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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | What do you guys do to find fish, other than using your social media network, ect.
Run & gun, troll, find bait fish, pick apart an area known for fish, rely on mother nature as a guide, speed cast shoreline areas, other tactics ?
What works best for where you normally fish ?
Edited by Top H2O 11/14/2020 9:53 AM
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Posts: 20188
Location: oswego, il | Pretty much all of that. On smaller lakes I will slow down and pick apart the good areas. Another thing I have is a giant lake library. I have just about every map book there is for several states even the more obscure books. It's a great data base to find water to fish and often times have it to yourself. Ever caught musky on a holiday weekend and been the only boat on the lake? I have. |
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Posts: 194
| Like Toddm I have an extensive library, review lakes on the Navionics App, research the DNR reports to select lake I want to focus on. Things I consider, drainage lake. what does inflowing water source bring, forage base, fishing and recreational pressure, available structure vs dishpan, reputation and water clarity. Much of the info is not current so you have to apply some fliters. What is my ideal lake, not too clear, ample structure, navigational hazards are a plus as it limits recreational traffic, decent forage base, has a significant water source which improves forage base, has some decent depth and size typically 800 acres or more. I'm sure others have different criteria but this works for me when picking or exploring new waters. Good Luck |
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Posts: 51
| I use evernote and navionics to build a database. Everytime I see a fish, whether I catch it or not, I spot it on the map and in a spread sheet with every detail you could think of. Then its just a matter of hours of navionics grinding looking for similar structures... I dont rely of social media though, I feel like if its out there, its already too late.... I will use social to connect some dots though...
Using navionics along side google maps satelite images, if you have 2 screens is a great way to spot structures that navionics wont show you. I'll just leave it at that...
Edited by MKevin 11/14/2020 7:09 PM
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Location: Neapolitan Chain Of Lakes | Finding fish starts with what lake has them in it so the DNR website of your state or the state you want to fish is the place to start. Also depends on what your goal is. Do you want big fish, just to catch a fish, to catch a tiger, etc. My goal is to fish as many different lakes I can in my life so I find out what lakes have them in it make a list, buy some paper or waterproof maps, and plan trips. Once on the water apply everything you and others have said and then some. It's so easy. 
Edited by esox109 11/15/2020 6:53 PM
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Posts: 1218
Location: Walker, MN | The newer electronics like LiveScope, side vu, and Mega SI really help. Other than that, pretty much just cast like a MF'er. |
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Posts: 1689
| I fish to relax. Catching fish is wayyy down the list. Launch the boat, throw it in gear and start trolling. I like bigger bodies of water that might take more than 1 day to troll the shoreline of the whole thing. Sprinkle in a couple of power naps on a warm sunny day and i'm satisfied. |
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Posts: 1035
| The Lunge Log on Muskies Inc is a great tool! Probably the best and most underutilized fish catching tool out there.
I'll use that and look at "new" lakes.
Then when I get there, I'll spend time motoring around weedlines, breaks and humps looking at side imagine and figuring out where the boat should be positioned and what the "spot on the spot" should be.
On lakes I know? I like to look for bait on the graph when running around some spots. Side imaging has been really helpful in that regard. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | I'm with Brian - I does this for fun (not because I'm any good at it!). For the 'lakes I usually fish', I have a milk run route that I do and hope the fish find me. If they don't, I'll start with secondary spots and always try to find a place I haven't hit before I leave for the day. My routine is 2-3 hrs driving, 6-7 hrs boating, and 2-3 hrs back home with dinner in my lap. Doesn't leave a lot of time for experimenting, I guess. m |
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Posts: 59
| The number one thing for me is places where I have marked fish previously, from follows or catches. If you don't have this kind of info for the body of water then I usually take a look at a map of the lake and look for places that would be likely holding fish. After I have a series of good looking spots on the map I'll usually take a day to scope out the spots and map them out in my head with where weeds, rocks, bait, bottom composition etc are. After this extra mapping step I filter through the best ones that I found and fish them in the order of most promising to least promising. I move pretty quickly through the spots, but I'll pick apart an area if it feels extra fishy.
Like some others have mentioned though, at the end of the day fishing is about getting out and relaxing. Don't let methods like those mentioned above get in the way of your enjoyment. I'm fairly competitive and analytical, so this processes is is fun for me in and of itself.
Edited by Rob C 11/19/2020 7:31 AM
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Posts: 13
Location: Orwell, Oh | This time of the year, its all about bait...find the bait, find the skees.
If you can combine some current, drop offs and bait together...well then your in business- especially with a little moon phase action sprinkled in.
Ive really started to pay attention to the weather all week or 4 days before I plan to go...maybe I can guesstimate where the bait may be.
Lately, I'll troll for an hour just to get a feel for bait positions and sometimes keep trolling or start casting if I find the bait all bunched up. Ive been fishing relatively shallow water for the last 4-5 weeks (9-18fow) Now the water is 45 at surface, I think I'm headed for deeper water this weekend |
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Posts: 661
Location: Roscoe IL | What seems to work best for us is to find any structure. Be it weeds, rocks, wood, points or anything that stands out to the eye or on the graph. Current is another thing we look for but on lakes rarely comes into play. This works best for us for any species but is not always a sure bet. We struggle most of the time at the start and discover patterns that makes no sense to us as we go.
I love Brian's response.
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Posts: 158
Location: Alexandria, MN | On a Canadian shield lake, mid to late summer, a lot of runnin' and gunnin'. If I know the lake, I hit my milk run of spots - particularly the ones getting wind-blown. I also try to establish whether it's a predominantly weed or rock bite. I usually get a week in Canada every summer and try to learn a few new spots each trip. In my home state of MN, I usually try to find the nicest cabbage beds and fish them hard, depending on time of year. Set up on a long drift and cover as much water as possible. The older I get, the more I like to troll - especially later in the season. This time of year - like baddfish said - find the bait. Find the most dense concentrations of baitfish and put lures through or just above them. |
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Posts: 371
Location: SW Ohio | Summertime on our local lake has the fish stacked in small, highly pressured areas due to the thermocline coming up to about 10'. Spring and fall have them scattered throughout the lake and anywhere above the thermocline (lake is deep -- up to 130' near the dam, 40-65 elsewhere with some shallower flats and points). Weed grow is almost non-existent now. Tons of baitfish all over the lake but are balling up at the mouth of coves now...yesterday they were about 20-30' down. I did find some fish laying close to the bottom (easily seen on side scan) in coves but were not in the eating mood. Water temps are just getting into the upper 40 range and it will be time to jig and troll...not my favorite ways but if it gets fish in the net I'm for it.
Our lake fishes better on small baits vs standard sized Musky baits. Bass and Saugeye fishing produces many fish. It can be a great crankbait lake in the summer (most of my catches have been on large bass/small Musky cranks). The largest fish that I know of have come on small walleye jigs and light line. Springtime can be a mess with water levels fluctuating wildly (last year it was up 15' at one point and all but the steepest ramp was closed) and water so muddy that vis is 1-2".
I went up a small, shallow creek yesterday where the fish run and caught the hull on a #*^@ foundation that I didn't know was there coming back out (water is down 3' for winter pool) while watching seagulls feast on a school of shad. The joys of boat ownership. LOL.
Edited by OH Musky 11/21/2020 7:35 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Yup, the Corps ran a lot of good folks off their homesteads to build that lake, as I recall from when I used to live in Middletown.I also find in the Ohia lakes I fish that baits 6" and under work about as well as the bigger ones. Maybe just because I throw them more, those dawgs will wear on me.
I'm finding fish up in skinny water on cloudy or post-storm days. But, not much of that yesterday; don't always work out like that I guess. m |
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Posts: 371
Location: SW Ohio | mikie - 11/23/2020 1:47 PM
Yup, the Corps ran a lot of good folks off their homesteads to build that lake, as I recall from when I used to live in Middletown.I also find in the Ohia lakes I fish that baits 6" and under work about as well as the bigger ones. Maybe just because I throw them more, those dawgs will wear on me.
I'm finding fish up in skinny water on cloudy or post-storm days. But, not much of that yesterday; don't always work out like that I guess. m
Surprisingly, they still seem to be shallow (less than 10’). Missed a good one today on a suick...I’m not well versed in using them but getting better. 8’ in the back of a cove. Decided to switch up from chasing schools of bait and try something different. Looked to be a wide bodied fish but all it did was try to take the head off the bait. Had a second one follow later in the afternoon on the same suick. South end main lake on the edge of a drop off. Again about 8’ but this was a smaller fish.
With as much as they’ve stocked the lake over the years, there are good numbers and some big ones as well. Pretty good chance at a 50” if you’re in the right place at the right time. The saugeye guys seem to find them from time to time. |
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