Planning a Trip to New Water

Folks I've been at this fishing thing for a long time and today fishermen are very lucky to have many tools that we just didn't have when I started out.  My first bass boat's "Fish Finder" was me casting a Rat-L-Trap or some other crank bait to see if fish were home.  I had an old Eagle Depth Flasher that sometimes would tell you there might be fish there but it was mainly used to find a spot.  Oh and those spots were picked out using a Topographical Map if there was one available for that body of water.  Today with GPS map chips for your "Fish Finder"  that is equipped with Sonar which can see a single minnow swimming by things are way more easier.  Hey I'm not complaining one bit about these new tools of the trade, I love them and use them!

Tools like GPS and Sonor units are awesome, but there are other tools available to fishermen these days that can help before you head out to a new body of water.  I bet a lot of folks out there might overlook some of things that could help identify spots to try your luck and maybe even baits to try on this new body of water.  What are these tools one might ask?  Well they are all wrapped up in a neat package called the Internet.  If you are reading this article it is because of the Internet and all the information provided on this blog is part of those tools.  There are still more great tools on the Internet too if you look for them.  Google can be used to search for up-to-date fishing reports for many bodies of water.  If you can't find fishing reports for a specific body then try searching for local fishing forums that normally have lots of information on them. However one of my favorite Internet tools is Google Maps!  If you use the satellite view you can get a great picture of the water and in most cases you can a great idea of locations to try.

I'm planning a trip right now to Buffalo Camp Bayou to practice for my next Tournament.  I've never fished this bayou before and from all the information I've gathered so far I know it is different from all the other bayous I'm use to fishing.   Buffalo Camp Bayou is no longer a tidal bayou as a dam has been installed on it before it reaches the Brazos River.  Well above that is the dam to the Brazoria Reservoir that has a spillway that empties into Buffalo Camp Bayou.  Brazoria Reservoir is a private lake that from what I understand has Florida Bass.  If it has Florida Bass then that means it is very likely that Buffalo Camp Bayou also has Florida Bass.  Because this bayou sits between these two dams there is only water movement in the bayou when they are releasing water out of the Reservoir. There won't be any tidal effect on this bayou so I'm going to have to fish it more like I would a lake.  This means looking for the same types of structure I would normally fish in a lake.  So where are there some of these likely spots that might be holding bass?  Well there is where good ole Google Maps comes into play.  I call up a zoomed in satellite shot of the bayou and study what I see very carefully to find likely spots to try my luck.  Here are some examples of what I've found so far.

In this first picture there is a creek feeding into the main bayou that forms a point that might hold some fish and the off bank looks like it has some structure worth checking out.

In this second picture there is a good size dock with structure along the right side bank that might be a promising spot for bass to hold.

As you can see Google Maps can be very helpful in planning a trip to a new body of water.  It can show you possible structure and locations of points and other places where you might find bass.  Of course it doesn't replace a good Topographical Map totally if one is available for the water you want to fish.  If you have a Topo Map of the water you will be fishing you can locate things like drop offs and creek/river channels that Google Maps might not display.  In the case of the bayous I fish there are no Topographical Maps so Google Maps is about my only tool when planning a trip to a new bayou.

I've done a search of the local fishing forums but that hasn't be a lot of help.  I've found where some folks have fished this bayou but not a lot of information on what they have caught or what type of baits they were using.   So in this area I'm going to have to use my best judgement.  I'll likely start out using a Santone Lures Piglet shaky head with a Creme Lures Scoundrel Worm.  The main reason for this selection is that is what has been working the last couple of weeks for me and also I have a Dunamis Rods new Ascension Rod to test.  The new rod is to fix a problem I've had the past couple of weeks of getting a good hookset using the Piglet/Scoundrel combo.  However I will like pull out a Santone Lures Rayburn Swim Jig or Throw-n-Thunder Lures ThunderSlaw spinnerbait and give them a try as well.  This is a practice and part of practice fishing for a tournament is to try and find a good pattern.  Of course if I'm fishing a worm or jig then I'll be putting some Rage Fish Attractants Liquid Mayhem on them.  I know that using Liquid Mayhem gives me an advantage and I use it faithfully!

Now it will be a couple weekends before I get down to Buffalo Camp Bayou so I still have time to do more research and study the Google Maps some more. When I do get down there and fish it for the first time I'll write another article on how I did and if all my research paid off for me.   I'm confident that the time I spend preparing for any fishing trip is well worth the effort and I'm also confident if you take up doing the same thing it will help you fishing by leaps and bounds.

You can also Follow me on
Twitter - @BHOAdventures
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Also Checkout the great folks that help make my fishing adventure possible and the tackle I use and trust.
Santone Lures
Throw-n-Thunder
Creme Lures
Dunamis Rods
Liquid Mayhem Fish Attractants

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!