 For
those of you who regularly travel to new water, or fish
tournaments that frequently bring you to unfamiliar impoundments,
you are probably familiar with the overwhelming feeling
of; "what do I do now?" Well, to offer some
consolation, there are several steps you can take to combat
this all to familiar problem, many of which are much easier
than one might anticipate.
First of all, quite possibly some of the most important
steps you can take to prepare for new water, can be
taken days or weeks in advance to physically traveling
to your new destination. I consider these steps a form
of "bassin' reconnaissance", that will, if
done correctly, eliminate a whole lot of unproductive
water. Topographical maps, web pages, phone calls to
local marinas and bait shops, all make up this first
step of intelligence gathering. Also, as of late, GPS
and Loran numbers, however hard they may be to come
by, have become a crucial ingredient in a recipe for
angling success.
As a rule of thumb, the first thing I like to do when
I find out which new body of water I will be fishing,
is to secure a reliable topographical map. In the event
that the body of water is an impoundment, where the
lake was created by flooding a river valley, I like
to acquire pre and post flooding maps. This because
many valuable pieces of submerged structure, many times
man made, such as buildings or road bridges and beds,
can be found on the pre flooding map, and consequently
be located on the post flooding map. If you have the
time and the resources, making a transparency overlay
of the pre flood map, that can be fitted over the post
flood map can make locating important submerged structure
quick and efficient. This is especially useful if the
lake in question lacks visible man made surface structure
such as bridges and docks. Of course only a trip over
the area with an attuned depth finder will guarantee
the presence of the suspected structure, but having
some idea of what's down there will make the approach
a great deal easier.
After maps, I solemnly believe the next greatest method
of info gathering is plain old fashioned phone calls
to bait shops and marinas in the vicinity of your target
water. Now granted the quality of the information will
vary by each situation, but from experience, I have
found most marina and bait shop owners to be more than
cooperative when it comes to angling inquiries. Blunt
or frontal questions you might want to avoid are usually,
"what are they hitting on", or "where
is the hot spot this week". Rather, you should
use this valuable resource to confirm the validity of
information you have already gathered. Specific questions
like "my map shows a large weed bed in the North
East corner of the main lake, what kind of vegetation
is it made up of, and have you heard of anyone bringing
in anything substantial off of it?", will usually
garner a more friendly and accurate response. I have
learned that it's usually not what they are hitting
on, but rather where. Once you have the location, the
rest, as I have found, can come substantially easier.
Another great way to make use of this resource is to
let them help you with logistical details of your trips.
Trust me when I say take the advice of the locals on
where and where not to stay and eat. The same applies
to directions to launch ramps and other similar local
locations. I think we all may have had the nightmare
experience of asking a recently immigrated 24 hour convenience
store clerk directions to a nearly impossible to find
launch ramp five in the morning, because in all your
direction gathering you forgot the last leg from the
motel to the ramp. Finally, don't hesitate to ask about
previous tournaments in the area and the statistics
about them. I have formulated several plans based on
the results and information I have gathered based on
previous tournaments. Again, provided you can maintain
a friendly demeanor, the amount of info available from
this source is only limited to the number of phone calls
you are willing to make. They can help you get on more
and better fish, as well as avoid headaches come time
to hit the water.
In the last few years, in the wake of the Internet
tidal wave, web pages and chat rooms have become a quick
and easy to gather information on nearly any body of
water in the country. I feel, as it stands now, one
could do a great deal of his or her research online,
and wind up with a fairly complete case file for either
a tournament or recreational fishing excursion. Though
it should be noted that while the Internet is a very
powerful and very convenient resource, it is not a be
all end all of fishing planning. Depending on the body
of water you are planning to fish, it is possible to
have too much information to wade through, rather than
not enough, which is just as dangerous, and unbelievably
time consuming. From experience, I have found breaking
your search into smaller pieces, and entering that on
a search engine will be far more efficient than simply
entering in the lake name. This applies especially to
larger, more nationally known bodies of water. For example,
entering "Lake Fork", in a search engine,
to find a specific marina or launch ramp will garner
countless results, but "Lake Fork Launch Ramps",
will give you far less, and more accurate results. This,
of course, applies to all search aspects.
A great way to ensure this research is not done in
vane, and not only for one trip, you might consider
using the system of creating something of a case file
for each lake you fish. By adding information as you
gain it, each lake file grows, and you can refer back
to it at any time. As well as continually expand it,
until you have created something of a mini encyclopedia
of that lake. Of course this will take time, but as
the amount of lakes grows, and you begin to fish the
same waters again and again, be it recreationally or
for tournament purposes, you will soon see the immense
reward in doing this. I use this system, and in each
lake file, not only do I keep maps, photographs, and
previous fishing reports, but I also keep the information
to the motel where I stayed, restaurants, the directions
to the launch ramp, and a host of other things that
makes planning and making your trip incredibly easier.
One more point, a great piece of information to keep
in this file is the number to a local boat and motor
repair shop. Even if you have never used it before,
having it there will prevent a mad scramble to the yellow
pages should something go wrong.
There are of course far more sources to gain pre-fish,
and trip information than I have listed, as to list
them all would be nearly impossible. Simply keep an
open ear, and as in my case, you might consider carrying
a small note pad with you. One would be amazed at what
one can pick up just from listening up at the ramp.
While it's widely known that there is certainly no substitute
for time on the water, I hope this has at least shed
some light on an otherwise usually ignored subject.
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