Such sediments also tend to harbor weeds. Which plant species grow best depends to some extent on the combination of bottom types that exist. Marl, calcite, sand, muck, clay, gravel, and other substrates each favor specific weed types. Reeds, for instance, grow well in sand mixed with gravel. Cabbage, milfoil, hydrilla, coontail, crispus, hyacinths, lily pads, and others thrive in substrates of varying composition, and each harbors its own particular crop of weed-clinging invertebrates like grass shrimp.
One can tell what the bottom type is by the weed type growing in it, what comes up on the anchor, and by viewing with underwater cameras. Several clues point to what's living in that substrate. Samples can be scooped from the bottom and sieved. Flying insects that appear during a prolific annual hatch can be captured and identified, so the larval form of that creature can be found in books on aquatic biology. Examining stomach contents of caught fish, however, might be the most proficient means of determining what's down there in the greatest abundance.
Many of the macroscopic (visible) invertebrates living in hard-bottomed areas have a well-camouflaged carapace, or case. Stonefly nymphs, mayfly nymphs, crayfish and mysis shrimp, for example, all have some version of protective armor, possibly because they're exposed to predation a higher percentage of the time than the things that burrow or hide in softer substrates. Many critters living in soft substrates tend to have a soft outer layer (epidermis), in shades that vary from dull green to bright red. Caddisfly larvae appear in a wide variety of shades. Many species of caddisfly live in rocky areas, creating their own camouflage and armor by building a case or shell made of tiny bits of wood, gravel, or both.
Some invertebrates that panfish prey upon spend most of the summer clinging to weedstalks and the bottoms of lily pads. Moth larvae, scuds, and darners are examples of "epiphytes," weed-clinging critters from various families of invertebrates. These tend to be brown, green, off-white, or black. Some appear like little black beads with a tiny shell, some look like maggots, and some have legs and a carapace.
BOTTOM PATTERNS
The basis of every angling pattern is the approximation of something the targeted fish eats. Whether presenting an actual livebait, lure, or soft plastic, the idea is to imitate the size, profile, and color of things actually being eaten underwater just a few feet away. If you're fishing with a good approximation of what fish are eating most, you're onto a primary pattern.
Primary patterns for crappies in many southern reservoirs are relatively easy to deduce. Imitate a shad, or present a live one, and you're halfway home. Crappies of a size anglers pursue eat small shad all year in many of these environments. If you can see or net the clouds of young shad crappies are targeting, you can easily imitate the size of the primary forage.
Uprooting patterns in natural lakes, backwaters, northern reservoirs, and ponds tends to be more complicated. We can't always see what the fish are feeding on and have to rely on noting what they spit up, examine their stomachs, or fish blind -- which is why it pays to experiment with a variety of baits. Anglers often believe the only requirement for catching panfish is a container of the same type of fresh bait that worked last time. And, with few exceptions, it does produce. But something else always works better for at least a portion of the day.
Finding a panfish bite is one thing. Staying on the hottest bite is tricky. When a hot bite dies entirely, it rarely means all the nearby panfish became inactive or vacated the area. With two hands on deck or -- where the law allows the use of more than one rod -- somebody on a second (or third) rod should always be experimenting with something different. That goes for southern reservoirs, too, where panfish are not entirely immune to a sudden hatch or migration of billions of tiny critters that offer an easy meal. During a mayfly hatch, even shad fingerlings take a back seat on the food-chain train.
