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Posts: 300
| Haven't seen a thread on this in quite some time. Was just curious how you guys end up breaking down new stuff on a body of water like LOTW. Assuming most start with a good old map - where does it go from there?
I have been to Sabaskong Bay quite a few times - but rarely venture more than 5-7 miles away from camp. Just wondering how some of the more experienced anglers do it. |
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Posts: 771
Location: Delavan, WI | Look for structure similar to where you found fish on spots you are familiar with for example if you saw fish on rocks look for more rocks adjacent to islands weed edges etc, work the spots fast with bucktails or faster moving topwaters when you see or catch a fish mark in your gps and come back with slower moving baits or at prime time whether that maybe at sunrise, sunset or moon phase |
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Posts: 1199
| Find the biggest and most complex structure and start from there. |
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Posts: 1971
| Really no different than what you have done so far near camp, you have a milk run 5-7 miles from camp already, right? Now just pick an area you want to try say 10-12 miles from camp.. maybe its near Firebag island (hypothetical).. From there study a map, and pick 10 spots within a mile or 2 that look good on the map, make a plan to fish these spots in a logical order...no doubt when you drive between these new spots you'll certainly see other spots that look good that didn't jump out on a map, fish them too! Spots that you were like "I absolutely can't believe there wasn't anything there" should go into a bucket of hitting again... there are so many spots on lotw you really won't find new "A spots" unless you force yourself to fish a few new spots daily...and to be that is what makes LOTW incredible, I could fish all the spots I've seen/caught muskies in 100 days  |
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Posts: 102
| I think in breaking down the water of LOTW I would also consider the seasonality of when you are on your trip. I generally pay a lot more attention to bays or structure that is close to the large shallow bays earlier in the season and move out to more main lake structure from there. You can pretty easily identify these potential spawning bays looking at a map. Some of the bigger fish in the system might not ever move too far away from these "early season" locations. 
Pick areas to fish and work on getting to know small chunks of water at a time. It can be overwhelming, but fish can be found almost every where at times.
I always try to hit a few new areas on trips to learn them when fish are off. Even if you don't see anything, you understand the structure and how it is laid out for when the window is open. Good looking spots will often hold fish...sometimes you just have to figure out the timing on when they come alive.
Brett Waldera |
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Posts: 309
Location: Selkirk, Manitoba | Sabaskong is it's own separate musky lake really on LOTW given that much of the basin is in the 15-20 foot range (as is a lot of the south part of LOTW). If you venture much further into other basins you are going to have to recalibrate what good musky habitat is in comparison. For example a large reef complex adjacent to deep water simply doesn't exist in Sabaskong, but will be a prime spot in another musky basin.
In general when it comes to exploring, spend more time fishing areas that travelling. To IAJustin's point, spots that look great probably are - sometimes the fish just won't show or were pulled off their lair by some anglers than have come by earlier. It is difficult to not want to check spots quickly (run and gun), but being thorough is rewarded with more follows than being quick through an area. |
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Posts: 1199
| Don't bite off more then you can chew, stay closer to camp and learn every rock, weed, and current area. The only exception is run somewhere to get away from the bloom. |
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Posts: 535
| For me and how my mind works ive found its hard to get away from a good old paper map. On Sabaskong i went over the map and spots with a couple different people a couple times. Once i found fish in a certain type of area cover or structure i went to the map and found other stuff that was similar. Alot of running around at that point. Have to be really careful when running around all the hazards there as the gps are not all that accurate at times. Espicially at night. |
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Posts: 688
Location: Northern IL | Trolling is the most efficient way of locating productive Structure / bars, humps and saddles. Start with the deepest water in the area and work the features closest to it. When learning new areas always hold the rod and take note of bottom changes. The easiest way to See some changes in bottom hardness is with your electronics, however to really Know what's there is to "Feel" it. When trolling in depths deeper than 15' use single stand wire line and a lure with a metal lip for a direct line of communication.
Once productive areas are located then casting will cover the area more thoroughly, sometimes lol!
Good luck. |
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Posts: 357
| dont get overwhelmed by the size. need to compartmentalize it. if you put a dot by every fish that has been caught most of the lake would have a dot. a milk run that is productive to you is not productive for others. there are literally fish everywhere. i think with a little searching you can find pics of similar maps.
some guys love fishing wind blown stuff. some guys love staying out of the wind. both ways catch fish. some guys love rocks, some love weeds, both have fish all the time.
one big mistake i see is people forget it is a reservoir and that current, both up flow and backflow have major implications how fish position.
dont just think about structure, think about bait. you will often find pockets, or current areas that are blown full of baitfish. even if the structure doesn't look great. the big fish will be there some |
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Posts: 612
| Lakemaster should have this lake charted so y can se GPS |
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Posts: 576
Location: Sheboygan Falls, WI | https://youtu.be/N6t1DiFDBO4
Video on attacking new water, not LOTW, but it is a Canadian shield lake. Also sites to load on your computer and phone with free interactive maps. Some basic information on reading water as well. "Homework" that I do before each trip, new water or not. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I love exploring lotw. Last year half of our 23 fish from the trip including my casting PB at 53.5" were on spots I/we had never fished. I simply looked at the map and fished it, while watching my side imaging it is easy to see the 'best stuff' on rocks. There are generally always fish in weeds so those are easy to have confidence in. Every trip is different and sometimes the old stand by money spots have gone cold for whatever reason the day(s) you are there. Having A LOT of good spots to choose from is key. Time is the one thing on a trip you have a finite amount of. Don't waste it fishing 'dead' water or spots that simply aren't producing.. It is pretty easy to look at a map and see what spots 'could' be good. Even if you fish them and don't move a fish don't give up...timing is everything...
Edited by BNelson 2/28/2023 8:00 PM
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