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How to make finding fish easier the next time
Outdoors Columnists Unless you're a fishing guide or person of leisure, you can't stay on top of fish year round. Finding fish becomes a new challenge every trip back to your favorite lake. Even a week between trips can bring major changes in where fish are located. Fishing a new lake throws a whole new set of issues in the mix.
But finding biting fish isn't has hard as it seems. The problem can be solved using a simple plan.
Just like in 12-step groups, step one begins with admitting there is a problem. Never assume you know it all and can do it all yourself. We all need help. Finding fish begins by gathering information from many sources.
Check the Internet. Many sites like www.walleyecentral.com offer forums where people post their latest adventures. Many major fishing destinations and even some popular local ones have their own web sites. Resorts and guides at popular lakes offer fishing reports. Members of fishing clubs often use their club website to share updated information on fish location and tactics that work. Local newspapers offer weekly fishing reports on their web sites. Tournament circuits often post results of past events including where winners fished and what techniques they're using.
When you're on your way to a new lake, visit bait shops on the way. Buy a map at each one and have the guy behind the counter mark locations. Make a master map with all the information. Patterns will emerge.
Before you start fishing, identify places where baitfish are holding. Look for the spots-on-the-spot that have the "something different" where fish school. That can range from turns in weed lines and breaks to isolated boulders or patches of gravel or transition areas where mud meets hard bottom or two kinds of vegetation meet. Add the information to the map or to your notes.
If you see marks on the screen that could be walleyes, note how they are relating to the structure. If they are schooled up and tight to the bottom, then try jigging, rigging or slip bobbers. If they are spread out, try trolling crankbaits or livebait depending on water temperature and what you learned about what others were using.
Never stop fine-tuning the presentation even when it works. Try trolling faster or slower, shallower or deeper. Change colors of crankbaits or spinner blades or jigs. Keep changing things even when you start catching fish. A subtle color or speed change could trigger the bigger fish in the area.
Use a GPS to mark spots that produce. Take time to look at the map again and search for other others like them, especially ones the bait shops didn't tell you about. You might find an over-looked honey-hole of your very own.
Keep a fishing log. Write a summary of the day when you get home while the day is still fresh in your mind. Include the date, weather information, water color and details on what worked. Over time, you'll have detailed notes on your favorite lakes. You'll begin to see important nuances about seasonal movements and ways to fine-tune tactics to meet specific challenges. On new water, you'll have information that you can share with others headed that way. What works one place may work on similar bodies of water.
TED TAKASAKI can be reached at ted@lindylittlejoe.com or 829-1714. SCOTT RICHARDSON can be reached at srichardson@pantagraph.com.
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