The Spoonpluggers Forum

Here’s a question that may seem obvious, but it’s not completely clear to me for some reason.... I’ve heard talk about it from Dickson, Buck and here on the forum, but.... what exactly is the “crown” of a bar? I’ve been going out thinking I knew what the “crown” was. I’ve been driving up to what seems to be the base(judging by the shore) of the bar as shallow as I can and then turning back and going toward the deepest water in the area and watching for where the break lines are(which I’ve found very few. Nearly all the structures I’ve found in nearby lakes only have gentle sloping bars from what I can tell).... am I going about this wrong?... The issue I see with this(keep in mind I’m new) is, what if the bar doesn’t run straight out to the spot that I’m driving. The “deepest water in the area” is often times a wide area, so I feel like I’m picking a spot that I “think” the bar runs out to.... Say the bar runs off to the left from the “point” at the bank.... we’ll, it may run gradually to the left all the way to deep water, but if I go straight out from the bank, which I’m reality would be the right of the bar, then I’m thinking, “ok, this structure didn’t run all the way to deep water, so it won’t produce.”..... Again maybe I’m looking at this TOTALLY wrong.... any suggestions or ideas?

Also, I have no contour map on nearby lakes....

LookintoLearn the crown is the highest point on a bar or hump as you cross it. Think of as the shape of a road or a baseball field, i.e. higher in the middle but sloping off to the sides.

A bar does not necessarily run straight out from the shore nor is it necessarily narrow; see the figures on pgs. 104 and 213 in the "green" book. You really need to map the bar(s) as explained in the chapter Mapping and Interpretation, p 199, and/or the home study series.

As far as contour(bathymetric) maps, here is a link to Navionics ChartViewer. There you will find maps of lakes all over the country.
https://webapp.navionics.com/#boating@4 ... 7DvaGpmkeP

On Youtube you will find a gold mine of information and videos by Don Dickson. Here's the URL:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... on+fishing

Especially this one on On the Water Mapping of Structure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms2sL2D0WXo

Keep working at it and don't hesitate to ask questions on this forum.

Don Dixons mapping process is something you must learn to perfect. Without the ability to map and interpret, you cannot go any farther. It is simply the fastest way to know what is there. You make your own map which is the best way. Once you have it, now you can fish it and get the rest of the answers. John

Thanks for the reply guys. I’ve looked over Navionics and there’s nothing mapped within an hour from my home. I figure it’ll be best to stick with a lake that I can get to a little quicker so that I can fish it more often. Do you guys recommend sticking with one lake in the beginning or fishing multiple waters from the start?.... I’ll go thru and read mapping and interpretation. Just trying to take the home study course book by book, but I guess I’m getting a little impatient. Seems so much to learn.... Do you guys fish many small lakes? All of the lakes nearby me are 1,000 acres and under. Seems these bars and humps I’m finding are so small I don’t even know if you can troll them or if you’d just be better off casting..... also, most of the dams are so short seems like about the time you get going good you’re to the end of it!

Do yourself a big favor. go to the buck sez page you need to study all of these. But the one i'm mostly speaking of is the 2 part article
Successful Fishing Is Not A Difficult Thing pt 1/2
This is your guide.

Thanks Champ, I’ll check that out!