Understanding a lake map can be the key to fishing success

Understanding how to read a lake map can make finding fish easier. For those who do not have days to spend fishing or who do not wish to spend thousands of dollars on expensive fishing electronics, the old tried and true lake map can be an invaluable tool.

Lake maps have been around for decades and have improved over the years. With many anglers relying more on electronics, they may not be as popular as they once were, but they can still provide a good deal of information about a lake before an angler even leaves the house.

Fishing Hot Spots, which began in Rhinelander and is currently headquartered in Minnesota, has some of the best maps available. Sportsman's Connection and others make reliable maps as well, but anglers should look for the most current maps when possible. It is important to remember to not rely on paper maps for navigation, especially in river systems or flowages. Currents can change, areas that were once fine to run in a boat can become silted in, and things can change from year to year.

Some maps are standalone maps, with only one lake represented. They tend to have more detail, as more space is dedicated to each lake. Other companies, such as the Sportsman's Connection, shown above, provide entire books of maps for a given area in the state. It can be nice to have many maps all in one place, which is a benefit. But at the same time, these maps can sometimes be less detailed.

The map accompanying this story is of Planting Ground Lake in Oneida County. No matter the map an angler chooses, it will have many of the same features.

One of the main features is lake information. On this particular map, there is a page with a wealth of information about the lake. One thing users will find is information on fish in the lake. Each species is noted with an A, C, or P. A means a species is abundant in the lake. C means a species is common. P means a species is present. When looking for a lake to fish, if an angler knows for what species they wish to fish, this listing is a good place to start. For instance, there is no sense fishing for bluegill in a lake such as Planting Ground where it is listed only as present. It would be a better idea to head off to a lake where bluegills are listed as abundant.

Next an angler should look at the general information about the lake they intend to fish. There will usually be some notes about the lake from area guides or others who have spent a good deal of time on that lake. Other information will include the size of the lake, the color of water (or water clarity) and the depth.

Next anglers will find certain marked spots on the lake map, which are usually delineated in a legend or narrative of some sort that accompanies the map. In the case of Planting Ground Lake the spot listed as "1," in the northeastern portion of the southern bay, is listed as a good musky spot. Because it receives a good deal of sunlight, it has good weed growth. This means there is dissolved oxygen present, warm water, and also places for a musky's favorite foods (such as smaller fish) to hide. Sometimes, such as in this case, the background with the map will also suggest certain baits that have produced good results in each spot.

In this case, guides have reported small buck tails and twitch baits in late May and early June. As the summer goes on, the sharp break lines on the south shore are good target areas.

Anglers will notice the maps of each lake contain a number of lines on which there are numbers, Those numbers indicate the depth at that point in the lake.

On average, every spot along that line will have approximately the same depth. This will be important once an angler pinpoints the depth at which their target fish are holding. It can also help anglers know where to start looking for fish based on the time of year and the water temperature. Each species of fish spawns at a specific water temperature range, for instance.

Understanding that will allow an angler to know things like when bass may be staging on the first drop next to spawning flats, or when walleye are coming up to spawn. As water temperatures warm during the hot summer months, there may be less dissolved oxygen in the warmest waters, but in the cooler, deeper water, more oxygen is present. This, and temperature, can cause some fish to move deeper. Understanding where these break lines and drop offs are can be important to having a successful day on the water.

When looking at the depth lines on a map, spacing is important. The closer together the lines are, the more drastic the drop off. In the case of Planting Ground Lake, near the lower end of the lake, on the west side, the lines are much further apart than on the lower section of that same area. If an angler finds a steeper shoreline to be holding fish, and knows that lines close together on the map point to a steeper drop, they can move to that next place and have a better chance of finding fish.

One of the other things found on lake maps that will be important to others is the notation of vegetation. "EV" denotes emergent vegetation. This is vegetation that can be seen above the water in at least parts of the year. That may not be the case in early spring before the weeds are up, but it may still be important, if these are the types of weeds fish utilize for habitat or to find food.

"SV" denotes submergent vegetation. This is vegetation anglers will not see when looking across the surface of the lake. This vegetation, too, can hold fish, but may be more difficult to pinpoint at first.

"FV" is floating vegetation. Floating vegetation can provide a place for small fish to hide. This means it is not only a good place to find those smaller fish, but also the bigger fish that look to feed on those small fish.

Sand bars, rock ledges and other hazards will also be listed on lake maps. A word of caution here - these may appear to be in a different place on the map then they are on the actual lake. This is part of the reason why an angler should not use a lake map for navigation. It is easy to misjudge the distance from shore when running across the lake and accidentally run up onto a sand bar or lose a lower unit on a rock ledge. Some of these hazards will be marked with buoys on certain lakes, but not all are marked, even on the same lake. This makes a lake map useful, though, for an angler to get an idea if there is any area where they should slow down and exercise caution, even before hooking up the boat.

Notes can be made on lake maps to personalize the map to their own needs. Some maps are waterproof, which means a typical pen or pencil will not work, but a grease pencil will allow the angler to make notes of particularly productive areas directly on the map.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached at [email protected].