What's your method of cracking-the-code on a new lake?

[DaubsNU1]

Fished a new-to-me-lake recently...got me thinking about my plan of attack.

 

Lakes in my part of Nebraska are mostly small, man-made reservoirs, not huge by any means.

 

Game and Parks are leaving standing timber and doing a pretty good job creating rock points / rip-rap, and other cover.

 

I generally start with the following and move down the list:

• Start early with top-water, buzz-baits, Plopper, maybe even a Jitterbug (I'd fish top-water all day if I could!)
• Fast-moving baits in shallow water, spinner-bait, rattle-trap, squarebill
• Move to points or rip-rap and continue fishing fast-moving lures
• Hit grass/weed beds in the intermediate depths, moving baits, then to Senko, NED, drop-shot, soft plastics
• Work the edges of standing timber with moving baits, then plastics and slowing down.
• Slow down and concentrate on high-percentage areas

 

What is your plan for dissecting a new lake?

[TnRiver46]

I’m kind of afraid to attempt and answer now because I have nothing like that near me. I would have to drive a long way to find a new lake. 
 

but nonetheless, here goes:

 

I do the opposite of 90% of anglers. I rarely start off by power fishing or topwater. Most everything you read says to start out fishing fast and then slow down later. I always start out dragging a worm, especially if it’s unfamiliar territory. Usually they bite it. From there I will typically just keep dragging the worm but I have been known to break out a top water or something huge to try to get a big fish after I have cleared the skunk out of the boat. I’m one of those people that likes to say I at least caught something so I start with what I’m good at

[WRB]

I fish new lakes the way as my home lakes.

1. Launch the boat and put down the trolling motor to determine water temps and slowly survey around the marina for depth of bait and bass activity. This helps me to pin point the seasonal period and depth to fish. 

2. Knowing where the baitfish are located and depth allows me to select the tackle and lures to use.

3. Look at the lake map to put the above information to use.

4. Fish the marina area 1st to check out if the lures selected work. This gets me in tune with the lake before traveling to a high % location based on what I have learned so far.

5. I always have a jig and worm rod ready, just need to determine what colors work at a new lake. 

6. If the lake has Shad I know they will be tight or in cover early mornings and out away from cover as the sun gets higher.

Tom

 

[Captain Phil]

I would look at water clarity first.  If the water is clear, I would lean toward top water, weightless plastics or a Carolina rig.   If the water has limited visibility, I would think spinnerbait, crankbaits, or flipping.  Next I would look at available cover on the surface and near the bottom.  Are there any points, islands, docks, rivers or canals?   From there I would choose a search bait.  Something that fit the conditions and covers a lot of water.  The key to winning tournaments is prefishing.  You have to put in the hours if you want to be a winner. 

[gim]

Here in Minnesota, the DNR has a program on their website called Lakefinder.  It shows all the recent information on access points, water clarity, depth, and most importantly, fish populations.  I have not tackled a new lake in a couple years now but if I was going to, this would be the first place I'd go for information on it.  If the fishery survey shows a high population of small stunted bass, I probably wouldn't be going there to begin with.  I need to see scientific evidence of quality fish in the most recent survey.  For example, if I'm going to a new lake to catch sizable crappies, there better be some 12 inchers in the most recent survey.

[MN Fisher]

31 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Here in Minnesota, the DNR has a program on their website called Lakefinder.

Lakefinder is my first stop if I'm wanting to check a new lake out.

[scaleface]

I have no plan . I look around at the terrain , look at available cover and make a decision where to go .I have studied lake maps before hitting a new lake and they didnt help me at all . I fish better just winging it .

[cyclops2]

So very true.

 

  You should have been here 20 years ago !!

[GaryH]

16 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I have no plan . I look around at the terrain , look at available cover and make a decision where to go .I have studied lake maps before hitting a new lake and they didnt help me at all . I fish better just winging it .

Sometimes just winging it is part of the fun. And relaxing ? 

[Columbia Craw]

First: consider the seasonal pattern.

 

Second: Look at Google Earth and map.

 

Third: Pick the high percentage areas.

 

Fourth:  Get a feel for water clarity and Temps.

 

Fifth: Begin to fish the area based on cover and or structure starting shallow but be prepared to work deeper. 
 

6th:  Recharge trolling motor batteries.

[padon]

yes im with columbia craw. i need to know the season to help me decide the portion of the lame most likely to hold fish. Them im gonna study maps. if its spring im looking for shallow flats creeks etc. summer im looking for main lake structure etc. google maps to get a general idea of water color is there grass etc. when i arrive im gonna look at water temp, clarity , look at general depth that baitfish seem to be occupying. ill generally start trying to fish a moving lure in the depth i identified as having the most bait fish. move on from there.

[king fisher]

First thing I consider is time of year, water temp. and common types of prey.  I don't necessarily try to determine where the bass will be and what they are feeding on as much as I try and determine where they will not be, and what prey is not available.  Sometimes I can eliminate most of the lake.

      Then I start fishing the depth, type of structure, and cover where I think bass and prey will most likely be during that time of year and conditions.  I like to walk a couple hundred yards of the shore line, looking for baitfish, crayfish, frogs etc.  Then put the kayak in the water and start fishing with what ever lure will efficiently work in the depth and cover I plan on fishing first.  I try to identify unproductive patterns as quickly as possible.  The most important thing for me on a new lake is to simply have fun exploring.  I don't measure the success of the day by how many fish I catch, but by how well I learned the new water. 

[papajoe222]

I start a couple of days before hitting a new lake with research.  If I can get a topo map, that's first on the list. I'll look it over and mark areas I think would be productive for the season.  Next, I'll check to see recent tournament activity and if available, what the winning pattern was.  I'm not concerned with what bait was used, just the structure, cover and presentation.

Next I'll call any LSGs or bait shops and ask about water clarity, weed growth, or other type of cover that may be present and most importantly, what the main forage is. 

When I do hit the water, I'll make a few quick passes over the areas I've marked on my map looking for mainly baitfish activity, but also fish positioning if I actually mark fish. I'll check the weather for the past few days and that day will play an important part in what presentation I begin with, but it will always be a 'power' presentation that will cover water. I'll slow down if needed, but not until I check out all the spots I've marked on my map.

[Catt]

Turn that high dollar electronics on, ride around till ya find em!

 

[jimmyjoe]

8 hours ago, king fisher said:

I like to walk a couple hundred yards of the shore line, looking for baitfish, crayfish, frogs etc. 

 

   This is the best time a person can spend at a new lake. Bass are creatures of the margins, and this walk up the shoreline will tell you more than any sonar.            jj

[huZZah]

18 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I always start out dragging a worm, especially if it’s unfamiliar territory.

Always my search bait especially somewhere new. Doesn’t irk me nearly as much to lose it. I usually move from bottom to top of water anyway. Just kinda how I do it, but I’m on the bank. If that even matters…

[LrgmouthShad]

I'll explain what I did fishing for the first time on Otisco. Critiques on my approach very welcome! Here's the depth map I found online:

Now with it being fall coming from summer, I was looking for more gradual sloping contours and a way to deal with the wind in a kayak. The wind was blowing generally from the South. I focused on the circled area on the map for the reasons that it had generally more gradual contours, I could target the windblown banks leading into the Narrows, the Narrows themselves looked like an intriguing way to fish, the DEC website online mentioned that the North end of this lake was generally good for largemouth fishing, and it would be easier to deal with the wind on the far north of the lake.

 

I fished docks first, and, over the course of my day, I picked up two fish doing that. They were my best ones. I got one on a windblown bank and another in lilypads way up on the North end of the lake. I could not establish a pattern on the lily pads or the windblown banks although I tried for both.

 

But generally after fishing docks, I proceeded to the lily pads. After the lily pads, I did some mid-depth spinnerbaiting in the middle of the cove to the north of the narrows. This didn't produce even though I really expected it to. After that I went to windblown banks and after that, I went back to docks on my way back to a park launch. 

 

What do ya'll think? I basically threw a spinnerbait the whole time although there was some swimbaiting mixed in

[Bankc]

I'll usually study a depth map before going.  And I'll pay attention to the weather and wind direction and speed.  Just trying to get a general sense of the situation before hand, so I can make more informed decisions later on.  But once I'm there, it's all just experimentation and reacting to what my experiments tell me.  

 

There are a lot of lakes near me, and they all fish differently.  Some appear nearly identical to the eye, but they'll fish completely differently.  And if I go in with a plan, I tend to stick to it far longer than I should.  So I try to remain more curious than confident, and focus on learning what the lake can teach me rather than trying to force my will onto the lake.  

 

Though, there are several things I'll do at any lake, like topwaters when the sun is low in the sky, and docks and shaded areas when the sun is high.  Maybe deeper or more shallow water depending on the season.  Just generalized, non-lake-specific stuff.

[Catt]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Turn that high dollar electronics on, ride around till ya find em!

 

 

I start my electronic study at home using navionics app. I look for river/creek channels, channel swings, channel bends, & channel intersections.

 

Next I look for ridges, humps, flats, drains. 

 

Next I look for hard spots, roadbeds, shellbeds. 

 

On the water I find all the above, drop waypoints, graph the surrounding areas looking for timber, stumps, laydowns, brush, grass, baitfish, & bass.

 

Once bass are located now I know which techniques to use to efficiently fish the areas.

 

[ATA]

Craigslist and offer always have listed local boat owners listing their boat for selling.

[MN Fisher]

12 minutes ago, ATA said:

Craigslist and offer always have listed local boat owners listing their boat for selling.

You can also look at Facebook Marketplace with a radius of miles from your location...that's where I found the Alumacraft I purchased.

[schplurg]

Me at new lake: "Aw crap what am I gonna do? Hmm what do I have tied on already..."

 

I'm starting to fish the Delta and every day feels like a new lake even from the same launch LOL.

[scaleface]

When fishing a lake or an area of a major reservoir for the first time , I can study maps and find the obvious structure quickly . Problem is , so can everyone else . Those are called community holes . I could ride around looking for less obvious structure or hope to find sunken brush piles with sonar but that is time consuming . I am not going to pass up points , there are still fish to be caught but the timing has to be right to catch a lot . So I usually find an area with visible cover , put the trolling motor down and try to figure out a pattern . 

[Glenn]

 

 

 

[geo g]

On 10/20/2021 at 6:25 PM, Columbia Craw said:

First: consider the seasonal pattern.

 

Second: Look at Google Earth and map.

 

Third: Pick the high percentage areas.

 

Fourth:  Get a feel for water clarity and Temps.

 

Fifth: Begin to fish the area based on cover and or structure starting shallow but be prepared to work deeper. 
 

6th:  Recharge trolling motor batteries.

 

 

 

I agree with most said here.  I would add, after arriving at the lake I check the slop of the bank.  The slope often continues under water same as above water.  Then I look for water flow access points, like flow in / and flow out.  Then I look for green vegetation.  with isolated clumps being better then large fields.  Isolated clumps will concentrate bass from a larger area to the shade, and O2 provided.  Then bird activity, birds will give away bass in a mood to hunt.  I never start fishing before scanning the water body.