Have Y�all Ever

[Catt]

Out of curiosity look up a member's home waters on Google Map or some other program just to see what type of areas they fish?

I amazed by some of y'all at the difficulty y'all go through just to fish and y'all are still successful. I think it keeps thing in prospective and reminds me how lucky I am to have Toledo Bend as my home water. I aint saying Toledo is an easy nut to crack but with over 700 lbs of game fish per acre something is gonna bite.

Take for instance our friends in Europe most all of them bank fish; many of us say so do I so what's the big deal. Here in America we drive right up to the lake, pond or river which some of these guys walk for miles carrying every thing required to be successful.

Even some of our member here in America fish water that would challenge anyone and yet we have members who are successful. I looked up the infamous Mauch Chunk and I'll tell you Muddy if you can crack this nut you're doing pretty darn good!

[Muddy]

Catt: I have become successful on this lake because of a lot of what you and LBH have taught me on these forums and the on water time with ZEL, I log a lot of hours on those 339 acres and I love my home lake. Thank you because if you were not as willing to deal with my stubborn and unwilling brain as you were I would still be looking for the bass 8-)

 I have more fun putting friends Like Speedbead on the fish than catchin for myself 8-)

Boat launch A;

Boat Launch B ( 2 Mooks in a Boat is parked here)

The area just before the Camp Grounds

And Tommy Just for you; THE HARD WATER DAYS :-[

There also are 2 other areas not in any photos and I ain't giving them up

[sambrochill]

Well Catt, to be honest i look up a lot of things posted by other members like if they post a certain location like u said something about Toledo bend and i googled it or if someone mentions a certain bait and i dont know what it is i google it to get a better understanding of what they're talkin about

so yea i google others locations out of curiosity.

p.s. Toledo bend looks like a place for some pretty prime fishing

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

p.s. Toledo bend looks like a place for some pretty prime fishing

Too small, bored in an hour,lol ;D

[FD.]

I've used google earth just to see where you guys are and where the pro's are fishing.

[Catt]

Think about it y'all  

If I cast out a T-rig on Toledo Bend how high are the odds it'll land within the strike zone of a bass?

If Muddy casts out a T-rig on the infamous Mauch Chunk how high are the odds it'll land within the strike zone of a bass?

If I want bank fish the Lacassine Wildlife Refuge I drive right up to the area I want to fish.

If some of our international friends want to bank fish they walk for miles just to fish

Think of the wide variety of anglers here as well as the wide variety of bodies of water

[Muddy]

The thing here is Fellas; Guys Like Catt,Fourbizzle,Matt Fly,Paul Roberts ,LBHand a lot of others, please do not feel slighted if I left you out, these are the guys that opened my eyes. They notice things that many of us don't and they can explain what they see.

 For a long time I got all tied up in well they do not fish small lakes like I do, I WAS MISSING THE POINT

We are all fishing for the same BASS!!, strains aside the LMB and SMB can be fairly predictable in their behavior

 I finally got it in my head, if you can find a spot that offers food,oxygen and cover, by ADAPTING WHAT THESE GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT, you can pattern your lake.

 Then there are the guys Like Island bass and T rig, continents apart, but you can learn a lot about shore fishing, and how to get your stuff there. Not to mention LBH and the nightraiders on how to sneak your boats into "unreachable waters"

 There are guys here who can show us the underwater hideouts and the shoreline's most likely to hold bass and why

 ALL IT TAKES IS FOR ME TO PROCES THE INFO< AND APPLY IT TO WHERE I AM FISHING AND TO TAKE THERE LEAD AND PAY ATTENTION, success gets to be as repeatitive as getting skunked when your knowledge base grows and so does your confidence.

[Long Mike]

I'm willing to bet that I am the Googlingest, Virtual Earthingest, Map Creatingest, and Navionics HotMapingest old fart on this site.  I spend endless hours comparing satellite imagery with topo maps.  The Navionics HotMaps Package allow the user to do side-by-side comparisons with Google Earth imagery.  On the other hand, Virtual Earth offers high res (aircraft, not satellite) photos of certain lakes and their shore lines.  Because the BR group will be fishing Kentucky Lake in the Spring, I have been spending a lot of my time there.  I've located a number of spots that I will be proposing to the likes of RW, CJ and Riskkid for their opinions.

BTW Catt, remember that hump you told me about on Toledo Bend near where we were staying?  I didn't have the HotMaps high res topo maps at the time, but now, with this software, that spot sticks out like a sore thumb.

Having said all of the above, I've found that one can be guilty of over-analysis. Fishfordollars taught me that a couple of weeks ago.

[fishfordollars]

I'm willing to bet that I am the Googlingest, Virtual Earthingest, Map Creatingest, and Navionics HotMapingest old fart on this site. I spend endless hours comparing satellite imagery with topo maps. The Navionics HotMaps Package allow the user to do side-by-side comparisons with Google Earth imagery. On the other hand, Virtual Earth offers high res (aircraft, not satellite) photos of certain lakes and their shore lines. Because the BR group will be fishing Kentucky Lake in the Spring, I have been spending a lot of my time there. I've located a number of spots that I will be proposing to the likes of RW, CJ and Riskkid for their opinions.

BTW Catt, remember that hump you told me about on Toledo Bend near where we were staying? I didn't have the HotMaps high res topo maps at the time, but now, with this software, that spot sticks out like a sore thumb.

Having said all of the above, I've found that one can be guilty of over-analysis. Fishfordollars taught me that a couple of weeks ago.

Mike...A bass is a bass

When we going back out?

[Certified Public Angler]

ha, I have definitely googlemapped lakes that you guys mention in your posts.  It is cool to see what type of waters everyone is fishing.

[roadwarrior]

My favorite stories are successful smallmouth outings on the Great Lakes. All that water, potential danger and often, constant battering even on a "calm" day. The challenges these guys face sometimes seems overwhelming.

8-)

[J Francho]

My favorite stories are successful smallmouth outings on the Great Lakes. All that water, potential danger and often, constant battering even on a "calm" day. The challenges these guys face sometimes seems overwhelming.

8-)

Here's Lake O. beach on a calm day in January, LOL:

back to the original question, I sometimes do this as a frame of reference, especially since I may think I have the answer to their question, but upon seeing that they are in Georgia, my "winter bassing" answer (get an auger) doesn't really apply.

[89MJ]

Is there a way to have google earth label bodies of water? like the way you can have it name streets?

[Long Mike]

89MJ, I'm in the same predicament. GE doesn't put names on the lakes.  The best I have been able to do is to zoom in at the dam and hope a road is named for the dam it traverses, e.g. Hoover Dam road.

[J Francho]

It does.  Just put the name of the lake, and the state in the search field.

[Long Mike]

J Franco. It works occasionally, but normally points you to a business or a near-by town with the same name, not the lake itself.

On the flip side of the coin, if you find a likely fishing spot with GE imagery, and do not know the name of the body of water, then you are pretty much SOL.

[J Francho]

How so?  You drop a point there, make it your destination, plug in your home address, and get driving directions.  You can also use http://maps.live.com/.  Or just get a Navionics chip for your graph

[Paul Roberts]

Great thread, once again, Mr. T (Catt).

Yes, every time I've looked at someone else's water I think, Wow! Look what they have. I feel like a kid with my nose against the glass of a candy store I can't just walk into! Then I think, How would I approach that water? And I realize, for the most part, I'd have to be there to do it any real justice: There are just so many possible variables.

When asking a question or offering advice, esp on an internet site, it's easy to overlook just how different our angling situations can be. A bass is a bass is a reasonable description of the basic machine, at least as far as it exists in most waters today (ignoring unique genetic heritages). But the range of environments they exist in is enormous! Heck, one pond alone can keep me scratching my head. Add different latitudes, seasons, fertility, food chain permutations, structural characteristics, cover types, local angler habits, and conditions in and Wow! Not only Look at what they have!...but...What actually IS IT that they have?? Pretty cool world.

The bass angler, even if confined within a short geographic range, confronts quite an intellectual challenge, and an opportunity for an education in defining how that basic machine, the bass, operates. Successful bass angler's, like Muddy (the Lord High Mayor of Mauch Chunk), have a right to be proud of their development. There are really only so many shortcuts.

In that, I too want to thank all the members here who take the time to post about what they see and think and do on their home waters. It's invaluable.

btw: VERY pretty water, Muddy. Makes me miss the East. Also looks a bit like a wind tunnel!

[SLO_ROLL]

Whats better than g e i downloaded it and thought that it would be better but...............