Fishing New/Unknown Lakes

[French_Mike]

Hey all, for anyone that has fished a new/unknown lake to them (i'm assuming many of you have been in this position) what is your strategy for finding a spot to make a hole in the ice? For ice fishing, is shallow water better than deep? Do you just simply stab random spots, or simply try to follow where other people are already fishing? Thanks in advance.

[HuyFishin]

I usually just try to find a random spot and hope for the best

[Gust]

I use google maps to get an idea of the lay out and depth,, then I set up near a drop in structure. Sometimes I just go out and drill a hole.

[Gslice]

this will be my first time ice fishing as well so don't take my word for it. But my plan is to drill multiple holes from shore at certain intervals to deeper and deeper water, and systematically switch to deeper holes when it's quiet.
Also, you need to know the species of the fish you're trying to catch. For instance, right now is spawning season for lake whitefish. Typically they spawn in very shallow water (1-2m) in rocky areas. So you might want to look for a location with a rocky bedding and spend more of your time in the shallower places... Just an example...

Do some research on the species you're trying to catch and learn their seasonal behaviour. This will increase your odds of landing a catch despite if you're fishing hard or open water.

Mike

[HunterDave]

I start by going where old, frozen over holes are that might have a little blood on the ice.

[Kim473]

I look for places along the shore line that may point out that there is a steep drop off or points that may show that there may be a shelf and a drop off. Drill a dozen holes from shallow to deeper in two lines out from the shore. Try for between 8 fow to 20 fow. Flasher helps as you know within a min or two if theres fish there. Thats fishin for perch anyways.

[Fishy]

Originally Posted by Gust

I use google maps to get an idea of the lay out and depth,, then I set up near a drop in structure. Sometimes I just go out and drill a hole.

x2

Google maps is a great resource! Find structure, in-flows, out-flows, currents, know whats happening to the water (season, temp, wind, etc), use a variety of lure/ bait combos and colors, drill lots of holes, and find the right depth!

[chris1]

How to find Google maps with lay out and depth?

[BIZJAY]

As stated before drill lots of holes, think swiss cheese wben working a new body of water, knowing what your taregting helps to decide depth to.choose.to fish, but having plenty of holes allows you to know what the structure of the lake is. Typically ill drill around where others have been fishin to see what depths/structure they were on and keep that info in mind but if nothings biting will move on, if theres blood near any of the holes ill be sure to fish similar depths at other points.

[cube]

Originally Posted by French_Mike

Hey all, for anyone that has fished a new/unknown lake to them (i'm assuming many of you have been in this position) what is your strategy for finding a spot to make a hole in the ice? For ice fishing, is shallow water better than deep? Do you just simply stab random spots, or simply try to follow where other people are already fishing? Thanks in advance.

After looking at lake maps and doing the rest of my due diligence my number one technique for catching fish at a new to me lake is
1. Get there early.
2. Wait at an access point for a couple of older retired gentlemen.
3 Follow older retired gentlemen.
4 Be polite and ask it it's Ok if you can fish a short distance away and later ask them if there are any other spots they can suggest.

They may not be helpful but most are, and your catch rate on those first couple of days on the new lake will be much higher.

Fishing where the crowds are can work but if the crowd is not catching any fish don’t stay.

After you get a feel for the lake you can head off and explore.


Good Luck

[ak-71]

I have a lot of fun planning my trips! For southern AB you can get depth maps.
I carefully overlay them in Google Earth to export promising locations to gps, I plan for different scenarios, weather and my believes in what fish is up to.
Then I get to the lake very early and drill a lot of holes to find the exact spot I mapped using my sonar and camera.
Most of the times (I had one exception) I realize, that these spots look like nothing I had imagined and hold no fish , and just start fishing moving around, and at times even catch something.
Usually, earlier I abandon my original game plan - more time I have to catch fish.

[French_Mike]

Thanks a lot guys. There are some great ideas here! Looking forward to the first safe ice out there this year...

[Gust]

basically when looking at Google satellite you can see the structure (unless it was obscured by clouds that day), but you can see obvious lines and get a good idea of depth,, look up the lake and see if there is a bathy chart, if not, just find its max depth and the deduce what you're looking at.

There is also this thing with new icers to go way out in the middle of the lake,, some species are deeper like Lake Trout but most other fish know that there fodder is quite close to shore and shallow. The best piking is right now till X-mass and I won't be fishing in more than 9' till then,, mostly 5' and less.

For the newbs,, if alone on the ice or if space allows, keep your two holes at the maximum distance allowed (someone will have to look it up, I think it's 50meters),, so if you think you are on a peninsula/point structure, drill one hole 15' from shore and your next hole 60 feet from shore in line with the point. Drill some holes between and every so often, we'll say 20 minutes, move your furthest line towards you.

Always jig one hole and have the other stationary,, fish are curious, and either the flash of a Williams spoon or the incessant bonking of your brass bell on the bottom will bring them thru.

[Gust]

I should put this on the ice report thread, but,,,

It has been noted that a lot of snow has come with this perfect cold snap, which makes for the illusion of good ice making (to the newbs) but can create frightful conditions. As of this past Friday night, midnight to be exact for Calgary, it was plus two,, two days earlier I was still fishing the regular summer way.

This cold snap and the evil insulating snow has only been with us Southern Albertans 3 1/2 days. I have not gone scouting, and hope that the winds removed most of the on ice snow.

We all want people to be safe, so, if you are new to this sport, ask as many questions as possible in this thread, others or new ones, or find a 10,000 piece puzzle and wait a bit.

[Gust]

Could put this anywhere I s'pose.

Someone told me that the standard for ice forming is in perfect conditions;

1 inch over 24 hours if the temperature is consistently below zero.

Anyone know the equation?

This isn't factoring in sitting right atop rotting vegetation or an underground spring or being in some narrows.

[French_Mike]

With getting married on the 30th, I don't anticipate going out until end of december, probably around Christmas before I get out. Looking forward to trying to new ideas!

[EDMfishing]

Edmonton area has also gotten a big dump of snow right after a few days of +2 - +7 to melt what ice we had starting to form!! and now with a foot or more snow falling in the passed 3-4 days (im just guestimating from the patio table in backyard) its gunna be insulating the ice real good like you said everyone must be careful, ecspecially anyone in experienced with ice / these sort of conditions... only possible plus side is the snow might keep some people off the ice with their cars early on


As for google maps - It is amazing for finding either access to a new lake or new access to your old favorite.. along with being able to see SOME structure, ecspecially close to shore drop offs or shelfs....



I dont know if anyone else uses this site ..... But i find it amazing for heading to new lakes ***edit it is kind of old (1990) so some things might have changed but I havent run into any problems with it yet***

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Alberta-Lakes/


it is pretty awsome has descriptions / characteristics of lakes/ fish species/ history of area(and lake inluding water levels/ sometimes mercury or fertilizer ontaminant lists too) / campgrounds / access points / directions/ activities ( walking trails and other stuff)


So you can find directions to get there, directions to the access points or campgrounds.... and most importantly!!!! it also has DEPTH CHARTS!!! So you can do 'your homework' before you hit the lake and have an idea where you want to start.. get to the lake with a game plan!!


Usually if you pick your lake, and then select the Lake basin characteristics from the menu it will have a link 'fig x.x' that will be your depth chart of the lake. it will be used in a sentence... for example (from the site) ;

3. Lake Basin Characteristics

Coal Lake is 18-km long, but only 0.7-km wide at its widest point. The lake has a steeply sloping bottom (Fig. 2). The substrate is primarily firm sand and clay to a water depth of 2.0 m; in water deeper than 2 m, the substrate is soft flocculent mud (Integrated Envir. Sci. Inc. 1984).