Quote Originally Posted by crappie_jiggin View Post
I was just wondering how you all go about fishing a new lake or a lake you haven't been on, but maybe once or twice with no luck at all.

I know allot of looking and searching, but just what is it you look for and what seems to be the best areas for different times of the year. We all know that spring time is the easiest time to find fish on the banks or in their spawning areas, but it's those summer and winter patterns for a new lake is what I was wondering how you go about finding fish. Understand brush piles are always a key for crappie, but what else and what leads you to those areas.
I will spend a half a day or more in my boat using structure scan to locate rock and brush piles, lay down trees, etc. Based on the time of year some piles will have fish on them while others will not. I mark the structure via waypoints on my HDS 9. After I have completed that I will go back to any waypoints that are holding fish to see if they are interested. I will be doing this at Wister next month. I have never been on that lake.