A common misconception among anglers is that you need a boat with sonar to know what's on the bottom of a fishery.
Please do not fall into the trap of believing that.
Whether you are someone who fishes from the bank or from a boat, one of the best tools you have to understand the bottom of your fishery is your very own rod and reel.
Once you become an expert on "feeling the bottom" you'll soon realize that with just a few fan casts you will know exactly what kind of waters you're fishing.
Feeling The Bottom
As mentioned above, dragging a lure across the bottom with your handy-dandy rod and reel remains one of the best ways to gauge what's beneath the surface.
This is largely accomplished by using a weedless, bottom contacting lure AND there's a good chance you've already done this without even being aware of it.
Thanks to lures like jigs and Texas-rigged plastics, acquiring bottom information is easy to do for any angler of any skill level.
The next time you're fishing a jig or the like consider quizzing yourself on any and everything that you drag your lure across.
Here's a few examples...
Do you ever feel like there is more resistance than normal when slowly reeling or lifting your rod tip during your retrieve? Almost as if your pulling your lure through pudding instead of water.
This could be a sign of you're lure coming into contact with leaves or grass.
What about this one..?
Have you ever feel a constant dink dink dink that is different from what you know a bite to feel like?
This could be your lure moving across small rocks, a slab of concrete, or even an old shell bed used for spawning.
Another common occurrence is when your lure comes in contact with a submerged log or branch.
This one happens A LOT.
During your retrieve you feel constant tension and friction of your line or lure rubbing against something and then all of a sudden you don't feel anything and notice slack in your line.
That's your lure being pulled up and over a log or limb and now falling back to the bottom.
TIP: Line choice matters. Line with little or no stretch makes understanding the bottom a lot easier. Less stretch means more sensitivity. Consider using fluorocarbon or braid for best results.
Something else to be mindful of is how much steady resistance there is on your lure.
This could indicate your lure moving from deeper water to shallow water which will in turn cause a steady, dragging resistance as your lure climbs to shallower areas.
The opposite can be said for your lure moving from shallow to deep water. Expect less resistance due to less bottom contact when working your lure.
TIP: If you sense your lure is moving from shallow water into deeper water, consider fishing it on a bit more of slack line. Doing so allows you lure to vertically descend back to the bottom when moving over and past obstacles as opposed to swinging out and away from a piece of cover that a fish may be hugging close to.
Gaining an understanding of what each of these "feelings" relate to will dramatically increase your success on the water.
Now instead of just aimlessly casting, you can focus on particular areas that you have identified with your lure that has fish holding properties (a submerged log extending way out from the bank, channel breaks, vegetation, rocks, etc.).
Finding Water Depth
Don't be fooled...
You do NOT need sonar to figure out how deep the water is that you're fishing.
An easy way to figure out water depth is by counting down your lure. This goes hand-in-hand with understanding the fall rate of your lure.
If you know it takes your lure roughly 5 seconds to fall 10 feet (2 ft/sec) you can use that to make a good estimate on what the water depth is.
Make a cast and start counting as soon as your lure hits the water.
Once your lure hits the bottom do the math to figure out how deep the water is.
If you're making long casts and don't necessarily feel your lure hit the bottom be sure to pay close attention to your line.
Your line will tell you a lot about what your lure is doing.
Be on the lookout for two things...
Focus on the part of your line that sticks out of the water. While your lure is falling, your line will appear to be "cutting" through the water with small ripples forming around it. This indicates your lure is still on the fall.
Once your lure hits the bottom you will no longer see your line "cutting" through the water. You will instead notice your line droop and there actually be an arch in your line. This indicates your lure is now on the bottom.
In the absence of sonar, being able to figure out the water depth you're fishing can play a big role in lure selection as well as deciding on whether an area is worth fishing or not.
Picking Up On The Little Things
If you've read a handful of our articles you may have picked up on how much time we spend on paying attention to small details.
Having awareness of small changes is something that separates the best of the best from the weekend enthusiast.
Reading about fishing content definitely contributes to knowledge but it should never replace quality time spent on the water when learning about how to read and interpret what you actually feel when trying to gauge the bottom of a fishery.
Yes, sonar is pretty awesome to have and it makes scanning larger bodies of water much easier but don't sell yourself short when it comes to your own ability to acquire important information that leads to catching fish.
All the above tips and tricks takes practice but over time hopefully you will notice that your awareness of these little details that nature presents you with can make a big difference in your success on the water.
Time to go catch em'!
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