Larry Mapping Tips
By Larry Petri
I feel there is no "best way" to map. I believe the best thing a
beginner can do is to study and understand the club video entitled
"On the water mapping". Our objective is to prepare a "Spoonplug
Map" to identify the contact point. Keep this constantly in
mind.
1. The video starts with the basics, a bar with ridge like
features. "Does the structure go all the way from the shallows to
the deepest water in the area?" A single run from shallows to the
deep water will check this, but you should be recording at what
depths the major breaklines occur. Put the flasher at the rear,
port side of the boat and keep it there. A team approach may have
merit. The person at the tiller observes the flasher and throws
the buoys, and his partner sits in front with a clipboard and
sketches the shape of the contours with pencil and paper. The
partner should observe the wake of the boat and the placement of
the buoys as a guide.
2. Segment the lake so you are mapping something reasonable,
say 1/4 to 1/2 mile of breakline. Start a run with the port side
of the boat parallel to the shallows, and have markers ready to
use. As the shallows come up, turn out to the shallowest breakline
and contour it at slow to medium speed. Follow the contour, and
throw the buoys out towards the shallows whenever the breakline
turns, changes direction, or drops away. Follow this breakline
until your 1/2 mile is up or until it swings back into the
shallows.
3. Go to the next deeper breakline and repeat the procedure.
Repeat again until you run out of breaklines. Be sure to note what
the deepest water is.
4. Now make some straight passes parallel to the shore and up,
across, over the top, and down the structure you have crudely
mapped thus far. Are there other features up there? Weeds? What
does the bottom look like? Note them on the map.
5. Go to each buoy and examine the situation. In most cases,
you will find a finger on the breakline with a drop off where you
threw the buoy. Take a slow to medium run towards the deep water
from each point you found. Record the depths as you drop to the
deeper water. Be sure to record which point breaks the fastest and
where it bottoms out. Do this at all the buoys.
6. Based on your knowledge of Buck's concepts, examine your
first pass map and identify where the contact point is.
7. With the map in hand, fish the structure; e.g., strain the
water by trolling from the shallows to the deepest water in the
area. DO NOT FORGET to modify/revise/correct the map. Take and
record rifle sights for trolling passes and to identify the
contact point in more detail. Your partner can help in getting the
sights. Add things which were missed on the first pass map.
8. You catch a small fish on the troll; throw out a buoy. Make
the same pass again and take it from the reverse direction also.
Look over the situation with the flasher. Was the fish on a break
on the breakline? Anchor so you can present the lure at the same
place and the same way you did on the troll. Re-anchor if needed.
Vary speed and depth thoroughly on the cast. Examine your map and
ask yourself, "Where did this fish come from?". No More fish here?
Probably a straggler, get the rifle sights on it and continue
trolling all the breaklines you have placed buoys on.
9. All done? Not Yet. Now that you have prepared a
"Spoonplugger Map", and improved it by trolling and taking rifle
sights on the area, study the map and apply Buck's knowledge.
Where is the contact point? Remember, the longest, the narrowest,
the sharpest, the deepest break to the deepest water in the area
is our guide. Take rifle sights, and blow the works, first troll
the area of the contact point and then anchor and cast there.
10 A wrap up; you know a school of fish is using this
structure - you caught one; you have prepared a map which you will
improve as you gain experience, and you have localized where the
best area(s) to fish are. Not bad for about 1-2 hours work. This
investment will indeed pay long term dividends. At this point, if
you vary speed and depth, YOU WILL CATCH FISH when they are
active; you have taken the first steps toward getting them
consistently and finding a casting position for a school of fish.
This is the pinnacle of fishing.
Keep studying Buck,