Mike Frisch
Published Wednesday, August 5, 2009A fundamental step to catching fish is finding fish-holding cover and the fish themselves. For that reason, anglers who become skilled in fish location obviously tip the odds for fishing success in their favor. Anglers can actually look into the water to help find fish in some situations, while in others they can rely on their sonar unit to help find fish. Here are some tips anglers can use to find fish in both cases.
Fish holding in shallow water can often be found by keeping a watchful eye while searching the shallows. For example, largemouth bass anglers can look into the water and, at times, actually spot their quarry. More often, however, they identify likely looking cover that holds bass.
For example, when searching reeds, I like to look for dark spots or what one of my fishing buddies calls “the dirty spots” as those darker areas often feature the heaviest cover and hold the most bass.
When searching the shallows, I like to cruise at a steady speed using my trolling motor. Constantly turning on and off the motor can alert upcoming bass to my presence making them harder to catch.
I also like to look for irregularities in cover; the dirty reed situation being a good example. Other shallow water irregularities include points and turns in weeds and reeds, dock posts or shady spots under docks, and trees or branches that have fallen in the water along shore.
A pair of quality, polarized sunglasses allowing an angler to see better into the water than with the naked eye is important when searching the shallows. I wear Costa Del Mar sunglasses for my shallow fishing. They have high quality lenses that help me locate underwater cover, plus they come in a variety of stylish frames.
Shallow water anglers can look into the water to find fish-holding cover and the fish themselves. Another way to quickly find cover in both the shallows and deeper water is by the use the side scanning capability some fish locators now feature.
For example, I recently fished a bass tournament where I focused on trying to catch smallmouth bass relating to shallow and mid-depth flats. The fish were often found along rocks and rock piles on those flats.
I used the Side Imaging feature on my Humminbird sonar unit to “see” to each side of my boat allowing me to quickly locate rocks on the flats.
Side Imaging can also be used to find other cover that fish relate to. For example, weedlines and the potential fish-holding irregularities along those weedlines like points and turns can quickly be located using this technology.
Sonar units can help search out to the side of the boat for fish-holding cover. They also have long been an aid to anglers searching directly under the boat in deeper water for cover and fish.View this article in it's entirety.
