FISHING A NEW LAKE
by Mark McManaway
Ok. You're on vacation. Where do you go? You decide to go to Lake Neverfished.
You've heard it's a beautiful lake but you're only going to be there
a day or two and don't know where to start. Here are a few tips that
might help you in your endeavor.......
First off you need to buy a
map for the lake you are going to fish. This is invaluable because
it will
tell you the name of marinas and show you the major creek arms as
well as boat lanes and underwater obstructions.
Next it wouldn't hurt
to
call the marinas and see if you need to know anything in particular
such as
ramps that are best to launch at, places to eat,rules and regulations
on the fishery etc...
Now for the fishing. Qualify the conditions
you will be fishing in. What time of year is it? What type of fish
are you going to fish for? What will the weather be like? What type
of fishing
techniques do you like? etc...All of these variables come into
play.
Let's say you are only comfortable fishing in 10 feet
of water or less. You might concentrate on the upper third of the lake.
Look
for a major
creek arm that has feeder creeks and good points with drop offs
next
to deep water. Generally, where the river comes in up north it
is quite a bit more fertile. Usually it will have a lot of vegetation
and/or
wood
in the form of laydowns. These are very good shallow water presentation
areas.
If it is deep water you prefer, look at the lower third
of the
lake for points that run out to 25 feet with a creek or river
channel that run next to the underwater point. Look for underwater roadbeds
especially in the summer. The ones with creek channels that go
under
them are the
best.
If you just don't want to fool with trying to pattern
a lake for one day then pick a part of the lake that has a major creek
that
goes
off of the river channel and goes up into a cove. You can fish
all day in an area like this and usually hook into a few. This will
narrow down
an area to fish so that the overall lake doesn't intimidate
you.
By this I mean make you spend the whole day just scouting when
you could
have
been fishing.
Hope this helps and good luck and good fishing.
Remember, if the motor
is running the life jackets are on and the "live" switch is attached
to your person.
Mark McManaway
Local Anglers Guide Service
