Fishing lake terminology help..

[piper]

Greetings friends,

Trying to overcome winter boredom with some fishing talk. Been looking at my map and various pictures and would love some input. Im curious about a few terms and wondered if you guys would be willing to point me in a direction on the lake for a reference.  

Terms:

Main Lake Point
Shallow Bluff
Hump
Creek Swings
Ledges



Thanks!

[johnr]

Main lake point - at the upper mouth of Stoney creek. Also the grassy point at Parkway Marina.

Shallow bluff - right above Hardy bridge, to the left.

Hump - underwater hilltop. There is a few around, some in Bull Run, one near Moormans, Bluebird, and near the State park. Not to be confused with a Shoal. Shoals to me are less than 10' deep. Humps are more than 15'.

Creek Swing - AKA channel swing, anywhere a creek changes direction. To me, it has to be an abrupt change to create an underwater point between the two channels. The back of Beaverdam, Jumping run and Grimes have decent channel swings. Our lake is really too steep for great channel swings, the creeks that flowed in never really meandered, they just followed the valley floor.

Ledges - Anywhere you get a sharp dropoff. Once again, a great example is in the backs of creeks where a channel still exists. It might go from 5' - 15' in under a boat length. This is a ledge. Some places where there are rock walls also have good ledges. Ledge fish are interesting. They don't move "up and down", instead they seem to move "off and on" at nearly the same depth.

Best place I ever fished for walleyes is a main lake point below a shallow bluff that is on the outside of a sharp channel swing. The channel swing creates a sharp ledge on the side of this point at a constant depth of 26', and this is the depth of the fish, always. It is a totally underwater feature, you cannot tell it is there by looking at the lay of the land. If the conditions are right, the fish will be stacked right on the edge. If the conditions are "off" the fish will suspend at 26' to the channel side of the edge. Once I found this spot, I began to look for similar scenarios, and without fail, they all hold fish year round. This holds true for many species..

[2013skiff]

good question im curious what others say but my thought is main lake point is where theres a point that sticks out on the main lake channel...shallow bluff is where theres a shallow sandy or muddy area pretty much find them off the side of the main channel...a hump is where theres a hump or peak sticks up and will be a big drop off to the sides...creek swings might be the twist and turns that stick out in the creeks and a ledge is usually a rocky ledge that sticks out and goes back under where the fish can hide under the ledge....that's the best I know how to explain these terms hopefully someone else will tell us if im right....thanks lee

[piper]

Wow john. Exactly what I was looking for. Ty for your time! I'll def be doing some exploring now.

[CorneliaGale]

Main Lake Point
I would say any point on the main channel, and even some in the larger creeks, they may be shallow points or deep water points, R16 would be a shallow point, where as the point between Va Dare and the state park would be a deep water point.

Shallow Bluff
Would be any shallow area leading into deeper water, the area in front of the coast guard station comes to mind

Hump
Where the bottom comes up not to the top like a island but deep enough to hold fish, one out in front of Indian Creek Marina, about 15 to 20 feet down.

Creek Swings
They are all along the main channel, lot of the creeks still have the old channel, I know up towards BayRoc coming down towards the first bridge to stay in the channel you have to cross over about a 45 degree angle to stay in the channel, it is about 3 or 4 feet deeper.

Ledges
Lots of them on the lake, you just have to hunt them, some are shallow, and there are some really good ones,
Just my two cents worth.

[piper]

Thanks Cornelia... How would you guys describe R2 (The Point) down by the dam? Looks like ledges on one side, the point, but what about the backside where there is variation? Or C2, which is listed as a shoal, is this still considered a main point or secondary? Thanks Again everyone.