If you are an adventurous Bass angler like me and love exploring new bodies of water, there are a few things we should bare in mind.

Do your homework! Search the World Wide Web! You will be surprised what info can be found about the lake of interest. Tackle guess work can be at a minimum by finding out what locals of the lake use. My family and I travel by RV to our destinations so my method of gaining knowledge is by asking campsite owners, ahead of time, by phone, what makes for a successful day in their lake. If they don’t know the lake then who will? I like to ask what the lake terrain is like. Is there good depth, rocks or weeds? All of these simple questions, and more, can give us Bass anglers a general idea of what to expect. Maps help too, but not all lakes have contour maps available.

Every lake has a common lure of choice amongst the local anglers.

Finding out what it is gives us an outlook to the main rigging technique. Let’s face it, they use the bait because it works for them, but I like to take it a step further and broaden my lure choices stemming from what they say works.

Time is another asset to have when fishing new lakes. If we are fortunate enough to get onto fish right away then great, but sometimes time is needed to skim through areas of the lake for better potential areas to fish. There is always a better spot than the one you are fishing so taking the time to search for it is most rewarding.

My most recent destination found me spending most of my morning searching and documenting spots to fish making success seem more realistic as I searched on. Each spot I entered on my G.P.S was a spot in a spot and it helped when implementing my plan of what to use and where.

Weekends make the best destination trips for me because I find that people who work for a living don’t have the luxury of constant weekly visits. So, Saturday mornings are spent exploring my new found territory and rigging according to what I find, then fishing it the rest of the weekend to see the outcome.

Day trips are then worth it when the lake has been fished many times over because now we have a basic idea where to go. We know, at the very least, we have a starting point for the next trip. But it doesn’t make for an adventurous outing when fishing the same spot after spot day after day. Obviously, the size of the lake determines the longevity of our stay and the amount of times visited in a season. We can’t help but get better and better at catching fish in that same lake over time.

Ninety percent of the fish are in ten percent of the water; sounds redundant, but so true and should be constantly in our minds when searching out spots in our new lake. Any body of water will spill its bounty of secrets if one took the time to figure it out! ‘Bass live here’ signs don’t exist so we must find them. That is the most fun, in my opinion. Figuring out what makes a lake tick is most rewarding especially when big Bass of five pounds and up are caught.

Bass fishing isn’t always easy fishing. That becomes more evident when fishing new bodies of water. So if you think you know the lake well and you are confident in your bait, timing and real-estate; is the temperature right? Most of all, is your adventurous Bass sense tingling? If it is chances are you will catch Bass because your confidence tells you so.

I love fishing new bodies of water. I guess you might say I get bored easily, but I don’t think that’s it exactly. Different lakes bring different variations of baits, techniques and structure. That is what keeps me going! Let the Bass fishing adventures never stop!