Finally got a canoe so this is the first time I've been able to do anything other than shore fish.  Needless to say I'm a bit lost.  There is a small 40acre lake that we've done well shore fishing at and a slightly bigger 140acre lake also  in the area.  I'd like to start at these two to get a handle on the basics so that I can apply them elsewhere later on.

Honey(Vienna) contour map

We might head to this little lake tomorrow.  It's been mid 80's and sunny all week.  Tomorrow is going to be down to 70 and partly sunny.  We probably won't get out till early afternoon.  The launch is at the far N. point.  I'm thinking with it being summer and mid-day I should start running along that 4ft trench(not much of a trench but not much going on here anyway), and work my way down to the 6ft hole in front of the dam.  As it gets later and cools down work my way to the W side of the lake and topwater along the piers with a buzz bait or something.

For catfish on this lake I don't know... THere is an inlet on the far W side and I thought maybe along the edge or on the lake side of the bridge would be good but that's only 1ft of water...

There is also an underwater pipe that connects the smaller lake to the SE but I'm not sure how active that would be...

Waubeesee Lake Contour

This one has me at a bit of a loss.  It's a bit deep for a beginner lake  but I'm thinking if I keep it simple and just fish topwaters shallow in the mornings or late evenings and then work my way out to points and dropoffs midday with spoons or spinners that would be my best bet.

The thing is I have no clue how deep bass or pike like to drop off to during mid summer days.  This lake goes down to 70ft in some areas.

I have a fish finder but It isn't tuned quite well enough yet to reliably pick out fish vs. other shit and I use it more to locate structure and depth changes to get my bearings on where I'm at more than anything.  I don't want to just float around looking for fish on the screen, I want to figure out where the fish are at, know why they are there, and what to fish them with.  Won't really learn that just by aimlessly rowing around with my nose in the screen looking for dots.

Funny thing about fishing
Guy on shore casts as far as he can toward deep water
Guy on boat casts as close to shore as he can
The fish are somewhere in between
Smart not to use fish finder to SEE fish
You have the right idea, know how deep it is and where it changes
I've found reefs or humps far from shore that you couldn't find unless you were up in a helicopter/airplane, they held fish
The small lake I've fished lately, water temp 73-74 degrees, bass are in about 3-12 feet of water
The water temp would have to be very warm for the fish to be deep IMO
I'd concentrate from the bank to about 20 feet deep
Good luck!

where the water comes into a lake, it brings food, oxygen, possibly cooler water. Put a hook on the end of your line and a light as possible split shot sinker about 24-30 inches up. Put a worm on the hook and toss it out into the inlet and let it drift out naturally , then reel in and repeat.  This will keep you fed, work on artificial bait later