The sonar arms race has half this sport convinced you can't find a fish without a four-figure screen. The pros restricted the screens this season, so apparently even they don't fully believe that.
Start with the season, because the season picks the neighborhood: pre-spawn fish stage on the first deep break near spawning flats, summer fish follow shade and oxygen, fall fish follow the bait. Then read what's free: wind blowing bait onto a bank, birds working, the one dock with deep water under it, the creek channel swinging against the shore.
From a kayak you have an advantage the boat guys quietly envy: you can fish the water they blow past at forty miles an hour. The hundred yards nobody casts at holds more catchable fish than the community hole ever will.
Full breakdown by season below — and if you're a graph guy, tell us in the comments why we're romantics. We can take it.