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Finding Fish On New Water
BY
JOEL TINKER (Top Tackle Guide Service)
(Posted Jan. 12, 2002)

Often times I’m asked by people, “How do I go to a new body of water and get started? How do I start to put all the pieces together?” For those that do not spend the bulk of their free time sitting in a boat as I do, this task can often seem too overwhelming. So much so, that many folks will not invest the time or energy to do it. They are content to stick with the waters they know even if those waters have changed or declined. Any number of reasons can push them to search for new places to fish, but with a few bad choices, moving on to “greener pastures” may be worst than what they left behind.

This whole process can be very intimidating and confusing for the person looking for a new musky lake. Putting the pieces together on a fish that may only show itself every couple of days can really test ones faith in new endeavors. Is it a slow period that you are just going to have to fish through or are you missing the keys on that new piece of water that you have decided to try out? It can shake ones confidence in a hurry, especially those of you that fish on limited time. When every moment on the water is valuable for putting fish in the boat, learning sometimes takes a back seat. Learning, which is as much a process of knowing what not to do as it is a process of knowing what to do, can be very time consuming. Let me see if I can save you some time. While we’re at it, some things about location and patterning these fish may become apparent to you as well. The things that follow are the steps that I go through to put the puzzle together on a new body of water. They have worked for me over the years. I’m sure there are other things to consider, but keep in mind that my objectives are two fold - getting the basic information that will put fish in my boat and getting it as quickly as possible. I, like you, want as much of my time to be devoted to fishing and not exploring. I will, however, make the sacrifice of time because I know how valuable the information can be and I feel confident that I can get what I need in a short period of time.

The first order of business is figuring out what new piece of water you want to start with. Quite frankly, this is the most important step and usually the first place a person makes a mistake. If a bad choice is made here no amount of determination or knowledge will get you the results you seek from this new water. So some questions to ask and some things to consider are: What is the upper size fish that you want this water to hold? How much time and effort are you willing to expend to put those type of fish in the boat? Do you want just a numbers lake? If you want fish of a certain size are you willing to sacrifice numbers for them? How big of a lake can you handle? Do you have a boat and motor that will realistically allow you to consistently fish that water and do it safely? The acreage you pick should be in proportion to the amount of time that you have to invest. Is boat traffic a concern to you? Your questions and concerns will vary depending on what your expectations are for your musky fishing. The important thing is to not be reactionary. Get a game plan together and stick with it. When you are confident that you know what you are looking for then it is time to go out and find it. This is when the grunt work starts.

There is an incredible amount of information one can gather before you even put your boat into your new little piece of paradise. As they say, the key to knowledge is knowing were to find the information. I will list a few of the sources that I use to track down the things that I want to know about a new piece of water. There are more out there, probably an infinite amount, but again, I’m trying to get as much information as quickly as possible. For questions about the quality of fish within a water system I’m looking at starting with my local DNR. Here in Northern Wisconsin these guys are very helpful and knowledgeable. I ask for stocking information, creel census numbers, and fyke net totals. It is amazing how much information is there just for the asking. It is gathered with your tax dollars, use it! Also, I have been put onto some good lakes just by picking the brain of some of the DNR biologists in my area. I fish one small lake that I never would have considered going to if it was not for a short conversation one day with a biologist that was also a musky hound. He had some first hand knowledge of what size fish he had handled in this lake due to his job. After some further research, I was sold. What a great find!

Let me stress something here that may prevent you from sticking to your game plan. Don’t believe everything you hear. Let me say that again, it is worth repeating. Don’t believe everything you hear. If one piece of information is all it takes to get you to make up your mind as to where to head you are going to waist a lot of time. It is the coming together of several things that should push you to this new water. One good fish caught or one good story should not do it.

Another source that I use is catch numbers compiled by local Muskies Inc. clubs. They are a good indication of average and top end size ranges in many pieces of water. Also, much of the information that is compiled with the results of their local tournaments can be quite insightful.

Talks with other fisherman and guides is a great source for leads, but again, do not be mislead by the occasional “story to good to be true”. This may cause one to investigate further, but do not jump to fictitious conclusions about what lurks in your new honey hole. There is a lot of misinformation in the fishing world and it is much worse among some musky people.

Once you think you have a body of water that may have the size and number of fish that you are looking for, it is time to see if the lake itself is something you’re interested in fishing. I will fish anywhere that I feel holds the type of fishery I’m looking for, but I have certain types of lakes that I prefer to fish if possible. If more than one lake is being considered, getting a handle on what lake types are available is critical to making a decision. Is the lake deep, shallow, weedy, soft bottom, hard bottom, clear, stained, wind blown? What other species, especially baitfish species, are present? What kind of public access is available? Is trolling allowed? This can be important to those of you looking to optimize your fishing time while you explore. There are many more questions, but these are some of the most important.

The good news is that this is all fairly attainable information. In my area of Northern Wisconsin I have three great sources to turn to: the DNR, Clarkson Map Co., and Fishing Hot Spots. Addresses appear at the end of this article. All of these sources can get you answers to the above questions and they all can get you a decent lake map of most lakes and rivers. You will need this map before you decide to hit the water. It will have the keys that will tell you if you have found a place that falls into that preferred lake type that you are looking for. Lake maps and the information they contain can vary greatly in accuracy. I have used some that are right on the money, and I have used some that are not worth the paper they are printed on. So again, do not use this as the only thing to pull you to a new lake. If the map looks good in conjunction with a few other things listed above, give it a shot.

Let us assume that you have found a place that sounds like it holds the type of fish you are looking for, it is a type of lake that you are interested in fishing, there are not any glaring issues that would make you seek out another body of water over this one, you have a map in hand and are sitting in your boat at the landing. Where the heck do you go from here? The good news is that if you did your homework 75% of the important work is done and 100% of the fun is just starting!

If possible, you have picked a lake where it is legal to troll. This is not always possible, but what I do from this point on is exactly the same, it’s just that I may or may not have lines out while I am cruising the lake. Pick a nice day in terms of sun and wind, remember you are exploring; fishing is secondary. Lay your map out so that it is easy to handle in the boat. You will need to be able to read it at a glance and you will need to write down information as you come across it. Often times when I look at new waters I take my wife along and she plays secretary while I dictate. It’s a good excuse to take her for a boat ride so she can get some sun. In any event, a second person makes the whole process go much faster and it is more enjoyable. Look at your map and see if it gives you an indication as to what depth, in general, the primary break will be at. This is the depth that most of the shelf areas make their first fall into deeper water. This is the level that you should concentrate on. If you can troll, rig a rod or two to run in that zone and fish them while you go. If during the course of the day the rods get to be too much work to maintain due to weeds or hang-ups put them in the boat, they will only distract you and your attention should be focused on your map, your electronics, and the shoreline.

Go out from the boat landing till you get to the first break and note the depth. Start trolling at that depth till one of two things tells you to change: 1) The primary break seems to run at a different depth in some areas (adjust accordingly), 2) The weed growth in the lake grows over and down the primary break. In this second case, adjust your depth to reflect the deepest you can get while still keeping the outside edge of those weeds under your boat. A mistake often made is not reading the very deepest weeds. Hopefully, you have a good understanding of your locator and know how shorter, fringe weeds will show up on it. I never explore a new lake until I’m fairly certain that the major weed growth for the year has taken place. In my area this means never before the 1st of July.

My first objective is to troll the entire first break on this new piece of water. It usually will take about six hours to do a 1500-acre lake if I have help with the writing. It can be shorter or longer depending on how much detail you want to record or how much structure there is to remember.

As I move along this first break there are certain things that I’m looking for. As I find them, I mark their location on my map with a number and record this number on the back of the map along with an explanation of why I want to remember that spot. During this process I try to keep in mind that I am not only looking for things that will catch me fish today, but also, those things that are important at other times of the year, especially the fall period when I am trophy hunting. The simplest way to explain what I look for is that I’m looking for “change” along this primary break. A list of the things that I take note of are as follows: steep drops along the break, points (even very small ones), inside turns, corners, edges that go way out into the lake thus signifying a large flat between me and shore, anything that could hold muskies or bait (cribs, wood or stumps, rocks, etc.), changes in bottom content (hard to soft), and any areas where the weeds extend over the first break, and thus, run deeper into the lake. I always keep a rod hooked up in the boat with a big jig on it that can be dropped down to investigate bottom hardness and weed type.

Now, if the weed edge in your chosen lake does not extend over the first break, I will do the same trolling run along it to find its little idiosyncrasies. Again, looking for extensions or points, inside turns or pockets, changes from one weed type to another, places where the weeds grow up to the first break or beyond, large weed flats, and areas that have fishable water over the weed tops.

If my chosen lake had a weed edge that did grow over the first drop, and thus, that weed edge became my first trolling run, my second run will be at the basin break. This is the area where the main drop-off in the lake first starts to level off. Here I’m looking for many of the things above, but I will be paying particular attention to the steep drops, the points and turns, and the bottom content changes. Much of this is geared towards a deeper fall pattern.

The notes that you take do not have to be of great detail. They need to be just enough to tell you when you return what it was that made you take note of that area the first time. As I motor around and my wife is taking notes, it may go something like this, “Spot 12, sharp inside turn, spot 13, long slender underwater point, spot14, good weed edge that extends over break to 16 feet, spot15, three cribs on break in 14 feet.”

When you are done you will have accomplished two things: 1) you will have many of the better weed spots pegged that fish will tend to relate to, 2) you will have many of the better structural elements pegged along the primary edge off of the weeds that fish will relate to. With these two important pieces of the puzzle you WILL be able to catch muskies in that water system! From this point on, as you fish your new lake, it is just a matter of sorting out the winners from the losers. Let me bring up another mistake often made. It takes a long time to know a water system totally, if it is possible at all. Just because you do not connect with fish on good looking spots the first few times you try them do not give up. It may be that some of these better looking areas are only prime at certain times of the year, so don’t write them off until they have been tested under a variety of conditions.

There will still be much to learn on the new water, but you will have given yourself a jump start by investing a small amount of time to get the most critical information first. Granted, you can get this stuff by fishing the lake, but it will take much, much longer and often the finer points are missed. I have met folks who fish a place much longer than others and they still don’t know it very well. Usually that is due to their not wanting to stop fishing long enough to learn. Thus, year after year, they fish the same spots the same way and never grow their knowledge. As time permits or on slow days, you will still need to check out any mid-lake structure, inside weed lines, bays, inlets and outlets, suspended fish, etc., but in the mean time you will feel confident that you can get on productive areas and move fish.

All the information that you have gathered are each a piece of the puzzle on this new water. I like to think of them as the border pieces in the puzzle. As we put together a jigsaw puzzle we like to put the border together first so that filling in the middle will be easier. Every fish that you come in contact with from this point on is a possible source of information for putting some of the inside pieces together. Don’t miss the chance to fill in some of these pieces.

All to often fishermen, even good ones, make contact with a fish and make a mental note as to the location and figure it is a good spot because they saw or caught a fish there. This might be true, but if that is so, then there is a reason for that fish to be where it was. Find out why that fish was there! If it came off weeds ask these questions. What kind of weeds? Get the jig out and bring some up for a look. How deep are the weeds? Did the fish come out of the thick, shallow stuff or from along a deeper edge? What is the weed shape that held the fish? Was it a weed point, inside turn, isolated thicker area, opening in the thick stuff, or some other type of “change” within or along the weeds? If the fish came off structure, what was the “change” that it was relating to? What was the shape of the structure? Was it a point, hump, inside turn, flat, etc.? Was there a transition in bottom hardness or content? Was the fish relating to an edge? If so, was it steep or tapering? Was it up on the primary break or off on one of the secondary breaks? One of the most overlooked things to watch for is a baitfish connection. Was that fish there only because for some reason there was bait in the area? Very often this can be the case, and although the “good spot” is fished many times, you never connect again in that area. Now you may have an answer as to why. Sometimes, finding bait in an area is a fluke, and sometimes it is not. Often, specific baitfish location is dependent on time of year and much of the rest of the time it cannot be patterned; this is especially true of suspended bait.

What this whole process is doing for you is finding the “spot on a spot” locations. You have mapped many of the key types of change that the musky will relate to as you cruised the lake. Now, by meticulously investigating the places where you see or catch fish you will start to find the little subtleties that are present on all pieces of structure - the spot on a spot. You may have found that great underwater weed point while you cruised the lake, but not until you moved a fish off the left side did you look close enough to find that the weed point is predominately coontail except for a nice little cabbage patch on the left side! Now you’re in business!

With a good game plan, learning new water takes less time than you think. So, invest the time. The rewards are more and bigger fish because the times you fish are done in more productive water on more productive spots. Also, on pressured water there are still untapped areas, you just have to find them. A great sense of satisfaction comes from boating a nice fish off a spot that you found yourself, without help from anyone. And better yet, you may be the only one who knows that this little piece of heaven exists!

Courtesy of www.toptackle.com