Had exactly four hours tonight. I'm going to try and hit a different lake after work every night this week. Just so I have a better idea of what to target on the weekends once we turn the clocks back.
Tonight was a midrange lake, no real deep spots and not predominantly shallow. I started by zig zagging from 2-10 feet and actually had my first two strikes on a FROG in about a foot of water! Clean misses with no follow ups. Then, on the outside edge of some lily pads, in about five feet of water, I had the first hookup on a Senko. Small fish but life!
My second fish came in about five feet also, just inside a pad line on a jig. The largest fish, 3.1, was also in five feet but on the end of a dock the wind was blowing on, he also ate the jig.
I found water temps between 53 and 55 degrees and stained water from the recent rain. Slow presentation was best and a chatterbait, small buzzbait, swimbait and worm all blanked.
I was encouraged to see a few fish spook in the shallows, 1-3 feet. The frog blowups, although small sub 2lb fish, were also encouraging! Tomorrow's lake will be a little deeper overall and much cleaner water. Wednesday's lake will be shallow, stained and grassy just for comparison.
Don't expect names on any of them, just take what info you can and apply it in your adventures ;)