Lake Maps, and how to read?

[Alan]

OK, so I got two of the Sportsman's Connection books. East Metro Fishing Map Guide & the West Metro fishing map guide. Got them for Christmas. They have some really good info in them. But I have never used these types of maps before, and they appear to be valuable for the serious fisherman. My questions is this, how do you read lake maps? With all those lines on them, I just see different depths. When looking at one of the maps, what about those maps would tell me where to start my morning fishing? Could someone shed some light on this subject, or maybe point me to a good book from the library that explains all I would ever need to know?

I got the books with the maps, I might as well know how to use them....

Thank you to anyone that can help a guy out with his new reading material.

[IFallsRon]

The contour lines indicate dropoffs, humps and holes. You can use that information to locate good habitat for the time of year you are out and the species you are after.

[Daze Off]

The contour lines will tell you loads of info besides depth. For example if they run very close together that generally tells you that there is a sharp drop or rise there. If they go out and back from the shore line it is in indcator of an underwater point. If there is a channel it will be an open area between two sharper drop-offs,etc. If there are few lines and they are well spaced apart then the area is a flat.

All of these structure features play important roles on where to look/begin the day depending upon weather pattterns, season, etc.

Hope this helps...

[cjac]

I have the Sportsmans Connection maps on two CDs, northern and southern Minn, pretty cool Xmas present from the boss at work!

If I'm fishing new water I'll print the map and bring it with me. Depending on what electronics you have (graph/flasher/GPS) I'll cruise around a bit and match up the map to the electronics and to what I see a visible structure, weeds, etc. Places I'll start are main structure areas on the map and then look to the other info to help find the "spot on the spot".

If nothing else, it helps to know where water hazards, shallow spots, may be to avoid any problems.

Good luck!

Chris

[jigginjim]

Check out some map reading books from local library.