How To Find New Fishing Spots
Fishing is a great pastime that allows you to be one with nature, and catch something for dinner at the same time. Although many fishermen tend to find a nice fishing spot and stick with it, some people like to switch things up every now and then to be able to catch a variety of fish types and sizes. However, unless you happen to be completely familiar with the area around you, you might not know where to find this new spot.
This doesn’t have to be a difficult thing to do, but the process of finding a new spot can be a long one if you decide to do it alone. So, if you are wanting to find new places to catch some fish in your free time, then here are some ways that you can find a new fishing spot for your upcoming fishing trips.
Know Your Species
First things first, you want to know what type of fish you want to catch. This will let you narrow down your options and make it easier to find one that provides a suitable atmosphere for that species. If you are looking for a species or fish that typically lives in deeper waters, then finding a shallow body of water won’t do you any good.
So, do research on the kind of fish that you want to find and get to know what their natural habitats look like. If the fish loves hydrilla, like Bass do, then seeing that type of plant and vegetation around the area will show you that the fish you want is in those waters. However, if you’re not picky, then just ensuring that the waters are suitable for any type of fish to survive in will be enough to lay claim to the spot.
Use Our Interactive Map
On our site (coming soon) we have a web page that will allow you to use a map to find a great new location for fishing. By simply finding your location, you will have your pick of choices pop up on the screen so you can choose the one that you would like to try. All the known places that are closest to your location will be included, so you will have the option to stay close to home, or venture out a little further away.
With the link to this page (coming soon), you can quickly go to this map and use it to find the greatest option for you in no time.
Marine Charts
If you have the knowledge and know-how to read marine charts, then using these to find your new spot will be a great way to do so. These charts will give you a lot of information on the bodies of water in your area and can show you the depth of the water, the structures and plants below the surface, and also changes in depth throughout the entirety of the water.
Knowing what is beneath the surface of the water is key information because it can tell you what types of fish will go there and what areas of that water they will likely gravitate toward. If the area has a drop-off or area where there is sufficient coverage for the fish, then this is likely to be a place where they will feed. So, knowing where this area is under the water can make finding the best spot much easier.
Ask the Locals
This is something that most people know how to do, but don’t often use to their advantage as often as they should. If you know any men and women in the area that are avid fishermen, then asking them where they like to go can do you a lot of good. However, if you don’t know many people around you that fish enough to know any new spots for you to check out, or if they only know ones that you’ve already tried, then ask others.
Talking to workers at local bait shops or outdoors stores may yield better results than you might expect. With employees often applying at the stores that they sell products that they have some knowledge or interest in, workers at bait shops and outdoors stores might know a lot about the area and where to find a good new spot. They have likely gone to check out a few on their own and can tell you about it.
Plus, with them having full-time access to customers who are avid fishermen themselves, they get a lot of information from others that come in the store too. Even professional fishermen and retired folks that spend much of their time finding fishing spots come into these stores, and their wealth of knowledge of the area can be very helpful to you.
Use their insider tips to get the dirt on a new fishing spot for yourself and you might just find the best option possible.
Journey Out Alone
Whether you live in an area where you can hike around your location, or you need to drive to the wilderness to find a new spot, you can choose to go it alone and try to find one yourself. Going out into uncharted territory trying to find a place will be the toughest, and longest, option but it can also be that much more rewarding when you succeed.
We are not kidding when we say this will take a long time. It will take a long, long time. So, don’t use this method if you are not willing to put the time and effort into it. However, this could also help you learn a lot about the area nearby while you are on your journey. Then, when you do stumble upon an area that looks suitable for fishing, then you will know enough about the area to guess what fish live there. Also, if you go this route, you actually might find an unmarked place that has not been fished in yet. This will allow you to keep it yourself, if you choose to, and catch all the fish you want. Or, you could tell others about it and make it an option for other fishermen in the area.
Originally published at https://lifeoffishing.com on January 15, 2020.
