Bass Behavior Question

Hey guys I was hoping others here have had some experience with the type of scenario I'm about to explain. For all the guys out there that bass fish small lakes (A couple hundred acres or less) do you tend to find bass "roaming"? What I mean by this is, do you guys ever catch fish in the middle of nowhere type areas? Here is a scenario I've been experiencing lately. First I'll start by saying I'm mainly an offshore guy, I do not like to beat the banks, but they're are times when my ledges, humps, or drop offs are fish less. So often times I find myself casting to nothing trying to locate a fish or two. The lake I fish is around 100 or so acres and is full of shad which the bass key in on obviously. This lake is relatively shallow with its deepest areas around 15-20 deep. The main lake is on average overall around 8-9 feet deep of flat bottom. So do you guys think these bass can roam around and relate to nothing but shad? Is it possible to find the school on no relative structure on these flat bottoms?

Sounds like you've got it about figured. Find the bait, find the fish. Either that, or find the bait, and then find the nearest comfortable holding area, or ambush spot for the bass.

Non-behavioral bass

To answer your questions: Yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Bass are as unpredictable as they are predictable.
Meaning, sometimes you can really dial them in, and then sometimes you can't find a clue in the ocean.
There are too many variables that predict bass behavior to nail it down.
That being said, there IS a science to fishing, in general.
To me, water temperature and barometric pressure gives me more advantage than, say, the moon.
Your pond, being only 100 acres or so, the bass could actually be caught anywhere at any given time, except in extreme water temps, or when the barometric pressure is extremely high.
BUT then again, THIS will tell me where NOT to fish.
Good luck in your ventures,,,

I'll be watching this thread closely. The lake I fish is around 100 acres when full, but has been down to about 35 or so for the last few years due to a leaky dam.

This article isn't referencing smaller lakes, or lakes in GA, but when I read it yesterday it made me think of this thread ---- it's got lots of interesting info on fishing roaming bass. And like mentioned, find the bait!

http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fish/story/1672101-how-to-fish-offshore-on-shallow-bowl-lakes

I fish a large pond quite often and especially in summer the bass will suspend anywhere in open water.
When I start to see the thermocline develop on my Down scan I fish above it when offshore.
Sounds like you need to spend more time beating those bushes. All my best fish have come from shallow water. As you fish those shallows you will find cover such as stumps, wood, rocks or changes in bottom structure where these old bass can lay in wait for something to swim by. They will also bed in the same spots.
My take is that they will lay off in deeper water then move inshore to feed. Afterward they will move back out. Not all at once. So I fish these spots a couple of hours apart each trip hoping to find a hungry bass has slipped in to get a meal.

I used to fish a small water shed all the time. It was shallow and feature less for the most part. I found that the fish related to the slightest feature.
Over time by absolutely pounding every inch of water with a spinner bait on and off shore. I fiqured out several key areas that big fish liked to hold. 2 of them were offshore and only had a 1 foot depth change.
That didn't mean I didn't fish the bank at all, I just meant I concentrated on these key areas first.

A little update per se, last weekend I did a bit of trolling around and just looking on my depth finder. I focused mainly on 3 humps closely located together that is covered in shell beds. I basically fished an entire circle about 100 yards all around the humps. I picked up a few fish here and there out in no mans land. The humps are all in close proximity to each other and they come up from 8-9 feet to 4 feet this is a very hot spot and is usually a guarantee for a school of fish. All around these humps is just a flat featureless bottom around 10-11 feet deep. But sure enough the fish that were not in the main school were basically just sporadically spaced out and appeared to be loners. There was no schools of shad, or anything of noticeable attraction.
So my hypothesis is this, the fish come up to feed around the main structure of this particular lake. Be it schools of shad or bedding bream, and once the sun comes up they head out a bit deeper and break away from the main school and basically "set up" around the structure instead of directly on it. I believe I have figured these fish out.