Turn off the motor and sit, looking for any signs of active feeding fish. These signs may be as subtle as a flock of seagulls or diving ducks feeding on bait fish being chased to the surface by predators or as extreme as actually seeing bait leaping from the water fleeing predators. If I still do not have any clues to where the bait is holding, I will switch to my Lowrance electronics to locate them. There is no greater thrill than spotting a cloud of bait fish with some large arcs just below them. The reason for my excitement is simple.
Aggressive fish are easier to catch.
Once you find the food, matching your bait size and presentation to imitate the forage is the next step in the equation. Tournament fishermen carry so many types and colors of baits for this reason. Each body of water has its own flavor, if I may call it that. In other words, color and size variations change with different bodies of water. For example, in our Illinois mud and clay bottom lakes and rivers, our crayfish have a green to brown color.