Keys to the Right Depth

Key to the Right Depth

As we approach late winter fishing your ability to locate the correct depth will be key to you having successful late winter days on your fishery. Depth will be everything as the water temperature changes as we move through late winter into spring.

There is no one key that drives you to the correct depth you have to search and locate the correct depth to be successful and many times it can change daily because of some little detail like thermocline or water temperature or structure. The important issue is to find that key depth range and your electronics can be a big part of making the correct move to the right depth. Water temperature, bait fish, visuals like gulls diving are all keys to the correct depth.

Late wintertime on most lakes always has plenty of clear water; the grassy lakes see lots of erosion of the grass making the structure easily visible with your electronics. Locating fish in the late winter can be tricky but once you find a depth where the fish are holding the rest of the day becomes simple. Your mapping technology can be easily set to color certain depths and when you do this you have a contour range to work from.  If you find fish at say 20 ft. you just set it up to color up to 20ft. and all the points, contour changes and structure becomes a color line. With a little bit of lake knowledge of where structure is or where creeks and main-river channels meet you have some great starting points for the depth range you have highlighted. If you’re at a lake you are not familiar with then use some hard copy maps to get a general idea of where these structure areas of the lake might be. Hard copy maps have good detail for things like creeks, depth changes and some even show old roads where the road might have met the land structure. These become good target areas and can lead you to the areas that are holding fish. Unique changes in contours are always a good bet to be holding fish, looking for something different is key.

Depth is an important ingredient to late winter fishing, and with today’s technology you can find those tough fish and have some great times on the water.