New Water - noob question

[Kyan1234]

When you guys are running in a new body of water how to you know exactly where is safe to run..? I'm not new to bass fishing but am new to the "big" boat side of things & am worried I'm going to run into something or run in shallow water. I'm looking into GPS now & am wondering if you guys use that to find safe boat lanes & what not to run in. Sorry for the long question but any help is appreciated.

[ditchdoc666]

A good map will show you channell lanes and contours outside of the running lanes with depth ,only use these for a guestimate as thing can change,but the best way is to go and spend time on the water and make notes on your map as you go,gps is good but not accurate to run by.

[TMG]

Welcome aboard
A map is a great Idea,I also like to hang out at the ramp and ask a few people
if there are any water hazards I should know about

[bothomas]

On a new body of water it may not be a bad idea to go with a guide. A good guide can give you characteristics of the lake, areas to be aware of, tips on fishing, ramps that are good, ramps to stay away from, etc.

[DIXIEDOG]

I just take it easy the first trip or two on any body of water I fish. I keep an eye on where the other boats are going to get an idea of safe spots. If you hear somebody cussing up a storm you know not to go there that spot is shallow

[SoonerFan]

It's something to always be aware of. Even out in the main body of the lake, unsuspected hazards can sneak up on you. A few years ago I was fishing a small lake that I had never fished before. There was standing timber all around the perimiter of the lake but the middle and the south end was wide open. I was ripping across the lake in what appeared to be open water that my sonar was showing to be around 25' deep. I happened to look down and saw, to my surprise, tree tops just under the surface . I don't know how I missed hitting them. The sonar on that boat wasn't very good at reading detail of bottom structure and cover while on plane. I shut it down and crippled back to the shallow water like grandma on an icy sidewalk.

If I'm in unfamiliar water I try to keep my eye on the sonar, looking for submerged trees and sudden depth changes coming up shallow. Pay attention to points, some of which can come out pretty far and shallow into the main lake. Also keep your eyes open for waves breaking in a place where they shouldn't. That can be a sign of rocks or submerged islands that could ruin your day.

[Olddawg]

I always worry about hitting something, even in water that I have run before. A tree can fall in off a bank and be floating just below the surface, you just never know. I do watch boats running in front of me and on more than one occasion have seen them hit submerged things. You just have to be cautious....

[genemelow]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Olddawg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I always worry about hitting something, even in water that I have run before. A tree can fall in off a bank and be floating just below the surface, you just never know. I do watch boats running in front of me and on more than one occasion have seen them hit submerged things. You just have to be cautious.... </TD></TR></TABLE> +1 and Welcome

[Z518 Comanche]

Welcome. A map is a good idea

[Kyan1234]

Thanks guys I really do appreciate all the info here.

[KevinP]

Always, Always, have your kill switch attached! And wear your life jacket when the big motor is running!

[Palico]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Olddawg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I always worry about hitting something, even in water that I have run before. A tree can fall in off a bank and be floating just below the surface, you just never know. I do watch boats running in front of me and on more than one occasion have seen them hit submerged things. You just have to be cautious.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

+1 I tend to follow others around from a distance with a map outside of marked lanes. No GPS so the map is of upmost importance. The first time out I like to ride around more than fish to get a feel for the water.

[SoonerFan]

When I was at the lake a little while ago I noticed I was doing something without even thinking, that might be valuable to this discussion. When you're going through water with lots of under water obstacles (tree stumps) try tilting your motor up as high as you can without cavatating and still picking up water for cooling. This of course is an idle only technique. I learned this from an old timer at Lake Fork and if you fish down there you'll see everybody idling around those minefield no-wake zones with their motors tilted up as high as they can get them. This will help protect your prop in case you hit a stump, you'll hit it with the lower unit first and can pull the shifter into neutral before the prop gets damaged.

I was doing this tonight coming out of a tree infested cove with a submerged roadbed running right down the middle. I was going along in what looked like a perfect road for boats going right through the trees then all of a sudden WHOMP!! the boat heaved up like I'd hit a cow. I don't know how or why but there's a good sized tree right in the middle of this old road. I got up and moved away from it on the TM for a ways and then continued on ever so much more cautiously on the big motor.

[oubassr]

Boomer!

[Tmore]

[QUOTE=SoonerFan]The sonar on that boat wasn't very good at reading detail of bottom structure and cover while on plane. QUOTE]

Keep in mind that your transducers on the back of the boat, so it's showing what you've already run over. If you rely on your depth finder to keep you out of trouble then you are bound to hit something eventually. Buy and study a map...plan your major "moves" the first couple of times out...stick to the main marked channels while on plane...etc. And of course you are still likely to hit something at some point, but the more preparation the better off you are.

[SoonerFan]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tmore &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">[QUOTE=SoonerFan]The sonar on that boat wasn't very good at reading detail of bottom structure and cover while on plane. QUOTE]

Keep in mind that your transducers on the back of the boat, so it's showing what you've already run over. If you rely on your depth finder to keep you out of trouble then you are bound to hit something eventually. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I realize that, I'm just saying that keeping an eye on the depthfinder will give you an idea when sudden depth changes are happening. You usually don't run up on a sandbar in 40 feet of water but if you see the finder going from 40 to 30 to 12... it's time to start shutting her down. Same with stump fields. In the example I described I had been running full blast for a couple hundred yards in what looked like open water with tree tops just a foot or two below the surface. Had my finder been reading correctly I might have seen the hazards and slowed it down.

The map idea that several of you have suggested is a good one, however sometimes, no most times good detailed maps are not available for the smaller better bass lakes I like to fish. Sure they are available for the big reservoirs but not the little city lakes that have more bass than Seadoos. For example, here's is the best map available for the lake I was on in the story....


Not much is it? You'd be lucky to find the boat ramp with this map, let alone miss a tree stump in the middle of the lake.

[briansgi]

Sooner!

[saebass]

+1 on geting a map and looking at it very good. But i grew up on river/ and creeks alot. For me alot of my running is based off of just reading the water.