Definitions

Breaks - Objects found on the lake bottom.;

Breakline - An imaginary line on the lake bottom created from a sudden increase or decrease in depth; An abrupt contrast in the underwater conditions ( i.e.: weedline, thermocline, shadeline, water color change, etc.)

Channel - The submerged riverbed; A type of structure used by fish during migration.

Contact Point - The point at which the fish make first contact with the structure when they start their migration.

Deep Water - 30 ft. deep or deeper; the deepest water in the immediate area, usually the channel; the home of the fish.

Drop Off - A breakline or structure where there is a sudden drop into the deepest water.

Feeder Creek - A submerged gulch, creek, or wash that feeds into the main channel; Structure that fish use during their migration from deep water to shallow water.

Flat - An area of the lake bottom that contains no structure.

Food Source - An area of the lake that contains food for the fish; Usually an area having either an inlet with running water, a weed flat, rock reef, or a rip-rap, manmade structure.

Hump - An underwater island; A structure in which the lake bottom rises up from the surrounding area.

Migration - A movement of the fish from deep water to shallow water along certain underwater paths.

Migration Route - The actual structure or breakline the fish use during their migration from deep water to the shallows.

Point Bar - A type of underwater structure in which the shallow water protrudes out into the lake more than the surrounding area.

Ridge - A type of structure where a long narrow hump exists along the sides of a channel or feeder creek; A levee.

Rip-Rap - Large rocks placed by man along the sides of dams and roadways to prevent erosion.

Rock Reef - A type of structure in which the bottom is covered by rock and rubble; A potential food source if found shallow.

Saddle - A type of structure which is formed from two inside bends facing opposite directions.

Sanctuary - An area in deep water where the fish are in a neutral or inactive state; The home of the fish.

Shallow Water - Water with a depth of 10 feet or less.

Shallows - An area containing shallow water.

Steep Deep - An area void of structure, which contains very little shallow water due to steep shoreline, drop off conditions.

Structure - A lake bottom feature that is distinctly different from the surrounding area.

Thermocline - a horizontal plane of rapidly changing water temperature.

Weedline (upper) - A line created from the contrast of weed growing to the waters' surface and weed which isn't growing to the surface.

Weedline (lower) - A line created on the lake bottom where the weed stops growing due to depths too great for the weed to grow.