How to study

[FishingBuds]

Discussion

I'm looking into studying two water spots, I have yet to do anything to the extent that’s needed to get to know said areas, unless just throwing the pole in is one. I have already zig zagged a crossed one with the depth finder to look for drops and points and looked for some natural creeks that run into it, this is very time consuming as I know. I have to admit either I was over whelmed or I have a long way to go on learning how to spot said areas. I came up empty for the most part. I need to start over.

What is a good tool out there to use? Is it the GPS systems??? Something I have seen on morning weekend TV is a map that details the layout of lakes?? I’m sure these are not cheap.

Or what about posting a pick of the areas and just see what you guys think??

At this point its just thoughts but I’m seeing that I need to stick with a spot and learn the lake or pit? So I’ve settled on these two ones and eager to see what I’ve got to do

 

[darb79]

Most of the bodys of water that I fish over here in Idaho are man reservoirs. When I decide on a body of water to focus on the first thing I look for are old photos of the construction of the dam. In those photos I can see what the landscape was prior to flooding it. This was the best thing that I ever did when I was scouting out areas for walleye fishing because I seen some areas in the photos that would keep fish. I putted around in the boat over the area marking with my GPS potential areas of what I seen in the photos. Gps comes in very handy when you locate good areas.
Another thing I like to do is try to pair up with one of the old timers in the area that consistently catches fish. He may not know whats below the boat, but he knows where the fish are. Plus most old timers enjoy the extra company and they usually have some pretty cool stories.
I have found It hard to get a good map of lake terrain for this side of the rockies. There are only maps of the larger lakes like Powell, Mead, and the northern Idaho lakes. So I have no insight there to help you out.

 

[redbug]

try the Navionics hot maps explorer it has 10,000 lakes on it the give you great detail you will also get 1 HD lake map with the purchase the price is $20 You can mark weigh points and transfer them to your gps I have been using it for 2 years now and love it. I purchase a hd map of the lake I plan on visiting for my national tournament it show depth changes in 1 ft segments...
It also has a feature that uses google earth so you can see the depth contours and the Aeriel photo at the same time


https://www.fugawi.com/web/products/navionics_hotmaps_explorer.htm