Bream ???

Just got back from lake Talquin, took a short weekend trip to catch some bream. We caught dozen or so good male bluegill off beds. Flipped some crickets on grass and Lilly pads. Just caught 4-5” bream. Found a few deep on a point “or what I thought was bream” couldn’t set in em right I don’t guess. Couldn’t make em bite either way. They may have been crappie not sure either.

water was low 80s. Heat wave had hit as well. Fish was super slow. But I side imaged a lot of beds and didn’t see any fish in em. I asssumed they had pulled back into deeper water, but never could find em anywhere really.

how do you guys go about finding bream in a new/open lake. Just trying to learn a little. Appreciate it

:popcorn

I’m no expert and a little luck doesn’t hurt. I fish places that have worked for me in the past. That makes you ask” but I’ve never fished here before.” No more issues about that. I think what most of us do is to check points and flats and brushy banks. Whatever I do anywhere else, I just bring it with me. Sounds like you found some in tough times. I’d be happy with that and keep doing the homework, you’ll figure em out. I’ve just bought a 10” side image and plan on spending more time than usual checking new places. Keep us posted as to what you find.

Somebody probably cleaned the beds out during last full moon .
Happens a lot nowadays with all of the available electronics . Even the deep beds get fished out .
That’s one reason why I bank fish mostly and I’m happy with whatever comes along .

Sounds enjoyable. I agree with gillchaser, someone probably already got to them. Either that or they just aren’t there and have moved on.

Looks like you made the most of a slow bite—sometimes that’s just how it goes! When I’m scouting a new lake for bream, I focus on points, flats, and areas with brush or vegetation. Those places usually hold fish, even when they’re being tricky. Using side imaging is a smart move to find beds and structure you might not see otherwise. Just keep exploring and learning the water, and you’ll start to pick up on their habits. Appreciate the update—keen to hear how your next trips go!

Early on many fish are shallow in 4' or less. You could be blindfolded and catch fish - all sorts of fish. But as things change, I have no idea what relocates fish to other structure areas (points, deeper flats and drops). What I found recently on my sonar were bottom weeds and weed free water above them in 9'.
Attachment 505276
In two local lakes I found fish above the seasonal weeds on bottom in deeper water. Sometimes the fish were in schools, other times in groups but clustered in the same part of the lake. (Note: the waters I fish aren't very large and easier to scout.) Of course, established shallow water pads always have some fish in pockets and along edges waiting to ambush easy pick'ns but the bite is sporadic and docks have been unproductive.

It may be that fish are done spawning and stealing eggs off nests in shallow water and now are waiting for instinct to kick in and direct them to certain areas nearing summer - some not the same as last year. Finding those potential areas would be impossible without my sonar whether to know bottom hardness, weeds, contours etc. and baitfish schools. Predators stay near the groceries and that doesn't change.

Note the baitfish nearer the surface and the large fish beneath them. This is a magnified setting and the bottom weeds shown in the above shot are not in the picture:

Appreciate it

:popcorn

Red ear beds can appear and fish gone in a weeks time . Trace lake is famous for it . This spring a week of high wind caused me to miss the best fishing of the year . Trying to crappie fish and red ear fish are hard to do . Were the craters/ beds huge ? Red ear .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eagle 1

Red ear beds can appear and fish gone in a weeks time . Trace lake is famous for it . This spring a week of high wind caused me to miss the best fishing of the year . Trying to crappie fish and red ear fish are hard to do . Were the craters/ beds huge ? Red ear .

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From what I understand, redears only spawn once a year .
Here in Georgia, bluegill will spawn every month until fall . With each month having fewer spawners.
The females lay the eggs and the. The males stay on the beds until the eggs hatch unless caught and kept .
The shallow spawners get caught early.
The deeper spawners used to be protected somewhat before the new electronics became available that allows those to be located .

I haven't done it in a while, but I have caught some very nice gills on Talquin using a fly rod fishing poppers and hair flies. The Iron curtin can be a blast in the evening till after dark.

Sent from my SM-A125U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

not sure about where you are , but our bream mostly left the beds already
I know they are supposed to bed all summer off and on , but I never have seen the big ones do it in any numbers
they all go early here and when it's done there just are not many on the beds if any ....

Me to Ketchun although know it's not true for all lakes. While the blue gill will continue to spawn through June size and numbers and agressiveness goes way down. Got a friend who fishes West Point 2 hours west of me and won't catch fish until May but most of my fish are done by then. It's a bigger lake than Jackson but similar in topgraphy ( average depth ) . I guess the answer is you have to know your water as mine is very consitent foe the most part year to year. Scott