I LOVE low water scouting! The areas you can find when the water is low can produce amazing results!
My first ever experience with low water scouting was about 24 or so years ago.
I lived in Bethel, Connecticut and not far from my house was a local reservoir, Eureka Reservoir, and across the street from that was a small quarry pond called Mount Pound. Well one summer for whatever reason both the reservoir and the pond dropped about 10 - 15 feet lower than usual pool level. We fished it every chance we could and then one day I got the bright idea to go up there with a notepad and pencil.
I went up there and made the best maps I could. I marked out all the ledges, all the drops, all the rocks, channels, every type of structure or large cover I could see exposed. Mind you now, these were only 20 - 50 acre ponds. I actually still have both maps to this day. I will scan them and post them sometime.
Anyway, the following spring, due to winter run off, the waters rose back up to normal pool level. With a photocopy of my maps I went back up to the ponds to do some fishing. From that point on, I tore em up! I can barely remember a trip where I didnt catch atleast one bass 4lbs +. As a matter of fact I had one night on Mount Pond, where i fished a drop off I had mapped, and I caught, in 2 hours, 4 bass that all went over 4lbs, 2 of them were over 5. What a night that was!
Ever since then, whenever a body of water drops low, I am there, with pad, pencil, colored pens and now a digital camera as well. Hopefully this spring I will have a hand held GPS so I can mark way points as well.
Low water scouting is definitely a way to find spots that no other anglers will have a clue about.
Tattered Thumbs n Bigguns, Jared
My first ever experience with low water scouting was about 24 or so years ago.
I lived in Bethel, Connecticut and not far from my house was a local reservoir, Eureka Reservoir, and across the street from that was a small quarry pond called Mount Pound. Well one summer for whatever reason both the reservoir and the pond dropped about 10 - 15 feet lower than usual pool level. We fished it every chance we could and then one day I got the bright idea to go up there with a notepad and pencil.
I went up there and made the best maps I could. I marked out all the ledges, all the drops, all the rocks, channels, every type of structure or large cover I could see exposed. Mind you now, these were only 20 - 50 acre ponds. I actually still have both maps to this day. I will scan them and post them sometime.
Anyway, the following spring, due to winter run off, the waters rose back up to normal pool level. With a photocopy of my maps I went back up to the ponds to do some fishing. From that point on, I tore em up! I can barely remember a trip where I didnt catch atleast one bass 4lbs +. As a matter of fact I had one night on Mount Pond, where i fished a drop off I had mapped, and I caught, in 2 hours, 4 bass that all went over 4lbs, 2 of them were over 5. What a night that was!
Ever since then, whenever a body of water drops low, I am there, with pad, pencil, colored pens and now a digital camera as well. Hopefully this spring I will have a hand held GPS so I can mark way points as well.
Low water scouting is definitely a way to find spots that no other anglers will have a clue about.
Tattered Thumbs n Bigguns, Jared
