Baitfish often loosely follow reservoir features as they feed in middepths above the thermocline, filtering from point to point along submerged river channels. Sometimes shad contact structure at random times, creating flurries of action during the day. Shad schools also move inshore during the evening and offshore early in the morning. When they pass major structural elements, a slaughter can ensue. And at times, these feeding frenzies occur almost like clockwork, with the three-hour periods surrounding dawn and dusk, often signaling the best summertime bite.

Manmade cues affect shad location and periods of bass activity, too, namely the power generation schedule at upstream and downstream dams. During the week, power companies tend to generate at predictable times during the day, to store power for peak demand during summer evenings. When water is released to turn the turbines, current increases throughout the impoundment.

Water movement makes baitfish school more tightly and hold close to structure, where current breaks occur. This change in baitfish behavior increases their vulnerability to predators, especially black bass. When water starts to move, a point or bar that produced little all morning may quickly come to life as the actively feeding bass strike a variety of artificials. On Saturday and Sunday, generation typically is less, providing tougher fishing for weekend anglers and the tournament crowd.

In natural lakes, too, offshore bass are ready to feed. North of the range of shad, favored foods are small yellow perch, bluegills and other sunfish, and crayfish. Craws roam the edge where the deepest growing plants yield to a hard bottom. They climb deep weedstalks, feeding on the leafy greens, and scuttle the bottom to eat small invertebrates and detritus.

Young yellow perch sometimes are so abundant that they almost carpet the bottom of mesotrophic lakes, from gravel shorelines out to 20-foot contours. When offshore bass key on perch, they spit the barred morsels as you land them or place them in a livewell. During summer, bluegills, particularly the hordes of 3- to 5-inchers that inhabit so many waters, tend to hold higher off bottom, sometimes just a few feet below the surface over 12 to 20 feet of water.

Small groups of bass slowly patrol this transition zone, casing the scene for edibles. The focus can be near the bottom when perch and craws are the target. When waiting for an opportunity to take a sunfish, largemouths suspend off deep weededges or structures like humps and deep points.