Follow this natural progression and reap consistent catches. You look for hotspots rather than patterns. Fortunately, learning to pattern fish is easy. For example, if crappies are taking jigs 2 feet deep in buck bushes in the back of one cove, this same approach should work in the backs of other coves. If a crankbait catches bass from a secondary gravel point off the main lake, other secondary gravel points should give up bass to the same lure.
Potential patterns are many and varied.