How do you approach a new body of water?

[CrawfordXL]

This has been a topic of discussion between me and my fishing partner. It's really a two part scenario.

I think we should try to use the thousands of dollars in electronics we have, find fish then try to catch them.

He thinks, just find a bank and start casting at it and keep moving to eventually catch fish. 

(This is playing the law of averages, where if you cast enough you'll eventually catch something. Although he thinks he's figured out a whole new way of approaching fishing. I didn't want to argue with him so I didn't go into the whole law of averages thing.)

 

The second part is once you find fish, do you stay there and wait for them to bite, try to entice them with different baits and get them to bite, knowing eventually they are going to feed or do you set yourself a time limit and move on?

 

Would really like to know how others approach these scenarios and what kind of results you see. 

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[WRB]

Fishing blind by hoping bass will be where think looks good is a crap shoot.

Take some and check out a good map with 1’ elevation if possible. Determine what the seasonal period is the bass are on not what month it is!

Survey the marina you launch the boat at and look at water color and temperature, depth any bait fish or bass are at. 
Now look at the map again after factoring in the information in front of you and go to the high percentage areas based on seasonal period. 
The easiest seasonal period is the spawn bass are always located is wind protected areas in water between 2’ to 6’ back of coves etc. When water temps are warming from 60 degrees to around 65 degrees. If the water is still colder from the winter period less than 50 degrees the will not be in spawn cycle. Above 55 to 58 degrees warming the bass are pre spawn and located in staging areas deeper water adjacent to moving into spawning areas. 
You can determine all this in the marina and the maps before deciding where to start fishing.

Water during the summer warm water period or post spawn the bass can be everywhere with a wide variety of prey to eat. You start near the pre spawn major points and work into creek arms looking for ambush zones and cove.

Fall go further back into creek arms looking for schooled bait fish.

That is how I fish all highland and boil land bass lakes.

Sonar is you friend use it!

Tom

[BassSteve]

I mean, I don't own a boat or expensive sonar/fish targeting equipment, but I think just getting out there and discovering what will hit your bait is part of the thrill. I am a bank fisherman, and even if I don't catch anything, I still enjoy walking around and the outdoors. it may be the old school way but I think it's more fun not knowing what is lurking in a body of water and trying to find out 

[scaleface]

I kind of do both. I dont have forward facing sonar but will scan and fish points, humps... . As far as going down the bank and casting , I do that a lot . Its not blind casting. I'm attempting to make every cast count.

[buckmaster27012]

do as much research at home as possible prior to going to the lake. have a plan and an area picked before you get there. if that doesnt work move out or in depending on conditions. between google earth and contour maps you could have plenty of good starting spots already marked on your graph. 

[Jar11591]

I study a contour map pretty thoroughly and have spots picked out that I want to scan. So when I get to the lake I’m not just hoping to come across something on the depth finder. If I do find something on the way to a spot I wanted to scan, I’ll stop and fish it. 

[Reel]

Survey the marina you launch the boat at ( or the shoreline) and look at water color and temperature, depth any bait fish or bass are at. 

 

Like WRB said : This is really, really, important.  Something to do before anything else.  It should have an impact on everything else you are going to do during the day.

[greentrout]

I mostly fish waters that don't allow outboard motors. Up to 60 to 80 acres of water. When in a boat, like your buddy will stick to the bank when fishing a new body of water casting looking for docks and piers, lily pads, wood and the bare bank casting parallel when possible. Old school fishing in a jon boat with no electronics. 

Good Fishing

[Bankbeater]

I start out by looking at Google Earth and contour maps.  After I get out on the water I'll look for cover on the spots that I picked out on the map. 

[Bird]

Talk to a local, you'd be surprised.

 

Was fishing a big lake last August, water temps were in the 80's and the lake was down 10ft due to drought.

As I approach the ramp, 2 guys were standing beside a bass boat so I figured why not.

Explained to the guys that I was not a local, just wanted to catch a few fish.

They kindly marked my map and gave bait recommendations.

Went on to have a great day of fishing.

[Swamp Girl]

It's cool how we all fish so differently. Whereas I would never disagree with Tom(@WRB) aka Bass Resource's Yoda, I have no marinas and I usually launch in inches of water. So, there's no one to consult and not much to see, especially at four in the morning when it's dark. I used to consult maps, but following @PhishLI's and @AlabamaSpothunter's advice, I focused on fewer ponds and bogs last year, so I pretty much know the depths of the water I fish. Wind speed and direction largely determine where I fish. I do leave fish to find fish. I also know that I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm fishing for the most active bass and I usually catch those most active bass within minutes of arriving. So, yeah, I could linger and catch less active bass, but I don't. There are more active bass around the bend.

 

I usually launch with six lures and try all those lures each morning or evening. I am curious about bass, so oftentimes I'll catch a bass with one lure and immediately switch to another lure to see what else they'll hit. However, if they clearly prefer one lure, I'll stick to that. I had that happen with poppers a few times last year and those were my 60-75 bass outings, but if I can catch bass with multiple lures, I enjoy that approach. I feel I learn more that way. 

 

Basically, I'm like your buddy and @greentrout: I'm old school.

 

Lastly, welcome to Bass Resource, Crawford!

 

[Glenn]

 

 

[CrawfordXL]

All great responces. Thanks everyone, I'm glad a found this group.

[Swamp Girl]

46 minutes ago, CrawfordXL said:

All great responces. Thanks everyone, I'm glad a found this group.

 

We're happy you're here!

[MonsterZero]

My first move is always scoping it out on Google Earth and figuring out where I am even able of approaching from. I fish a lot from the bank and some from my kayak, so I have options, but sometimes there is no launch available, or no footpath through the brush. So I use GE to scope out parking, access, kayak launching, potential habitat locations, etc. Then when I get there, I assess the conditions on that particular day; are there lots of lily pads? What kind of permanent structure is available? How heavily fished by other people is it?

 

After those considerations, I just continue as normal. Throw what I think will work until I find something they want.

[JHoss]

I think your buddies approach tends to lead to more success for less experienced anglers. When I first got into bass fishing and was fishing kayak tournaments, I had the most success just beating the bank and junk fishing. If I made 2,000 casts in a day, I was probably going to stumble across 5 fish. Now that I have more experience (and a boat), it's much easier to look for specific spots where fish should be. If they're not there, I run to my next spot. 

 

@WRB advice about scanning the marina/ramp is great. This is the most important thing I do when I fish tournaments and am waiting for blastoff. 

 

Ultimately, I think it comes down to how experienced you are and what you want to get out of it. If you're a novice and just want to catch a few fish, do what your buddy says. If you have some experience or are trying to learn to be better, do it your way. 

[TOXIC]

You said “New” body of water.  For me, regardless of electronics level, the first thing I would do is look at a map either on your electronics or online and determine the most likely pattern the fish would be in.  Spawn, post spawn, pre spawn, winter haunts, summer haunts and then factor in the variables like water temperature and current weather.  Going in blind and just casting would be the last thing I would do.  

[Standard]

Very slowly and carefully, any sudden movements may spook it.

 

For lakes, I'll check the DNR website and see what the latest fish survey says.  Check out their depth maps if they have them, and also look at the depth chart from Garmin if they have one.

 

For rivers, I usually just check out the satellite images on Google Maps and do some searches for any fishing reports.

[Swamp Girl]

Like the guys above, I start with Google Earth, but I use some of the Google Earth features, like old images. I dial back the clock to see the weed growth and dissipation through the seasons. I also spot rocks and laydowns, which help me formulate my plan. The history feature also lets me spot boats that might have been fishing that body of water on that day, which gives me an indication over time of usage, and tells me how developed a shoreline is. I also use the measuring feature to have a clear idea of how wide a stream or bay are. 

[JHoss]

If we're talking everything to consider for a new body of water, one thing no one is talking about is researching the forage. I'll check the State's DNR site for that lake to see what type of forage species are supposed to be there. The other thing I'll do is go into Fishbrain and just look at the recent catches in the area. I don't care about the bass people are catching or what they're catching them on. I want to see what species of brim and perch people are catching and what they look like. 

 

Map study is one of my favorite things about bass fishing. I'll spend many hours looking over Navionics, C Map, Google Earth, Omnia, etc going over every detail and thinking about where fish should setup and how they should move. This year, I'm incorporating more water clarity and historical water temperature maps into my study I won't be able to prefish much. 

[Darth-Baiter]

i always approach a new lake with Blind enthusiasm.  

 

Bass all follow similar rules of life no matter where they are.    i always use google earth to find a kayak launch spot anyways, so i will look at historic images to hopefully catch some drought times where i can find juicy looking spots.  i wil also google the lake and read fishing reports or even watch a few videos for clues.  

 

i have basic fish finder, so i will know general depth and stuff.    i love that new lake smell, and catching a first fish on that lake is sweet.  i love it.  BLIND ENTHUSSIASM works for me.  

[gim]

I ask someone who has fished there before.  Preferably, recently.