Going fishing on a lake with no known topography

Ok, so im going to a lake this weekend to do a little bit of ice fishing, the main issues I have right now is the lake hasnt had dnr come and do a topography mapping of the lake, second problem is i dont own a fish finder so im shooting in the dark. Another problem is the lake is super pressured in the summer time and most likely in the winter time. I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers for places to consider to fish, im not very good in the wintertime, i really should look at investing in a finder. I did link a photo but its not a very good one. I will say their is a fair ammount of tall blufs on one side of the lake and flatter on the other, not much weeds that i know of, but lots of fallen trees. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Attachments:

1. 

   Lake-img.jpg
   

shot in the dark but have you tried the Navionics online chart viewer? If it gets that much pressure maybe someone has live-mapped it and shared via SonarChart. In the lower left of the chart viewer you can toggle between Navionics official charts and user-mapped sonarcharts.

also if you share the lake name, maybe somebody here has fished it and can give you advice?

Have you looked at Google Earth or Google Maps with satellite on?

Depending on water clarity at the time of the picture, you may be able to see shallower structure like reefs and points.

tangler wrote:

shot in the dark but have you tried the Navionics online chart viewer? If it gets that much pressure maybe someone has live-mapped it and shared via SonarChart. In the lower left of the chart viewer you can toggle between Navionics official charts and user-mapped sonarcharts.

also if you share the lake name, maybe somebody here has fished it and can give you advice?

I have tried it but their isnt anything that shows up on the lake, as for a name, it doesnt exactly have a name. Its more of a private lake but lots of people use it.

B-man wrote:

Have you looked at Google Earth or Google Maps with satellite on?

Depending on water clarity at the time of the picture, you may be able to see shallower structure like reefs and points.

Yep, ive looked at google earth many times, a majority of the bottom near the shore is rock and sand from what i can tell. Not much weeds. However the lake is crystal clear in the summer unless a lot of rain comes and washes mud into the lake. usually you can see very deep in the lake, but cant see the bottom when in a kayak so im not sure how deep it even is.

What are you fishing for?

If you know there are rock and submerged trees start near those spots and work out. If it’s a really clear lake I would assume fish would be deeper.

Go old school and get the little weighted bottom finder so you at least know the depths. Doesn’t look like a huge lake so just prepare to be mobile and move around. I’d use a dead stick rod and jigging rod so you have a couple of presentations.

Or, bite the bullet a buy an inexpensive flasher.

Matt Moen wrote:

What are you fishing for?

If you know there are rock and submerged trees start near those spots and work out. If it’s a really clear lake I would assume fish would be deeper.

Go old school and get the little weighted bottom finder so you at least know the depths. Doesn’t look like a huge lake so just prepare to be mobile and move around. I’d use a dead stick rod and jigging rod so you have a couple of presentations.

Or, bite the bullet a buy an inexpensive flasher.

I mainly will be going for bluegill, their are bass and rock bass in here but ive never seen anyone catch them on this lake. As for the depthfinder, i usually use one to figure out where im at in depth. Another thing with the trees, should i sit right next to them or farther off in deeper water? some of them arent very long trees. As for rocks, i only know about 10 feet out based on summer time, id assume its the same all over but im not sure. I think next year im going to bite the bullet and get a Garmin striker 4. I should also see about getting a drill adapter for my hand auger.

If you fish it during the summer you should know about where to start.
If it gets fished in the winter too, you should be able to see old holes where people have fished. Or if there are people out there, maybe swing over and chat them up a bit, hopefully they are nice and will point you in the right direction.

Your current situation, you are looking at drilling a ton of holes and using the old depth bomb to figure depths. Another thing to do is, if the water is clear, drill holes and then just look down them for weeds or anything you can see. Drill your holes far apart right away until you key in on a spot. Hopefully you are OK with walking a lot or have a ride, I’ve had to search water before and have walked 100’s of yards at a time drilling holes along the way.

One thing you said is the surrounding topography. Sometimes the water topography is similar to the shoreline topography. Ex- might be steeper drop off shore by the high banks. Ex- might be shallower weedy flats off of the side that is flat. Ex- if there is a deep hole in the lake, might be a good chance that it is closer to the high banks side than the flat side.
Hope something in there helps.

MNBOWHUNTIN wrote:

If you fish it during the summer you should know about where to start.
If it gets fished in the winter too, you should be able to see old holes where people have fished. Or if there are people out there, maybe swing over and chat them up a bit, hopefully they are nice and will point you in the right direction.

Your current situation, you are looking at drilling a ton of holes and using the old depth bomb to figure depths. Another thing to do is, if the water is clear, drill holes and then just look down them for weeds or anything you can see. Drill your holes far apart right away until you key in on a spot. Hopefully you are OK with walking a lot or have a ride, I’ve had to search water before and have walked 100’s of yards at a time drilling holes along the way.

One thing you said is the surrounding topography. Sometimes the water topography is similar to the shoreline topography. Ex- might be steeper drop off shore by the high banks. Ex- might be shallower weedy flats off of the side that is flat. Ex- if there is a deep hole in the lake, might be a good chance that it is closer to the high banks side than the flat side.
Hope something in there helps.

Actually that helps a lot. Im not really sure about opening old holes as their was about a foot and a half of snow dumped on the lake over the last 2 days, but looking on google earth it kinda looks like either its a shallower spot that spans out or a weed line. Either way i think im gonna try it out and see if it works. I dont mind walking around a lot if theirs fish. Just a matter of finding them. Ive been here before and been let down several times by not catching during the winter. Thanks for the help

Sounds like you’re in the market for a locator!

Jeff Telander wrote:

Sounds like you’re in the market for a locator!

Yeah, im looking for a basic finder something that wont break the bank, because i will probably only use it for ice fishing.

What’s your time worth?? Seems like your wasting a lot of it when you can buy a used Vexilar for $150-$200…..