I am finishing a 4 acre pond that is dry as of right now. i have heard that fish will swim the shore and hit a channel and follow it like a deer trail almost to the cover. should i get a sub soiler and dig some channels from structure to structure? or am i wasting my time.

Not a waste of time, but I don't know how big they would need to be. Structure is always good, but make sure you don't go thru the clay bottom and cause a leak.

A client had his dirt guy dig 4' wide and 4' deep channels in his pond bottom (sandy soil). The pond bottom was smooth after a year of being full of water......

Fish will find even the least differentiation and use it as a trail. We design channels, cuts, and humps in each lake we design for our clients. I personally believe we need to design a diverse under water community in order to give all sizes of all species of fish the best advantage to grow to maturity. Channels are part of that, as long as you don't breach the bottom and cause a leak. As long as the soils have some clay content, I wouldn't expect your channels to collapse. Design them from point to point, to connect your other prominent features.