really shallow lakes...

[bassrat]

two of the lakes i fish that ice up first are really shallow (1 has 6-7' max- mostly 4-5', and the other has 12'...but it's right UNDER an aerator that keeps the lake open for waterfowl...and from freezing out)...thing is they both have some dandy perch in them...in the past it has either been drill TONS of holes (literally hundreds) or set up over the deepest spots possible and make a "reel-weed weedbed" around my hut and wait for em' to show....both lakes have a mud/muck bottom and zero structure or substancial drop-offs to speak of...question is, HOW WOULD YOU PATTERN PERCH IN THESE LAKES?

[dkfry]

Sounds like some of the lakes around where I live, basically featureless bottom filled in with muck and goose crap. I'd be around the deeper water and try and find and changes in the bottom both hard vs soft and any little bit of structure. If the lake/pond is somewhat managed there may be some sort of fish cribbing, rock piles, brush piles, tires and etc put in by man to give fish structure in an otherwise structureless lake. If its a public lake there may be maps of the lake online where the structure was added. I would look for structure first and then look for changes in the bottom hardness starting out in the deepest spot on the lake. Fishing the during softwater season with a decent depthfinder will help you find good places also.

[bassrat]

oh, they're public.....one is nearly 200 acres and the other is 700+...they're managed for waterfowl....literally bowl shaped....no structure or weeds to speak of...the DNR put grass carp in a few years back...the only thing, one has deadfalls around the edges that go out to about 3 FOW and the other has a spring and 1 (yup, just 1 mud to sand transition)...the transition is usually good for a few but there's a spring at the juncture...not really safe for early ice.

[rlowery]

i might be worth trying to add your own structure. Go out now, before it freezes and sink a few Christmas trees or a bunch of cinder blocks. Add whatever u can, if its legal, and that way there's not only fish holding structure, but you're the only one who knows where it is

[Townie]

Seek out deepest creek channels-- one shallow impoundment I fish bottoms out @ 5-6'