Where to Fish

Salty and I make no bones that we think planning to bug out ‘into the woods‘ in the hunter/forager model is not realistic for most. Still, the ability to get a few fish to supplement boring and carb-rich stores, or tide one over while on the move, is valuable. If you’re not someone with a lot of experience fishing, how do you look at a body of water and decide if it’s worth your time and effort?

These tips come from both fishing and diving in the midwest. (When you’re diving, you get a really good look at where fish hang out.) Not all of it will apply everywhere; but I bet some of it does.

Shallow ponds don’t have fish

Most of the fish I’ve ever caught have been within ten feet of the surface when I hooked them. Nevertheless, it’s not worth it to even try fishing a pond less than twelve feet deep here in Missouri. North of us, the number rises. Why? We sure don’t get five foot thick ice here. 

The problem is oxygen. When the top freezes, there’s no more gas exchange between the air and the water. There’s also very little photosynthesis in the water by the aquatic plants. The fish suffocate before everything thaws out.

But how do you know how shallow a pond is? Most of them have water so murky you can’t see more than a foot or so. Surface area’s a poor guide. Our 1/3 acre pond at The Place is more than deep enough to sustain fish, but I’ve seen plenty of one acre ponds that couldn’t. 

The best guide is the plants. None of them (in midwest ponds) grow through more than ten feet of water to reach the surface; common plants like cattails will only grow through two or three feet of water. If the plants reach out nearly to the middle of the pond, it’s not deep enough.

This is a bad fishing pond. The surface area is plenty big, but the color changes show plant life over most of the surface. There’s little or no deep water out there; the fish wouldn’t survive the winter.

No matter how amusing it is for the rest of us to watch, you probably don’t want to waste your time fishing a “dry” hole.

Cattle ponds are too murky  

If the area around the pond is fenced and the ground has lots of disturbed grass and manure, it’s a cattle pond. It’d do in a pinch for a water source, if you’ve got good filtering. It’s a poor bet for catching anything though.

Cattle don’t just drink from those ponds. They wade in belly-deep on hot days. In the process, they stir up the bottom – which is usually largely clay – extensively. The silt settles on any available water plants and blocks light from getting to leaves, or even penetrating through much water for the photosynthetic algae. No good plant life = too little for fish to eat.

Note the color change halfway across the pond. All that area near the cattle has been stirred into something barely to thin to plow.

If a stream is murky and shallow, it is unlikely to have fish

Small streams are a variable lot. Rapidly moving and clear small streams may well be spring-fed. There, you have a shot. If the water’s cold when the weather’s warm, there might even be trout. Good eating!

Clear streams of this size may well have fish. Murky ones usually don’t.

But if the small stream is not clear, it’s probably surface drainage rather than mostly spring-fed. In that case, it is likely to get very shallow or even disappear during droughts. That’s a poor way to maintain a fish population.

Golf course water is right out

Not only would I not fish on a golf course, I also wouldn’t drink the water unless I could at least double-distill it. The quantity of chemicals they spray on golf courses is *unreal*. Divers who recover and re-sell golf balls (thanks, bad golfers!) are advised to wear full-face masks because the water’s so toxic.

Underwater terrain attracts fish

So once you’ve got a good body of water, where in it do you fish? Well… wherever you seem most likely to lose your tackle. Life’s that way. Little fish like cover. Big fish like to hang out near where the little fish are. That’s why they sink old boats and such as ‘artificial reefs’.

This is how a diver sees fish…and learns out where they like to hang out.

And where fish like to hang out is in cover. That old, possibly stolen car that got ditched in a quarry will do nicely, thanks.

A stretch of water over bare bottom will be nearly devoid of critters, while they team around and under logs, lily pads, tires, docks, rock overhangs, and surface dappled by tree shade. They also like to roam around in their underwater forests; the water weed stands.

Pro tip: Once you get your catch on a stringer, don’t leave them in the water near these places, especially overnight. Turtles like these areas too, and those blighters will eat your whole string and leave you nothing but heads. Not that I’m bitter…

Fish traps

The *best* places to fish are fish traps. It’s like fishing in a (stocked) barrel. If only they weren’t so very rare..

A fish trap is a place where it’s easier for the fish to get into than out of it. Hawai’ians used to build them by putting gates across protected waters such that little fish could swim in and grow…then not swim out.  

The most common traps these days are the pools where dam overflows empty. During the flood when water’s going through the overflow, the fish get swept into them. They seek more still parts of the pool during the flood; and by the time the water goes down they can go neither downstream nor up. It’s *great* fishing. Sadly, this is not my personal secret and many other people may try the same spots.

Little creeks serve a similar purpose. When major floods come, the fish go up the little streams to avoid the rough water and are stranded there when the water drops. It’s a passing opportunity; but a fantastic fish yield. Excuse me while I go enjoy happy memories of pulling large fish out of tiny pools with every cast…