New lake, who dis?
Texas is home to more than 100 major fishing lakes, with ten considered among the best in America.
But like any body of water, 80% of the fish will be hiding out in 20% of the lake. How do I figure out where to start fishing if I’ve never been to the lake before?
I’ve done some research and came up with a simple system from readily accessible data.
This is how I’m breaking down a new lake.
A fishing tournament will have hundreds of boats, all roaring off at the start time for their favorite spots. (In my head I think that they have all done this before and I’m the only newbie).
Having some direction is important. You aren’t going to win if you are winging it. Fishing is a strategy game and maximizing your chances means that you need to answer three fundamental questions (as told by Jeremy Wade, in his book How to Think Like a Fish):
- Right place: Where is the fish likely to be?
- Right time: When will it be there and willing to feed?
- Right bait: What will trigger it to bite under those conditions?
Getting to the right place (quickly) is the important first step.
Zoom out, waaaay out
Years ago when I was still sailing as Second Mate, I was responsible for voyage planning.
When a big ship goes somewhere you need to start by figuring out your general route and assess the hazards along the way. You start this using the largest scale chart available.
So when I had to break down a lake for the first time it made sense to do the same thing. And while we don’t have big paper charts anymore, there are a ton of free resources online.
My first stop? The Texas Parks & Wildlife fishing page. https://tpwd.texas.gov/fishboat/fish/
They have just about everything you need in one place:
- Licenses
- Limits
- Fishing reports (could be interesting!)
- How-to’s
- Even recipes
But I’m looking to find fish so start on the Lakes page. Let’s check out Lake Limestone.
On the first page I’m already learning more about the lake than I’ve known. There are fishing tips at the bottom of the page that are just as good as the old fella at the bait shop could give me:
From May through September, bass anglers are most successful fishing off points on the main lake around vegetation or submerged timber. Points bordering deep water are best. Plastic worms, spinner baits, buzz baits, and chugger type baits can all be good during summer months. From October through December, many bass migrate to the backs of the creeks, often in the same areas where they were concentrated in the spring. Plastic worms and spinner baits are good choices throughout the fall.
But what is the MOST interesting is the habitat viewer, because of this statement:
Five freshwater fish reefs were added to this lake. Anglers may use GPS in conjunction with a fish finder to locate these reefs.
Following the link to the Habitat Viewer, this is what I find:
Those are five waypoints that you KNOW a local will have entered into their GPS. Now I have those coordinates and am starting to find some places to go.
Let’s see what else we can find.
Lakes & Bays Fishing Atlas
I discovered this by accident.
We were on a guided fish down in Matagorda bay and stopped into a bait shop, looking for popping corks. They were giving copies of this away, as this was last years version. My son grabbed one, threw it in the back of the truck, and promptly forgot about it.
When I started trying to figure out where to fish I remembered it back there, went and got it, and found Lake Limestone on page 102.
Now this is interesting. See all of those little colored fish marks? They are described on the next page.
Eight largemouth bass hotspots, and another seven for white bass – complete with coordinates. It even gives suggested strategies for each location.
Into the GPS these go.
And then I noticed one more thing. The depths were all charted by Navionics (which is available for Garmin chartplotters).
Depths you say?
Going Deep
Understanding underwater structure can give a huge boost.
If you have ever hunted deer you’ll know that they are often found in transition areas, like where the forest turns to field. It stands to reason that fish will do the same.
A quick search brings me to the Garmin Online viewer.
It has some decent info, and really does a good job identifying areas of Flooded Timber, but I’m looking for a little bit more.
I find it over at GPSNauticalCharts.com
The online viewer allows for more shading options which helps define the depths better. You can see that it actually marks the fish reefs as well, though it doesn’t give coordinates. And if you look closely you can see the contours of an old riverbed.
Cross referencing this page to the areas listed in the Lakes & Bays Atlas starts to give you a much more complete picture of what is going on below the water and why these are hotspots in the first place.
Local Knowledge
For the final step I like to go right to the source.
Facebook has been the best place for specific local knowledge that I’ve found. I simply typed in “Lake Limestone” and this is the first thing that came up:
Already we’ve learned that:
- The lake is low
- We should scout backup boat launches
A little more searching and I found this fishing report on the Lake Limestone, TX page (shoutout Colan Gonzales!)
Local knowledge from a guy we’ve never met, for a place we’ve never been.
Isn’t the internet great?
Putting It All Together
In less than an hour of searching we’ve got some guidance on where to go and what to throw when we get there. Our strategy may be basic, but sometimes its better to keep things simple.
I started writing about fishing because, when I got back into it after years away, it seemed overcomplicated. Reducing things to the basics, keeping things simple, and being effective are the goals.
Having an idea of where to go is a great first step.
P.S.
I’m going to be breaking down every lake on the tour the same way.
These strategy sessions will answer the questions, where to go, and what to throw?
You’ll need to join my Substack to get access to these reports, and I’ll be going deeper into each as I figure out the best tools and local resources to use.
Subscribe for access today.