How To Approach A New Lake


This has been a very widely talked about subject through the years.
I hope I can answer some of the questions that everyone has. Let me start by saying that in approaching a new lake I know that there is some fear involved, because at one time in my life I had all the same dilemmas that you have. I could explain this very simply, but you would be setting just like I did, when a very good friend of mine told me how. He told me, it is very easy, all you have to do is find your water on that lake. Simple right? NO, but it will be when I get done with the explanation.
Let me give you the dilemma that I had. I was used to fishing 800 to 1,500 acre lakes. I was getting ready to go fish a lake that was 100,000+ acres. Bewildered, overwhelmed these words do not describe what I was feeling. I was just plain old scared to death. I am hoping that after you get done with this article, that you will be able to go to any lake in the country and fish just as good as you do your home lake.

The first thing you have to do, is consider the time of year. This is one of the main things to take into consideration when you are going to a new lake. Is it spring, summer, fall, or winter? That is probably one of the easiest things to answer. Once you answer this question you need to get out a map of the lake you are going to. If you do not have a map, I would suggest that you buy one. I try to purchase my map at least a month ahead of time. That way when you get a few minutes of free time, you get the map out and do some study. Most lake maps are priced in the 6-10 dollar range. These maps can be worth their weight in gold. A lot of these maps you can purchase at just about any tackle or bait shop. You can also order them on a computer. The main reason to buy the map is to save yourself a great deal of time and money in gas just running around the lake looking.

I would like to take spring for an example. What you need to be looking for this time of year is shallow flats next to deep water. Another thing you need to consider, is the water on the north side of any pocket or cove is going to be warmer then the rest. One tool you might need this time of year is a surface temperature gauge. The (temp gauge) in the spring and fall is probably one of the most important tools you can carry. In the spring I also look for feeder creeks that might be bringing in warmer water. The easiest thing to do is to look at the lake and see if you can find spots on this map that compare to the lake that you fish the most and have confidence in. If you have a map of the lake you fish the most, get it out and take a look at the water you fish in march. Now take that and compare it to places on the map of the lake you are going to and see if you can find that type of stuff on it. That is what I have done since I started fishing big bodies of water. Doing that made it a lot easier for me to search out what I wanted to fish.

One thing that might help you is to look and see what boat ramp you are planning on using and try to go from there. Pick one area of the lake and just concentrate on it. Basically what I am saying, is to try to break the lake up into a bunch of small lakes. The reason I do this is to break up all the other clutter on the map. Take a look at your map and you can see what I am talking about. I hope this is getting a little easier for you now.

Once you get the main lake broken down, you go one step farther and break those down into smaller areas. These smaller areas will be the areas that you will want to concentrate on. Once you get fishing these areas you should pay a great deal of attention as to what and how you are fishing. This can help you out later. I.E. if you happen to get on a pattern, you can take the map out and look to see what else you can fish in other areas on the lake that are like what you are fishing in a certain place. You need to think what you are fishing and how you are fishing it. This is called pattern fishing. Once you get on a pattern it sure makes a day on the lake go a lot easier.
Now if you will let me go just a little farther. In the spring there is going to be some things that you are going to need to look for. They are very simple, these are objects in the water such as, rocks and trees that have fallen in the water. The reason that you look for these is that they heat up fast and absorb heat from the sun. In turn bringing bait fish and other types of critters to the object. Another thing that a lot of anglers over look is a mud line. Such as is created by boat traffic. The dirt content in the water also heats up very quickly. In turn warming the water. This time of year a couple of degrees can mean the difference in catching and just fishing. This time of year I personally fish a lot of rip-rap (rocks they put along roads to keep the dirt from eroding). The best way to find this is to look at the map and find where the bridges cross the lake. Almost all of these bridges will be lined with rock of varying size. The ones that I look for are the ones that the road runs east and west and I fish the south side of the bridge. The reason that I fish the south side is that the water warms the fastest on that side. It has the advantage of the sun almost all day on it.

One other thing that I look for when going to a new lake is feeder creeks. I tend to fish these all year. From spring on into late fall. In the spring the water run off from ponds and just from off the little creeks tends to warm fast and brings in crawfish and all kinds of bugs and bait fish. this water also tends to be a little stained or dirty. DO NOT be afraid of this. The dirty water will warm faster. Let me give you a little secret of mine, I fish a 17.5’ boat and some of the creeks that I fish I can not turn my boat around in. If they have enough water to float my boat I will fish them. Some of the feeder creeks that I fish are barely 2 feet deep. The reason for me fishing these is mainly because no one else will. I can not tell you how many bass in the 2 to 6 pound class I have caught all year in these little waterways. Another reason for fishing these creeks is that they are usually highly oxygenated, and very rich with food sources for the bass. (Lets keep that our secret though OK.) These fish in turn see very little fishing pressure which makes them fairly easy to catch. But now you need to go back to what grandpa told you about being quiet. These fish are some what spooky, so do not go into these small creeks and bang around the boat and slam lids. If you go in making a lot of noise you WILL NOT catch these fish.

Gone Fishing..................