Preparing to fish a new lake, help needed

[Mossman]

Hey all, I am in my first year of taking fishing more seriously and need some help preparing to kayak fish a new lake. 

 

I have fishing trip planned for this coming Friday (19th) with my dad and my son, my dad has not had the best of luck fishing, so I really want to do my best to get us on some fish. 

 

Lake: Cowan Lake (Just north east of Cincinnati, Ohio)

Weather: Showing mostly sunny, 81 degrees (low the night before will be 59)

Time: we won't get on the water until about 7:30a because of the drive, but we really have all day if we want. 

Winds typically blow from the southwest

 

We will have a fish finder, so we can go to waypoints or find the drops/ledges if needed, this is my first year with the fish finder, so I am not an expert, but have had some pretty good luck with it. 

 

Given the summer temps, I assume we will be looking for shade on the west side of the coves, maybe along drops so they have access to deep? The attached map (North is up) does show some sunken trees, those might be good places to start as well. My general approach is to go with Ned rigs, Super Flukes and texas rig senko. Unless we get over some rocks, I will often pull out a spinner bait. 

 

I am curious how you veterans dissect a new lake before you go, especially knowing you are in a kayak and can't just motor to a new spot and cover the whole lake in minutes. 

 

I appreciate all of the help! 

 

[LrgmouthShad]

What kind of unit do you have? When I am on a new body of water, the first thing I want to do is spend some time graphing. How long depends on the size of the lake. I want to get a feel for what's under the surface and where I'm seeing activity. You can't do that because you are fishing a new lake for the first time with your Dad and you want to find fish immediately. In your case, without prior time graphing, I look at a contour map and look at  conditions which you took the time to provide here. I have to say, you put your fair share of work in here. All I'm looking for is some places that offer multiple options and a mix of deep and shallow, main lake and back into coves. I want to select some structures or cover that feel appropriate for the season and fish baits that traditionally do well during that time of year. We're in the middle of the summer, so it's hard to beat a worm when you're looking at new lake right now. You can upsize your weight in the summer too to cover a little more water. I for sure know that I would have a big ribbontail with 1/2oz texas rig tied on that I can use from 1' to 30'. 

 

I would launch at the marina and fish the marina, the submerged point to the Northeast, and fish the two coves at the Northwest of the lake in their entirety. The primary and secondary (and so on) points throughout those coves are definitely of interest. We're in summer so any shade is good and any evidence you have of prey species spawning is even better. Overhanging trees are good places to find a shallow bass wanting protection. Spend some time graphing that underwater point. It is very interesting. Good luck

[Bankbeater]

The first thing do is try to look on the internet and see if there are any pics or videos of the lake.  Something to help me see what the water looks like, and to get an idea of what the shoreline looks like.

[OHBuckets]

I've hit Cowan several times - it is an easy lake to fish and you'll have a blast. Nice largies, packs of huge white bass, big pans, saugeye. I always have fun there, from the bank or my canoe.

 

Go get em!

[Mossman]

Great feedback! This is the hardest part, most of the lakes I fish regularly around the Cleveland area are smaller and you can cover the entire lake in a kayak pretty quickly. Cowan is a little larger and my dad won't be up for an entire day on the water. I am putting him in my Old Town 106 PDL, the higher seat in the OT will be easier on him. I will take his Wilderness Tarpon for a paddle. 

 

I did see some videos online, I will check those out. 

[Susky River Rat]

You can never go wrong with hitting points. Which it seems like there is many. If there is access to deeper water even better on the point. There will be fish up in the slop too. Don’t over think it! Fish it like you would other bodies of water. Since it is bigger remember to fish it small. 

[LrgmouthShad]

Try some different things given the time that you have but there’s no need to run around everywhere if you don’t have a lot of time. You might find a hard spot or brushpile or rock pile on that submerged point using your electronics. That will be the sweet spot. The only problem I see is that is the most obvious point on this lake so if there are fish there, you are probably going to be fishing around other boats.

 

[RHuff]

17 hours ago, Mossman said:

Hey all, I am in my first year of taking fishing more seriously and need some help preparing to kayak fish a new lake. 

 

I have fishing trip planned for this coming Friday (19th) with my dad and my son, my dad has not had the best of luck fishing, so I really want to do my best to get us on some fish. 

 

Lake: Cowan Lake (Just north east of Cincinnati, Ohio)

Weather: Showing mostly sunny, 81 degrees (low the night before will be 59)

Time: we won't get on the water until about 7:30a because of the drive, but we really have all day if we want. 

Winds typically blow from the southwest

 

We will have a fish finder, so we can go to waypoints or find the drops/ledges if needed, this is my first year with the fish finder, so I am not an expert, but have had some pretty good luck with it. 

 

Given the summer temps, I assume we will be looking for shade on the west side of the coves, maybe along drops so they have access to deep? The attached map (North is up) does show some sunken trees, those might be good places to start as well. My general approach is to go with Ned rigs, Super Flukes and texas rig senko. Unless we get over some rocks, I will often pull out a spinner bait. 

 

I am curious how you veterans dissect a new lake before you go, especially knowing you are in a kayak and can't just motor to a new spot and cover the whole lake in minutes. 

 

I appreciate all of the help! 

 

 

 

 If it were me I’d look for a wind blown main lake point near a channel and fish moving baits up shallow in the early morning and after the sun gets high back out and drag bottom baits where the point ends in the deepest water or where the thermocline hits the point.. if there is cover there even better.. fish will be shallower in the lower light conditions of early morning and go deep when the sun gets bright and penetrates deeper into the water column.

[casts_by_fly]

all good advice so far.  I'll offer a few different things to consider.  I'm assuming you're launching at the kayak launch on the south side.

 

There are three of you.  My own personal preference is to go down the bank in the morning and hit cover with moving baits until you find some.  With three, that's tougher but not impossible.  I like to find shoreline cover early as this time of year the bass will often be shallow early (or the shallow bass will be eating early).  I like to have some deeper water nearby, especially if the lake has a fair amount of boating pressure.  Looking at the satellite map and depth map, I see three options for you.  

 

1- leave the ramp and make a pass down the south shore.  Its not deep, but 4' of water close enough to shore and what looks like a bunch of downed timber should fish early.  You could hopscotch each other down that bank first and see if there are any there.  Once you get past the swimming beach there is a lot of deeper water nearby (outside creek channel swing) so lots to check out.

 

2- leave ramp and go straight across.  It's about a 1/3 mile paddle which is nothing for a PDL drive but I don't know about the paddle people.  Its the outside creek channel swing and it looks like 10' close to shore with downed trees.  The downside is that its right next to the state park and cabins.  Could be heavy pressure, not sure.  

 

3- the best looking water from satellite and navionics is the north west quadrant from the dam all the way back to the state park.  Outside creek channel swing, long tapering point, plenty of cover in the water, unspoiled shoreline.  Its a 3/4 mile paddle from the kayak ramp though, so if you can launch closer I'd do that.  

 

 

If it were just me in my own boat and forced to launch at the kayak ramp, I'd run the bank on #1 with moving baits while the sun was low and it was still shaded.  Use that opportunity.  Then when you run out of cover or if its not fishing well I'd take a break to cross the lake and hammer out that northwest side, either shoreline or the long points.  Considering you have 3 of you, I don't think you'll cover that much water so I'd start at #1 and assess from there.  Or if you can launch closer I'd go straight to #3.

[Bankc]

First thing I do is after I launch is immediately head out from the ramp to the deepest part of the lake (that's nearby, you don't want to waste too much time doing this), and keep your eye on the sonar.  You're looking for the deepest spot fish are holding, and/or a thermocline.  Once you've determined the deepest depth that hold fish, make a note of the and head back towards the bank.  Look for a good place to throw some topwaters, because it's morning.  As the sun gets higher in the sky, and if I'm not getting bit too often in the shallows, I'll progressively make my way deeper, looking for spots with cover on structure, shade, and any steep transition zones or temperature/current changes. 

 

The basic idea is use your sonar when you first launch to set a floor for how deep the fish are at their deepest.  That gives you a floor, and allows you to eliminate a lot of unproductive water that's safe to ignore.  Then immediately head shallow and slowly work your way to deeper water, hitting up the most likely spots along the way, looking for patterns.  Once you think you've discovered a pattern, look for other spots on the lake close by that are similar to see if the pattern repeats itself.   If you get all of the way out to the deep water and still aren't getting bit, work your way back towards the shallow water and start over, only in reverse.  On bigger lakes, I also like to set some boundaries for how far to travel from the dock.  In a kayak, movement is slow and laborious.  So try to focus on making the most of what you have access to, and not wasting time moving around too much. 

 

Also, if the wind is blowing a bit or the current is moving enough to push you along, look for areas of the bank that run parallel to the wind.  A good technique in a kayak is to start upwind of the bank and let the wind or current push you along the bank while you fish.  That allows you to cover a lot of water fishing without wasting much time or effort paddling.  Plus, it a super stealthy way to move around a lake.  A drift sock can really help here if the wind or current is moving you too fast.  Then, when you get to the end, if it worked well for you, you can restart and drift again. 

 

 

[Catt]

Map study before you even get on the lake will give structure locations. Once on the water visual observation will show you cover & water conditions.

[DinkDonkey30]

Humps or large flats near deeper areas especially if they have healthy vegetation. Points are also a great spot especially if they are wind blown. Figure out what the thermocline is, it will help eliminate how deep is too deep for fish. Ie if thermocline starts at 15 ft fish will be no deeper than 15ft.