Need help interpreting maps.

[JacobK]

Found some pictures/maps of my local lake online and i'm wondering if you guys could help me interpret them. I'm just trying to pick your brains and hopefully discover something about my home lake that i haven't noticed before.

1) how do i read the topo map

2) any areas you would consider productive

[Uncle Leo]

A topo map will provide you with depth and contour information. A good one will provide bottom composition, weed and wood data. I am afraid that the maps you provided will be of little value. Based on these maps and this being your home lake you probably will know more about this lake then most here. The point and bay on the NW side of the lake does look interesting though.

[Crestliner2008]

About the best you can do with those maps is to try to visualize and extend what you can see (on land), into the water. May/may not be an accurate representation of what is really there, but at least it will give you some idea.

I'm assuming you are fishing this from shore? If you are using a boat, use your electronics to map it more precisely. Other than that, without knowing the depth of the lake, water clarity, bottom content, forage base and/or temperature of the water, there isn't much anyone can do to point you to where the fish are I'm afraid. Only you have the ability to answer those questions.

[IwillChooseFreeWill]

I tend to base most of my targeting based on the real satellite image like your first one. Topo maps don't do much except maybe tell you where a point may have a steep drop.

Here are the areas I would suggest to concentrate on

[Paul Roberts]

Looks like a flatland reservoir.

NWFLMike has offered some potentially good areas. Looks like he's gone to the source and zoomed in to find shallower areas near deeper/main lake areas. If there is a good popn of bass in that lake, then all those areas will likely hold something, as well as others.

Interesting topography (altitude change) will likely continue into the water. In general, (very general -the problem with such long distance reconnaissance) flatter slopes are better in summer and steeper in winter. There's a creek channel in there too, and some smallish tribs that likely connect. Because the E side is steepest, my guess is the main channel is closest to that shoreline. You'll need to know how deep the lake is and what the water clarity is.

But, I'm more with Crestliner on this kind of question. The map you want is of finer detail of the topography underwater. And that simply takes time spent on-the-water.

You could also contact your State fisheries people and find out the species present, forage base, population levels, and other things like clarity and seasonal water level fluctuations and turbidity issues.

[Matt Fly]

Those creeks look like great areas to check for spawning.

   They also, guessing,  look to be northen shores, which means that the sun will warm the northern shores fast and will protect those banks from cold north winds as well.

  Like the areas Mike shaded for certain times of the year. 

My eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, looks like the satelite shows colors, like light and dark spots, so if thats true, those thats a nice point that mike shaded to left of the dam.

   

    not a bad picture from satelite.  I could work with it.

[Bank Beater]

What do you guys look for when looking at a topo map.  Primarily creek channels that swing close to points or other structure?

[Blade-Runner]

Possible submerged roadbed between Baypoint Beach Dr. loop and the Southdale picnic area?

[pondmaster32]

if you own a boat try fishing where shore fishermen cant get to. if you don't own a boat, then fish the weeds along the bank and try to fish far away from other fishermen or other people. and be careful, pay attention where your walking because if you don't pay attention you can wind up on private property and get into a lot of trouble.

[RoLo]

All you really have is the outline of a lake, which is like playing darts with a blindfold.

Tributaries streams are very important, but they cannot replace contour lines.

What you need is a good "contour map" that displays the depth lines,

and the smaller the increments, the better the chart.

Roger

[J Francho]

There's a lot better mapping tools out there than Google or Acme mapper....

http://www.findyourwater.com/

[J Francho]

Here's a teaser.  Click the image for full screen shot.

[IwillChooseFreeWill]

The problem with that angling technologies is they only show depth for SUPER LARGE lakes and offshore/ocean depths. None of my local lakes show up as anything but flat blue on those maps which is why I prefer the Acme and Google Earth maps. that site is pretty much useless unless you only fish offshore or 500,000+ acre lakes

[J Francho]

The problem with that angling technologies is they only show depth for SUPER LARGE lakes and offshore/ocean depths. None of my local lakes show up as anything but flat blue on those maps which is why I prefer the Acme and Google Earth maps. that site is pretty much useless unless you only fish offshore or 500,000+ acre lakes

Irondequoit Bay is super large?  LMAO....  They add new lakes all the time.

[WRB]

Haven't looked closely at this map for the reason stated, no elevation lines or depth sounding numbers to go by. I'm not sure what I'm looking at; small natural lake with a man made water level control levee/dam? Doesn't look like a reservoir of any classification to me.

You can make your own map using a good sonar/GPS in a few days and that would be valuable to you. The lake is too small to have a pelagic bait fish population, although crappie could fill that niche.

If bass are the primary predator, no pike or musky, then they would locate where ever they wanted, otherwise the bass will be cover oriented in this lake.

Spawning seasonal location; bays and wind protected areas. This is basically a shoreline lake that may have a few off shore humps to locate. Any stream channel may have been long slitted in. Any rocks will be high % areas. Any man made isolated cover like brush piles or Xmas trees should be located and fished.

WRB

[Dan:]

If the topographical map doesn't show depth lines of the actual lake, you can check the elevation near the water to get an idea where there are deep shorelines. Steep bank=steep drop off in front of it (not all the time). Of course you don't need a map to do this, you can just look at the lake when you're there and get the same information.

[IwillChooseFreeWill]

The problem with that angling technologies is they only show depth for SUPER LARGE lakes and offshore/ocean depths. None of my local lakes show up as anything but flat blue on those maps which is why I prefer the Acme and Google Earth maps. that site is pretty much useless unless you only fish offshore or 500,000+ acre lakes

Irondequoit Bay is super large? LMAO.... They add new lakes all the time.

I looked it up online and there are parks along the bay you mentioned that are bigger than the largest inland lake in most of the FL panhandle, Hurricane Lake, 318 acres; and I do not include Lake Seminole as that actually has more water area in GA than FL (but Lake Seminole also does not have any underwater topos on that site either and that is 37,500 acres).

From what I see online, that "bay" is still in excess of 2000 acres, plus the connection to Lake Ontario makes it more of an extension of Lake Ontario than a lake sitting on its own like many areas of the US.

Try this location: N 30.94136 W 86.75702 and the surrounding areas, no underwater topos of this area until you hit the Gulf of Mexico and the attached bays

[Wayne P.]

The deepest water is near the dam and the deepest contour line is 20'. Most of the lake is less than 15' deep.

The outer edge of the white area is the 10' contour.

[J Francho]

The problem with that angling technologies is they only show depth for SUPER LARGE lakes and offshore/ocean depths. None of my local lakes show up as anything but flat blue on those maps which is why I prefer the Acme and Google Earth maps. that site is pretty much useless unless you only fish offshore or 500,000+ acre lakes

Irondequoit Bay is super large? LMAO.... They add new lakes all the time.

I looked it up online and there are parks along the bay you mentioned that are bigger than the largest inland lake in most of the FL panhandle, Hurricane Lake, 318 acres; and I do not include Lake Seminole as that actually has more water area in GA than FL (but Lake Seminole also does not have any underwater topos on that site either and that is 37,500 acres).

From what I see online, that "bay" is still in excess of 2000 acres, plus the connection to Lake Ontario makes it more of an extension of Lake Ontario than a lake sitting on its own like many areas of the US.

Try this location: N 30.94136 W 86.75702 and the surrounding areas, no underwater topos of this area until you hit the Gulf of Mexico and the attached bays

Obviously, you've never fished the Great lakes, or you'd know that the bay is as far from an extension of Lake Ontario as it gets.  Like two COMPLETELY different bodies of water.

Bottom line, Angling Technologies actually offers depth contours on many waters, and is continually adding more lakes.

Besides, if your water is that small, learn how to use your graph. Something is better than nothing.

[roadwarrior]

Here is a tip from Mike Iaconelli:

Focus on areas  with "similar characteristics"

to what appear to be "ideal" spots. On every

popular lake, the "best" spots get targeted

by every fisherman with a clue!

8-)

[WRB]

Thanks for added map. So there is a dam just left of the gaging station, did see that! Gaging station should have been a clue! The dam/launching area, the island and Bay point just right of the island are the obvious areas; man made rip rap, shoreline structure/cover and break lines. Shouldn't take more than a few trips to discover where the bass are located.

How old is this little park lake?

WRB

[IwillChooseFreeWill]

Obviously, you've never fished the Great lakes, or you'd know that the bay is as far from an extension of Lake Ontario as it gets. Like two COMPLETELY different bodies of water.

Bottom line, Angling Technologies actually offers depth contours on many waters, and is continually adding more lakes.

Besides, if your water is that small, learn how to use your graph. Something is better than nothing.

You are right, I have never fished them. By extension I meant by proximity, not fishing type or scenery or anything like that.

Graph? What graph? I just got my first canoe not too long ago so I have no fancy electronics. I have to rely on these online maps and satellite images to determine where to fish on the local lakes when I get there. I know all the little tips of points, steep banks, hump in the middle, creek entry, springs and so on, but I have to rely on online maps at home for this info, I cannot do this on the lake at that time. I do plan to pick up a new transducer for $40-50 for my Humminbird PiranhaMAX 150 that my brother in law gave me for free, and mount it on my canoe. I don't have the income to buy a boat or expensive electronics or even the fishing gear itself... most of my equipment has shakespeare somewhere on them ;D but I also fish for fun, for relaxation, and to get away from it all. Catching fish is just an added bonus.

I wish my brother in law would take me out on his bass boat but he is always working, fishing local tourneys or saltwater fishing (which I hate).

Oh and to the original poster, try the last page of this PDF:

http://www.metroparks.com/images/maps/stony_creek.pdf

edit: I finally found some contour maps of the larger local lakes http://myfwc.com/RECREATION/FW_forecasts_nwr.htm

[Catt]

I would start my search in the area Mike hi-lighted on the left hand side, there is a creek of which I could not find the name, McClure Drain, & Mount Vernon Drain all emptying into this lake.

These should have caused some interesting structure to exist under water; this area is also protected from north winds making it ideal pre-spawn/spawn. I'm especially drawn to the cove to the left of the creek and then around to the creek mouth.

[Paul Roberts]

J Francho and Jacob K are lucky. They both live in states with large water bodies, and active fisheries departments. Lake maps and fisheries info are MUCH more apt to available in those states. In CO where I'm at, the warmwater fisheries unit is in its infancy.

I also fish small waters -the second strike against me for finding hydrographic maps. I have to do my own mapping. I start with satellite images and then hit the water. Sonar's pretty important for this, esp bc my waters are built on teh plains -flat as can be.

If you live in a state with an active fisheries dept, and public waters large enough to support more than a few anglers, it's always worth contacting your fisheries dept and finding out what's available. In fact, you should get to know your local biologists. In NY anyway, they were very responsive and know stuff that few others do, or bother to ask about. ;)

[Paul Roberts]

My thoughts from seeing the maps now are:

It's fairly flat and relatively shallow -much 10ft or less. Clarity looks good in the sat image. My guess is vegetation will play a major role. How deep does it grow? Being called Stony Ck I wonder if there is any exposed rock down below? Associated with weeds, rock could be great. Being somewhat urban it may be silted in places, esp up the creeks. The steepest E side might have some exposed rock. If it doesn't get much silt via runoff you could have more good hard substrate exposed that could be good near silted/weedy areas.

Considering spawning season, what are the shorelines like? If that NE creek arm is not all silt and gunk, it could have a pile of prespawners in it. They'll pile up in places along the trench -a deadfall, a boulder pile, a cut not shown on the map, ...

Lots to think about in there. It would be fun, if you fished this much this year, to tell us what you actually see on the water, and glean from your fisheries people: clarity, substrate, vegetation mainly. I'd also like to know how the walleyes are doing there -would say something. I'm going to guess the walleye fishing is declining, due to siltation, and bass/catfish (maybe black crappie) is picking up. Any smallmouth there? Any pike? What's the main forage for bass -yellow perch?

There's a great looking point/bar coming off Eastwood Beach in the SE. What a narrow bar does, at a premium in such flat topography, is potentially consolidate fish. There's gotta be narrowed weed beds, maybe broken up into clumps, and/or exposed boulders/hard substrate there -maybe wood or a brushpile. If not, there should be.

There's a drop off Baypoint Beach that might be nothing -gradual -but it also could be gradual then have a sharp component. In this lake a 4 foot drop with weeds or rock, could be worth your while.

This is Michigan. My guess is the water just doesn't get too darn hot in summer. That bay around Winter Island could have slop/dense veges in there that might support bass all year. Get in there early before the veges grow up and look for holes, boulders, wood, or the old picnic table some hoodlums : dragged out onto the ice one winter. No, I'm not suggesting you do that.

The big flat off the Shore Fishig Parking access has weed clumps -can see em in the sat image. There are bass in there. It is quite possible that being a "shore fishing access" that fisheries/park people have placed brushpiles to enhance it.

Some stuff to chew on anyway.

OK...one more: See that sharp bend in the creek channel up in the NE arm, off the Lakeview Picnic Area? The creek turned for a reason. There are tree roots there -probably a large tree, or a large boulder. The channel swings in a bit. If there is any cover there, like weeds, and the shoreline offers spawning substrate. there could be a pile of prespawn females there come April.

Googled your lake:

"There are at least 22 species of fish and 14 aquatic plant species in Stony Creek Lake. The lake reaches 23 feet deep, but most areas are relatively shallow. The variable bottom substrate, which includes sand, gravel, clay, and organic matter, provides critical habitat for a variety of fish and plant species as well as countless aquatic invertebrates.

Unfortunately, several invasive species have become established in Stony Creek Lake, including zebra mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil, and starry stonewort. A reduction of Eurasian watermilfoil cover in 2006 has resulted in some recovery of the native aquatic plant community.

Stony Creek Lake is known for its exceptional fishing. Bluegill, crappie, and largemouth bass are popular targets for anglers, along with channel catfish, northern pike, and walleye. Channel catfish and walleye populations are supplemented by periodic stockings by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The 10 mph speed limit on the lake adds to Stony Creek Lake's appeal for anglers, paddlers, and other passive recreational users.

Anglers love 500-acre Stony Creek Lake, teeming with bass, pike, walleye and panfish. The state record crappie was caught here. "

Here are some Master Angler entries listed by MI DNR for Stony Ck:

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/MASTERANGLER/MasterAngler.asp?qry=1&WBKey=04N12E

Notice there are no big pike or walleye listed. Not a surprise for such a small shallow lake. There are some BIG LM listed though (23+!), but only one big smallie. Could be that LM are out-competeing SM.