towards the dam. Also get a few bass 40-50 feet while using jigging spoons.

I troll down 20-22 feet and regularly catch bass and white bass, but Travis is deep and the deeper water is relatively cool and still oxygenated, so it may be different.

I'd agree if the whole lake is warm and the deeper water has lower oxygen then there won't be fish suspended there, they will have to go shallower.