Researching New Waters

Right, where do we start?

It’s about this time of year you should know which waters you’re fishing for the rest of the year, and being as they’re still quiet, now’s the time to start finding out about them.

I’m currently looking at a new water on the Somerset / Devon border, which is something I’ve never done before……fish an ‘unknown’ water. It’s about 30 acres and very lightly fished – indeed I’ve never seen anyone else fishing there. Most places will have some ‘form’ so you’ll have some pointers and people to talk to – always a good source of info – but don’t take everything they say as gospel.

Take a hike
First off, walk around the lake. Are there snaggy areas? Reeds/weedbeds? Islands? All starting points for finding fish. Will you need waders to net the fish? Is there enough room for the bivvy/brolly? Trees too low to cast? All things that if you discover them now will save a lot of time and effort later.

Snag tree

Obviously, keep your eyes peeled for fish rolling, flat spots, etc, though that may be unlikely on some waters, so keep an eye on birdlife as they can often show areas of natural food that you wouldn’t normal be able to see – on some lakes the birdlife can follow the fish! On this particular lake there are a group of coots that always sit over one area – lots of natural food? Keep an eye on the wind direction. Some of the waters I fish are in valleys, so you tend to find that they can funnel the wind so it’s either blowing up or down the lake, but never across. It goes without saying to sort out where the compass points on the lake are.

Depth finding and map making
After deciding on a few likely looking spots, its time for the plumbing rod (or echo sounder!) and make a map of the swim. The less you need the marker whilst fishing the better – especially on short sessions. Draw a map of the swim noting anything of interest. In a swim like this where it is a very constant depth, things like firm, clear patches and weed beds become your features to fish to. Don’t forget that one of the best features on any lake is the margin – especially on lightly fished lakes where fish aren’t affected on angler pressure. Even on busy waters you’ll find that fish sneak close in on most lakes – if you think about it that’s probably the safest area! And the look on people’s face who have told you the fish “never get caught in the margins” when your waving one under their nose is great…!

Make a reference map of the water

In the picture there is an inlet just behind the tree that gave me two clues. Firstly in summer it’s going to be an area that will be highly oxygenated and will therefore be attractive to the fish. Secondly, after a quick cast around, I found a channel roughly 3ft wide and a foot deeper running into the lake where it tapers out – an old streambed? Or just deeper from the water running through?

Cautious baiting plan
With regards to baiting up, personally I’d wait till I’ve seen some fish, and introduce a bit of bait to them. If you can get them in the margin, even better – you can check to see whether they are clearing up the bait or not. A handful of pellets, 10 or so boilies and a little hemp is enough unless you know they are really ‘having it’; you don’t want to leave rotting bait in the swim. I’m not actually going to start fishing this water for a couple of weeks (I’m writing this in February) as there is no point getting there in the dark when you don’t know the spots to fish too, and I haven’t seen a fish yet! I’m going to wait till I know there is at least one carp in there!

A corner swim

Lastly, I’m personally going to fish two waters this year, one that I can ‘expect’ action on (though I blanked last night….well it was -3!) and the ‘other’ one. There is nothing worse than grinding away just going through the motions and becoming disillusioned with the lake, so I’ll keep popping back to the easier water to get my rod bent.

Unless I’ve found a goldmine…..