Where To Fish: Finding New Fishing Spots
Where to fish? A simple question, but when you break it down, it's the most significant determining factor for angling success. It's why anglers always have and always will be hush-hush about special spots. In this blog, we'll go over some simple tools to find where to fish.
Before we start, I think it's important to know what you're looking for when trying to pinpoint the perfect body of water to wet a line. Some folks might be chasing a state record size largemouth, but for others, it's somewhere close to home they can catching something, period. Take a few minutes to think about what you're looking to accomplish during your next fishing adventure. Whatever that might be, know I'm not judging ole buddy. There are times where I have the patience to throw big baits all day for one, maybe two shots at a giant fish, and others I just like watching my bobber go down regardless of what's stretching my string.
After narrowing down what you're looking for on your next angling adventure, it's time to do a little recon. I use many tools to find new bodies of water to fish, but these two do a lot of heavy lifting. Before I talk about the two tools I used most, I should mention I still call and stop into local tackle shops. An excellent tackle shop or associate at a bit box store can provide you with a wealth of information, and as a bonus, who doesn't love talking about fishing, period!
State Fishery Management Site
It's 2021; most states have great websites highlighting their fishery management efforts. These sites are a goldmine for anglers looking for hidden gems or the next fishery that's trending up. Depending on your angling goals, you'll find the information you need in different parts of the site. Are you looking to put the wood to some stocker trout? The stocking report will lead you to full stringers and eager trout. Suppose you're looking for a state record-sized largemouth. In that case, it's a good idea to browse through the master angler lists, previous records, and fishery survey results. These will often show shocking or gillnet information that can help you paint a picture of what's possible in each body of water you're interested in. Now, these won't give you a complete picture but a great starting point of potential. The more time you spend going through these sites, the better you'll get at pulling valuable information from them. I know digging through a website isn't everyone's idea of a great time, but I promise time spent here translates to helping you find new spots and ultimately finding fish!
FishBrain
The more time I spend on FishBrain, the more I enjoy the app. The information available is tremendous, and there's an incredible community of anglers who share their fishing adventures. To keep this short, FishBrain can be used as a great tool to do some research on fisheries at the comfort of your own home, but be aware of what you put into the community. If you have a little hidden gem no one knows about and wants to keep it to make sure you keep posts featuring that hidden gem private.
Following up that last sentence with a double helping of hypocrisy...now, let's talk about how to use FishBrain to find new fisheries. I don't typically get on FishBrain looking for fisheries. Instead, it's to do a little research on fisheries I'm already interested in. After opening the app, I'll navigate to the map and find the fisheries I'm interested in. I'll comb through all the photos and information given to confirm the fishery is a location that meets my angling needs. Most of the time, within a few minutes, you can verify the information you dug up on your state's website in a few minutes.
This is an easy, quick look at how I use state websites and FishBrain to find where to fish! If you have any questions, post them in the comment section below. We'd love to help
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Combining the tools mentioned in this blog with our previous Google Earth Blog is a triple threat that'll lead to more and bigger fish!
Pro Tip:
The Lazer Sharp Pro-Series Avid Kit-Finesse/Ned Jig makes an excellent tool for catching fish in new ponds, lakes, or rivers! The Lazer Sharp Finesse Jigs paired with the provided 3" Yum Dingers work great as a search bait hopped off the bottom with a quick retrieve. Once you find a piece of structure or cover fish are holding on, slow down and subtly shake your rod tip, which translates to that Yum Dinger standing straight up and down with the tail moving just enough to instigate strikes from even tight-lipped bass!
LAZER SHARP PRO-SERIES AVID KIT - FINESSE/NED Jig
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