Electronic Scouting Your Next Honey Hole
Scouting for new fishing spots and planning for fishing trips is nothing new, but it’s a new day and age. Long gone are the paper USGS maps and reading your compass to navigate. Scouting has never been easier. You can have all the maps, in your pocket, and in three dimensions. You can track your hiking progress, and even see where the private land fishing begins and your public land angling opportunities end. These new mapping applications are some powerful tools that should be a part of your next fishing outing even before you leave the house.
OnX Hunt is our go-to mapping service.
There are plenty of fishing specific applications out there. They’ll show you what’s being caught and where. Some have detailed maps showing topography, but some are basic showing more fishing catches. They have their place, there’s no doubt of that. Especially if you’re just getting into fishing and want to know exact spots where fish are caught and what is catching them. I prefer to keep the fishing knowledge basic. I like to know what species are available and some basic facts about the waters like access points and trail names. That will give me enough info to dive into the maps and make a game plan for finding the fish.
E-scouting, or Electronic Scouting is using electronic mapping software to “scout” or research a given area remotely. My favorite mapping service is OnX Hunt. I am not paid by them, I just really enjoy their product. I use it for our fishing research as well as for our hunting scouting. I enjoy this application because it shows detailed land boundaries. This info is by far the most important to me in this day and age. I dont want to accidentally wander off public land and find myself in a trespassing situation. I also enjoy the layering options within the OnX service. It can show roads, trails and other access points along with the availability to add waypoints in the field. The maps can also be downloaded to your phone for access without internet service. And while you’re out hiking, you can track your progress and know how far you’ve gone and how to get back to your starting point. If you’re traveling out off trail, this is a helpful tool to keep you on track. All in all, OnX is not a fishing specific mapping software, but it is my all around outdoors mapping software that I use almost daily. Now, onto how to use it to plan your next fishing trip.
The first thing when looking at a new fishing spot, you’ll need to find the access points. Sometimes thats an established trail, a 4x4 road, or even just a small section of public land thats unmarked. To begin, make sure to turn on a few layers. You’ll want to turn on roads and trails as well as private and government lands layers. This will clearly show public land boundaries as well as the access to those areas. Since we live in a mountainous area, I also like to put it into 3D Mode and exaggerate the slopes. Now you’ll see what the ground actually looks like beyond the contour lines of the topography map. Really what I am doing is simply getting a feel for the land that I’ll eventually be fishing and hiking around. There are also some really cool tools that you can use like measurement tools, compass mode, wind calculators and even a build-a-route tool which will show you the easiest route available to your desired spot. There’s almost no end to the amount of data that you can get from these extensive maps!
Backcountry beaver ponds are easy to find e-scouting and fun to spend an afternoon fishing!
Now that we have a spot located and we know that there is access, it’s time to dive in and make a plan. If I am researching a river, creek or stream, I’ll zoom in onto the water and look for features that will hold fish. You’ll be able to see the features of the water lake cut banks, riffles, pools and other areas that may simply look fishy. You can easily mark these spots with a waypoint that you’ll be able to pull up in the field. Its not a perfect plan, but it will give you a starting point to begin your fishing journey. You’ll also be able to see from a birds-eye-view where to focus your efforts and where to move along. This is especially helpful if you’re planning on covering a lot of area in a given timeframe. By pre-scouting your trip, you’ll have a leg up when you hit the trail and the custom treasure map in your pocket!
The game changes slightly if I am researching a lake or other still water fishing spot. If it’s a hike-to lake, most of the above steps will be applicable. Most high alpine lakes are fairly shallow and on the smaller size allowing for fishing the entire lake in a short amount of time. In this case, I wouldn’t need much of a plan other than getting there and exploring. However, if we’re researching a new reservoir that is larger and deeper, Ill want to know some more information. OnX has lots of above ground information but it lacks the below water information that I would like in this situation. If you’re in the Midwest, OnX has a fishing app that covers the larger lakes in that area. It’s not much help for us here in the Rocky Mountains. To get around that, I’ll simply google search the body of water and locate a boating map. That’ll show the topography of the lake, which will show you the areas to focus on. Drop offs, flats and humps are all great areas to pay attention to, especially if they are within the reach of shore. You’ll also want to look for inlets, outlets and feeder streams. These areas are all full of fish food and plenty of opportunities. I’ll simply cross reference the boating maps and make some way points with notes on my OnX maps. That way I have all that ill need in one space when i’m out fishing.
Understanding private and public land boundaries will maximize your fishing opportunities.
Larger lakes are harder to pick apart. You’ll need to have a realistic game plan of the areas you’ll be able to cover in a day. Most of the larger mountain reservoirs that we enjoy are easily accessed on one side by roads and vehicles, while the other side is likely accessed by a hiking trail. My game plan will also reflect that reality. I’ll break the lake into vehicle accessible sections and then the hike-to sections. The hike to areas almost always take up the entire day to explore, so it’s good to reference the boating maps and your mapping software for a final destination for the day. By using the route-calculator and measurement tools, you’ll be able to set up a good day hike for your capabilities based upon your fishing destinations. There is usually a single spot that you’ll try to get to. Whether thats a small bay, a rock outcropping or large flat thats sure to hold fish, you’ll be able to set that as your last fishing location before returning back. Keep in mind that you may want to fish the entire way out, hitting spots along the way. If you do that, you’ll more than likely want to fish the way back too. Make sure you factor for that in for your day trip plan.
There’s no doubt that technology growth is having an effect on fishing these days. Whether its for planning your next trip, finding a hidden honey hole near home, or checking your fishing boundaries while on the water, using mapping software just makes sense. I am not paid by OnX, but I sure enjoy their amazing system. If you haven’t tried it out yet, give it a shot. Being prepared won't guarantee that you’ll catch fish, but it will make for a better experience. So go ahead and e-scout your next honey hole!
Tight Lines and Happy Trails,
The Trails to Trout Family
