how many spots do you mark on a map? 2024
ethan-333 reply :
when you are breaking down a map how msny spots will you mark? is it dependant on lake size or what you think will hold fish? i typically dont use topo maps as there is only a few spots to fish deep (15+) on the 2 lakes close to me and ive fished the lakes numerous times... but the lake im looking at is a powerplant lake ive never fished of about 2500 acres with an average depth of 18 and max depth around 45... ive started breaking the map down by main lake, and each arm and coves. i have about 30 spots marked that i would like to check out over time as i fish it... also ive searched and read multiple forums and watched videos about breaking them down. any good videos youd recommend?? thanks
WRB reply :
Post your the lake you want spots marked and see compare what we suggest to your spots, should be a interesting thread.
Tom
Team9nine reply :
Mark as many as you need to. Oftentimes it is lake type more than lake size that correlates with higher number of potential spots. On some lakes I have over 250 spots marked. How you break a lake down will vary by individual. There is no one set way. Some like seasonal patterns, others will do it by depth, cover types, sections (size or area), or structure. Sounds like you are starting out right to me.
-T9
bobh64 reply :
When I am able to get paper maps of lakes I fish I color code my catch spots to show me shallow,deep sunny. windy, rainy ect type of days so I can identify what worked and when on that spot. Its sounds confusing but tournament time I have my answers ready depending on what type of day it will be. So sometimes I will have more than 50+
Catt reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 1:40 AM, Team9nine said:Mark as many as you need to. Oftentimes it is lake type more than lake size that correlates with higher number of potential spots. On some lakes I have over 250 spots marked. How you break a lake down will vary by individual. There is no one set way. Some like seasonal patterns, others will do it by depth, cover types, sections (size or area), or structure. Sounds like you are starting out right to me.
-T9
325 spots on Toledo Bend & still marking em!
A-Jay reply :
Well before getting on the water (especially new ones) and without the need for paper maps, I've been using the Humminbird Contour Elite computer software. The State-of-the-art mapping technology paired with the most accurate lake data available means less time wandering around the lake and more time in what as proven to be mostly productive water. With both CD & down load options it's very convenient.
http://contourelite.com/ http://contourelite.com/features/ http://www.humminbird.com/Products/CEGL3/
And to answer the OP's question as to "how many spots do I mark ?" I'll go with Several .. .. .. ..
A-Jay
riverbasser reply :
My lake is much bigger than yours and there are many areas I have not explored. With no internet at home I hook up my depthfinder with lakemaster charts and study the lake on the couch. I mark potential areas I want to fish with a different icon than the icons I use to mark known spots. Then on the water if it turns out to be a fish holding area I change the icon. This helps me know what is what. Also the marks I do at home are for "areas" not just specific spots. I might mark the tip of a channel swing but once on the water I will explore the entire area up and down the swing and both sides of channel for example and move the waypoint accordingly.
I would take WRB up on his offer to post the lake on here and use some of these senior guys experience to help you find potential areas. That's info that may be priceless
@A-Jay im jealous of your mapping strategy. Do those programs require an internet connection?
A-Jay reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 2:47 AM, riverbasser said:
@A-Jay im jealous of your mapping strategy. Do those programs require an internet connection?
The cd version does not require an internet connection however in advance of you purchase ensure you systen meets the software requirements.
http://www.humminbird.com/Products/CEGL3/
A-Jay
It is Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10.
The Minimum PC Requirements:
1 Ghz Pentium 4 or Athlon CPU (2 Ghz recommended)
512 MB Ram (1024 MB Ram recommended)
10 GB Free hard drive
Windows XP or greater
DVD-ROM Drive
ethan-333 reply :
this is the north half of the lake. im trying to find better maps but not having any luck. this has 5 foot contour intervals... just not a fan of the hotspot locations pre-marked. tho some of them look to be good areas (i think).. the green is the channel. the pink is areas i want to check. and the black is no access zones.. mainly ive marked main lake points. roadbeds in the channel. a couple humps. and some rock banks near a channel swing. if the weather stays nice might make a trip out here next weekend.. and this is the first time ive ever really marked. so criticism is highly appreciated
thanks in advance
ethan-333 reply :
Fetching info...
ethan-333 reply :
also. havent really paid much attention to the south end yet. as being winter i feel the better fishing will be up near the dam to the north where the warm water discharge is
Catt reply :
I see a couple! 
ethan-333 reply :
if i color in the whole map pink.. does that count????
Team9nine reply :
You are on the right track with what you've highlighted. Focus more main lake in winter and summer, and more cove/embayments in the spring and fall. The area down toward the dam produces a lot of bass at times. Plan on working what you have marked (which will take a while) so you don't end up marking so much you skip through them too quickly and never really learn each spot.
-T9
Bluebasser86 reply :
I marked around 70 I think on half of a 7k acre lake that I fish often for another member that was visiting from out of town. I don't think you can really have too many spots marked if you have time to fish them all correctly at some point.
riverbasser reply :
I would spend a good amount of time exploring around spot 35. Also for this time of year the mouths of Shawnee bay and sugar neck creek might be good. Idk if its just the map but this lake doesn't seem to have a very defined channel. You marked some good places as well. Enough to keep you busy.
ethan-333 reply :
i would agree the channel is hard to pick out farther south on the map or so it seems
Wayne P. reply :
For waters covered, don't need to pre-mark any potential fishing locations with Lakemaster Smartstrike.
Just enter the species, time of year, water color, and lake area, then the software will predict fishing locations:
riverbasser reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 4:48 AM, Wayne P. said:For waters covered, don't need to pre-mark any potential fishing locations with Lakemaster Smartstrike.
Just enter the species, time of year, water color, and lake area, then the software will predict fishing locations:
That's cheating Wayne
A-Jay reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 4:48 AM, Wayne P. said:For waters covered, don't need to pre-mark any potential fishing locations with Lakemaster Smartstrike.
Just enter the species, time of year, water color, and lake area, then the software will predict fishing locations:
Perfect Wayne ~ I don't remember if I have mentioned it yet here on BR or not ~ but I've been a Smart Strike User & Abuser since late spring this past season.
Remarkable is one way to describe it but so is "hit or miss" as well. Certainly offers a starting point on new water. And when I wasn't getting bit in the designated spots, often times if I just "expanded" it area a little - I did.
A-Jay
Team9nine reply :
lol - Sorry, but I'm not dropping $140 for a program to suggest fishing spots to me ? They already gouge you enough just on basic mapping applications.
-T9
A-Jay reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 5:57 AM, Team9nine said:lol - Sorry, but I'm not dropping $140 for a program to suggest fishing spots to me ? They already gouge you enough just on basic mapping applications.
-T9
Duly Noted.
No Apology Necessary.
A-Jay
Bankbeater reply :
I will look at a map for a general idea of where I am going and the layout of the lake. I don't mark spots until I have fished the area.
Team9nine reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 6:54 AM, A-Jay said:
Duly Noted.
No Apology Necessary.
A-Jay
Lol - Humminbird got on my bad side today 
Guess I'm just taking it out on their apparent $$ greediness since mine was a mapping issue also. Would be much better if they integrated all these separate applications at least to some degree so you didn't have to lay out good change for every little thing they come up with.
- Rant over -
-T9
A-Jay reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 7:32 AM, Team9nine said:
Lol - Humminbird got on my bad side today
- Rant over -
-T9
Can't Disagree .. .. ..
It's not a magic bullet but it does have some value.
A-Jay
WRB reply :
Egypt lake Illinois, 18 miles long, 2,300 acres. Anyone have a more detailed map?
The 86 way points marked can be used for reference are the pink highlites are the OP choices?
I will take a look tomorrow.
Tom
ethan-333 reply :
yes thats the lake. trying to find another map of it but not having any luck. and the pink highlights are areas i think could hold fish based off the structure i see and i how im interpreting it. hopefully next week wednesday ill be able to get out there for a few hours and try it out. thanks
WRB reply :
Where do you plan to luanch so we can look around that area first.
Tom
webertime reply :
This is what I do, and it works well. Navionics on my Phone and I just look at the lake and mark stuff that looks good. Then when I head out I will use it as sort of a shopping list. If a spot works, then I mark it on the boat's electronics. If after checking it a couple times over the year, I delete it from my phone.
This is Lake Champlain... lol
scaleface reply :
Clitty creek and Beaver creek look pretty good . Dry fork not so much .
riverbasser reply :
On 1/4/2017 at 1:32 PM, ethan-333 said:yes thats the lake. trying to find another map of it but not having any luck. and the pink highlights are areas i think could hold fish based off the structure i see and i how im interpreting it. hopefully next week wednesday ill be able to get out there for a few hours and try it out. thanks
Go to webapp.navionics.com
Find your lake and zoom in on it, then post the link on here. I couldn't find it myself but that doesn't mean its not there.
webertime reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 12:27 AM, scaleface said:Clitty creek and Beaver creek look pretty good . Dry fork not so much .
AWESOME... lol
ethan-333 reply :
https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@10&key=ekldFfeu}O
the contours are worse but it does have channels marked better
webertime reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 1:40 AM, ethan-333 said:https://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en#boating@10&key=ekldFfeu}O
the contours are worse but it does have channels marked better
Make sure you go to the icon in the lower left and switch it to Sonar Chart. Way more detailed.
riverbasser reply :
my eye immediately went to some pinch points like the market street point and the other long point on the opposite side of channel. there are many old roadbeds right there as well. Then just south a hump labeled "Indian mound". also where sugar and bald eagle points meet. Just a few I noticed quickly
ethan-333 reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 2:30 AM, webertime said:
Make sure you go to the icon in the lower left and switch it to Sonar Chart. Way more detailed.
how did i miss that
webertime reply :
I hide in the bathroom from my kids a lot. I figured out a lot of navionics functions.
WRB reply :
Egypt lake has other predator fish; hybrid stripers*, walleyes and largemouth bass.
This lake is also a power plant cooling lake therefore the water temperatures support Threadfin Shad year around. Not sure where the power plant is located looking at the attached paper map?
Hybrid stripers change the predator prey relationship as they dominate off shore structure, however Egypt lake appears very narrow with little off shore structure outside of the river channel, which is important, several points that drop into the channel, a few islands and the Indian mound hump.
I think the OP did a good job marking some areas. My focus during the winter is in the ski zone areas as it offers deep water that locals may over look. I also believe that the 15' break line where it creates small flats on the points maybe good year around do to the warm water created by the power plant.
So tell me where the power plant is located?..found it the blackout area near the dam!
Tom
* state record hybrid striper.
WRB reply :
Here is my short list;
Map#2, hook shape point across from the power plant.
#11, 15' flat on sunset point.
#14, S channel bend.
#19-20 points with 15' flats.
#21, road bed and C channel bend.
#23, 15' flat
#34, points near islands.
All the marked pink areas in the ski zone and the Indian mound.
Any Staging areas (10' to 15' point flats) near spawning bays starting in March.
The next few months I would focus where schools of Threadfin Shad are located near or on the spots you have marked and the few I added.
I don't have a Navonics map of this lake and Webertime has pointed out 1' elevation details to study, start with the spots listed during the next month. According to fishing reports available for this lake the relate to milfoil. Don't know how deep it grows in Egypt lake? when milfoil gets established the weed lines near the deeper breaks should be good.
Good luck.
Tom
WRB reply :
Just rambling, power plant lakes with the plant intake in deep water near a dam tends to turn the lake over by creating deep current. The river bed becomes a source of cooler water when the plant is operating.The fact this lake has both Threadfin and Gizzard Shad gives the larger hybrid stripers a large baitfish and crappie, walleye and bass have Threadfin to target. This is why I think the 15' small flats on point near the channel become import isolated structure features...just a guess without being able to check out this lake.
For this reason structure spoons, tail and under spins, dart head jigs, drop shot that work where Threadfin populations are prey fish should work.
Tom
RoLo reply :
The number of trial sites I pre-select depends on the length of my paper route.
In every case though, I'll pinpoint more trial sites than I actually need
because several sites will be rejected during Field Study due to subpar cover,
which is something you cannot evaluate at home.
Roger
ethan-333 reply :
thanks for the replies everyone. yes i know a couple guys that fish egypt and theyve gave me a couple spots to look at as well.. might be selling my boat and upgrading here real soon so not sure when ill be able to get out next. but yes the spots i have marked im going to run over with the graph just to see if there is any shad hanging around or any bottom cover. thanks again
WIGuide reply :
Here's a little better look at the lake for anyone else interested
A-Jay reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 4:39 AM, webertime said:I hide in the bathroom from my kids a lot.
You're a pretty big Dude ~ So if you're hiding, Your Kids Must Be HUGE ~ !
A-Jay
RoLo reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 3:09 PM, ethan-333 said:thanks for the replies everyone. yes i know a couple guys that fish egypt and theyve gave me a couple spots to look at as well.. might be selling my boat and upgrading here real soon so not sure when ill be able to get out next. but yes the spots i have marked im going to run over with the graph just to see if there is any shad hanging around or any bottom cover. thanks again
Sadly, the best bathymetric charts available are never as accurate as you'd wish them to be.
For this reason, I always begin the Field Survey by comparing my 'alleged' sweet-spot
to the real-world depths and contours displayed on my 3D sonar.
Unless you plot your own charts, disappointment is very common.
Only 'after' I've confirmed and pinpointed the presence of structure would I bother to evaluate the cover.
Lastly, I might look for a wad of baitfish on the 2D sonar (not 3D), but seldom would I look for
largemouth bass directly, which in Florida are usually shrouded in vegetation or blended into the bottom.
Roger
Catt reply :
Each of the dozens of coves have two points...just saying!
Where's the creek channels?
WRB reply :
The 7 areas I suggested look better looking at the Navonics map posted, definately check them out.
Tom
webertime reply :
On 1/5/2017 at 11:07 PM, A-Jay said:
You're a pretty big Dude ~ So if you're hiding, Your Kids Must Be HUGE ~ !
A-Jay
7 year old girl... 4'8" 77lbs...
3 year old girl... (Avatar background) that was thrown out of an ISIS training camp with a sternly written note.
A-Jay reply :
On 1/6/2017 at 1:47 AM, webertime said:7 year old girl... 4'8" 77lbs...
3 year old girl... (Avatar background) that was thrown out of an ISIS training camp with a sternly written note.
I can see that happening . . .
Good Luck Sir.
A-Jay
ethan-333 reply :
On 1/6/2017 at 1:13 AM, WRB said:The 7 areas I suggested look better looking at the Navonics map posted, definately check them out.
Tom
thanks for the help. i will definitely give them a look. only 1 way to learn.
On 1/6/2017 at 12:31 AM, RoLo said:
Sadly, the best bathymetric charts available are never as accurate as you'd wish them to be.
For this reason, I always begin the Field Survey by comparing my 'alleged' sweet-spot
to the real-world depths and contours displayed on my 3D sonar.
Unless you plot your own charts, disappointment is very common.
Only 'after' I've confirmed and pinpointed the presence of structure would I bother to evaluate the cover.
Lastly, I might look for a wad of baitfish on the 2D sonar (not 3D), but seldom would I look for
largemouth bass directly, which in Florida are usually shrouded in vegetation or blended into the bottom.
Roger
ill keep this in mind as well. i noticed when switching from sonar to navionics and back and forth some of the depths of areas had a difference in 15 feet
WRB reply :
On 1/6/2017 at 3:55 AM, ethan-333 said:thanks for the help. i will definitely give them a look. only 1 way to learn.
ill keep this in mind as well. i noticed when switching from sonar to navionics and back and forth some of the depths of areas had a difference in 15 feet
You always need to factor in the current lake elevation and you can do that with your Navonics maps. Keep in mind 2D look down sonar return area is only 1/3 the depth in diameter or 5' D @ 15' depth, less than width of your bass boats stern.
You should be able to see sonar bass returns 6" off the bottom.
Always fish the spots first, then meter as you leave, make a complete circle of the area, bass tend to move when they hear you approaching structure, bait doesn't.
Tom
ethan-333 reply :
On 1/6/2017 at 4:19 AM, WRB said:You always need to factor in the current lake elevation and you can do that with your Navonics maps. Keep in mind 2D look down sonar return area is only 1/3 the depth in diameter or 5' D @ 15' depth, less than width of your bass boats stern.
You should be able to see sonar bass returns 6" off the bottom.
Always fish the spots first, then meter as you leave, make a complete circle of the area, bass tend to move when they hear you approaching structure, bait doesn't.
Tom
1 foot cone for every 3 feet of depth on 2d correct? and about 1 to 1 on downscan?
WRB reply :
what unit do you have? HD units use 83 Htz with about 45 degree cone angle with higher difination on the outer area, about 2 to 1 or 15' depth is around 8' dia. Scanning sonar can look around 360 degrees out and down.
Getting off topic, better topic for electronics forum.
Tom
ethan-333 reply :
On 1/7/2017 at 1:17 AM, WRB said:what unit do you have? HD units use 83 Htz with about 45 degree cone angle with higher difination on the outer area, about 2 to 1 or 15' depth is around 8' dia. Scanning sonar can look around 360 degrees out and down.
Getting off topic, better topic for electronics forum.
Tom
hds 9 touch at the console. just a regular sonar at the front. might get an elite for the front tho.
WRB reply :
On 1/7/2017 at 2:01 AM, ethan-333 said:hds 9 touch at the console. just a regular sonar at the front. might get an elite for the front tho.
Excellent sonar unit and you should be able to locate isolated details, baitfish, bass, thermoclines etc.
Surprising to me that with all the structure fishing experts on this site few offered any detailed help?
Good luck, your lake has all of structure elements that can be found anywhere, thank you for sharing the map!
Tom
ethan-333 reply :
On 1/7/2017 at 6:37 AM, WRB said:Excellent sonar unit and you should be able to locate isolated details, baitfish, bass, thermoclines etc.
Surprising to me that with all the structure fishing experts on this site few offered any detailed help?
Good luck, your lake has all of structure elements that can be found anywhere, thank you for sharing the map!
Tom
thanks for the help hopefully i get out there soon and do some learning
hstaple1979 reply :
This is what I consider my home lake. The power plant is on the north end of the lake. There are better areas to fish in the spring and summer on the southeastern end of the lake in the spring and summer, away from most pleasure boaters and out of area fisherman who don't know the lake very well. There are no walleye in the lake, though they were stocked, it is assumed they all died off. Stripers affect nothing. This is a largemouth bass lake. It's considered a private lake, and unless you know areas, navionics or fishidy are useless. There is plenty of shore cover and areas that hold fish year round. This is the only lake I fish, ever, as it's close to home. Good luck
Sam reply :
Every one!
related General Bass Fishing Forum topic
most viewed General Bass Fishing Forum topic
© 2024 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.