Finding fishing hot spots near me has been a unbelievable thing. Early on in my fishing life I was taught to find out where the fish are hiding.
The fact is the fish aren’t hiding, they are preying on smaller forage while remaining hidden. Others are just roaming the shoreline like lions looking for the next meal.
However, when you get to the water with high spirits the vast amount of surface area to cover can seem overwhelming. Let me tell you about the good fishing hot spots near me so you can use your time effectively while fishing at work!
Online Fishing Maps
If you are looking for online fishing maps to show you topographic and contour features then I am sorry. I am going to be talking about fishing spots you should be focusing on to catch fish. Below is a list of great online fishing map resources that you should look into.
- Fishing Hot Spots - Search for your specific fishing location
- fishinghotspots.com
- FISHIDY
- Lake Maps
Fishing Hot Spots Near Me
First lets go over the local fishing spots I have access to since they will most likely be the same ones you have near you. If you work in a city you will have good fishing near you as well.
A lot of older cities were built next to water that went to the sea. This allowed for easy trade routes and distribution of goods. This is another reason you should have good fishing near a city even if you are landlocked.
Martha's Vineyard / Nantucket Island Fishing Map
Having a good map will show you the lay of the underwater land. Knowing the best spots comes from being a local fisherman or knowing local fishermen. Get in the know with maps just like these.
The problem with cities is they have a lot of people and businesses. This means they make a lot of trash and may have populated the water back when there was fewer regulations.
Boston is definitely one of those places and people are just now feeling more comfortable around the water. If you are wondering if your water is safe to eat from check the following indicators:
- Wildlife and Game Authorities
- This government agency will know pretty much everything about what is going with land and sea animals in your area. They are almost as knowledgeable as the local fishing bait shop. They can tell you if the water in your area is safe to eat fish from or not. They will also tell you what you can and cannot do.
- River Watershed Association
- This association is known for testing and controlling the purity of the river watershed. Rivers are vital natural structures for everybody that likes clean water. It is also very important for people who like to fish on them. I personally noticed a fishkill and was concerned. They alerted me that gizzard shad aren't supposed to be this far north, but the weather has been warmer so they are getting trapped just like other sea animals (sea turtles).
- Trout Stock Levels
- Trout are well known for only like the cleanest of waters. The Charles River in Boston almost had or did extinction of trout. Now they are coming back and can be caught on the regular. They are making there way closer to the sea so that says one thing....the water is cleaner now!
- Flounder Levels
- Flounders don't like dirty water just like trout. During the same time span they disappeared from the shallow flats that they love so much and just recently in the last 10 years started to return in droves. I love the taste of flounder and am glad they are close enough now to the harbor that I can reach them with my inflatable boat!
- Algae Blooms
- As you have seen from Florida news algae, heat and pollution do mix. They mix into Red Tide, which sucks up all oxygen and kills sea life. It also stinks and gives off a toxins that can hurt you. If you have these red or blue/green algae blooms during the summer in your local water then a bit of cleanup still needs to happen. This does occur for a month or so in the Charles River Esplanade, which is a slower moving body of water. However, this is where the river park is and everybody is there and can't touch the water when this happens.
- Trash Floating Or Collecting On The Shore
- Obviously, if you see trash in the water it isn't great. It means people still don't care about cleaning up and trash continues to go into the ocean. Things like plastic are finding there way into the food cycle. It breaks into almost microscopic pieces and little creatures eat it mistakenly and then bigger ones. The next thing you know your swordfish is half plastic and you are wondering if your trophy fish is a replica or real...
Shoreline
The shoreline itself can be a great “structure” for fishing because many smaller fish will hide in the shallow water knowing that bigger fish won’t go that shallow in fear they may be stranded.
That makes it a fishing hot spot by itself. The bigger fish will roam the outer territory like sharks waiting for seals to go back into ocean.
I am sure you have seen these baitfish hiding along the shore. You may have wondered where the big mouth bass are. They are just out of view usually and that is where you want to cast.
You should also take the time to see what these baitfish look like. Then go to the store and buy lures just like them!
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Rocks
Rocks are a natural form of structure that you will see a lot on the shoreline fishing. Originally the shoreline was probably not that rocky, but it has been used by cities to stop erosion and to keep the parks healthy.
The biggest problem that this solves is with people. If you saw one of my other videos you probably saw a spot where a person tried to get me to cast to a can a catch it.
Not my kind of fishing hot spots, but fish were still there . It was 40 feet out in the water and he said he would pay me. I told it I would if I could, but i was standing next to an empty bottle of motor oil and some other plastics.
It is sad seeing things like this, but the rocks seem to hold them, which is sort of good?
When you are fishing rocks it is best if they are offshore a little bit. You can hit them with a crankbait and when you do pause the lure for a second.
This is usually when you will get a strike. Fish will think it is stunned or just not aware of it's presence. You should do this technique whenever you hit any kind of structure.
Docks
Docks can be awesome places to fish. A lot of smaller panfish will congregate under it and will jump out to bite bait. The depth of the water beneath the docks can determine how well your fishing will do.
I prefer steep dropoffs near docks because bigger fish will roam closer to it. Today smaller bass were roaming near it and I have caught several right next to them.
You can get the same effect on floating docks as well or anything that is floating (tendered boats, buoys, etc...). These can be one of the best fishing hot spots.
Dock Fishing Pole Holder
If you are like me you have tried to prop up your pole somewhere while you gave your legs a rest. With this new dock fishing pole holder you can even take a nap and have a nice drink while you wait for fish.
If you manage to have some time you may want to kick back with a cold one and wait for the fish to come to you. This is a good idea if you are going for bigger fish that will come and eat your live bait.
I did this once while catfishing and woke up to see my fishing rod being dragged into the darkness of the river. It was a sad day for me, but if you have the proper gear you can avoid that completely!
Concrete Walls
Walls right next to the water are sometimes seen in cities to redirect water and to provide a viewing point for citizens to enjoy the view. The wall itself can be a great fishing hot spots.
The deeper it is the better. A lot of underwater vegetation usually is found next to these walls and fish will hide within them.
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Multiple Structures
I came across a place where lily pads, a dock and a floating dock were all in spot. Places where multiple types of structure interconnect can be a fishing gold mine or better said multiple fishing hot spots!
Fish from small to large can be roaming the area and a lot of action may be seen in the morning or the evening.
Lily Pads
This vegetation is found almost everywhere from rivers, lakes and everything other smaller body of water. They provide cover for the fishing and help the water stay clean.
If you see healthy lily pads you can guess the water is at least clean enough to get into. If you don’t see any I would be skeptical of the water source and would probably avoid it.
Lunkerhunt Frog
Lunkerhunt has a wide array of top water lures that are known for being life-like. They act just like the real thing in the water as well!
I highly recommend using a frog lure across thick mats of lily pads or grass. I have had so much fun watching them get attacked by bass that followed it to the edge of the pads. If you don't have a frog in your arsenal then it is an absolute must!
Bridges
Land bridges near city parks can be great to provide cover and they signify an access point from a bigger area to a small area usually.
An actual bridge is great too for fishing the pilings or going to just outside of the dredged zone where the ships go through.
Fish trying to get out of the heavy current of the main dredge point will slip to the side and many bigger fish will sit and wait for that.
It is one of the best fishing hot spots Also fish that eat crustaceans (tautog, spadefish, etc…) will sit on the pilings and just eat crustaceans off them.
You can also find them on very rocky shores, probably near a bridge piling so they have easy access to two areas.
Good Fishing Spots
Other fishing spots you will have to think about probably are near me. I will use this section to go over them since they may be other water sources that I may not go to often or at because you need a big boat.
I will work hard on getting more variety into my fishing so I can make better videos and blog posts.
Fishing Structure For Ponds
A lot of ponds have manmade fishing structure that is created DIY or from a manufacturer. This creates a place for fish to hang out and hunt effectively and it allows you to always know where the fish are.
I have thought about doing a homemade fishing structure for a lake when I was younger after reading about it. That was….20+ years ago.
I can only imagine if I had done that the fishing their be there now. Catching a 9lb largemouth bass is a big enough accomplishment for a 12 year old anyway.
Deep Hole Fishing
I was alerted by forums and the local fishing store that deep holes were in the river next to the city. A lot of big fish will retreat to those in the bitter heat of the summer to make yet another fishing hot spots.
I plan on taking a kayak out there seeing what I can do with the proper lures or bait sometime.
However, I am worried about getting very sweaty standing out in the open water. This would have an effect on getting back to work.
I would promote doing this after work so you don’t have to worry so much about cooling off.
Sand Bars / Humps
You may or may not see sand bars near you in a river or the ocean. I know of two spots this happens near the shore on the Charles River and Boston Harbor.
The dropoff that occurs after a sandbar is where the fish hide so they can ambush the fish that come over top of the sandbar without being seen.
One night in Virginia I saw this first hand where Striped Bass started destroying baitfish at around 11pm and we were catching fish every cast for almost 2 hours.
We had to go home, but we really didn’t want too. Fishing this at the right time can be AWESOME and I recommend getting structure maps, depth maps, contour maps for your body of water.
You normally see lake structure maps, lake depth maps and lake contour maps in the fishing store, but they sometime have them for every type of body of water near them.
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Points With Steep Drop-off
Points have been a great place to find fish in open water. Many people that are searching for fish with crankbaits and spinnerbaits will look for points to see if there are fish suspended there or hanging around submerged structure.
I personally used to fish points all the time with great success. I found out that if their is a steep drop I would get even more success. Bass and other fish will sit suspended on the edge of the cliff in the deep water and wait for baitfish to swim over them in the sunlight. They would use this as an ambush point to attack their prey.
You will also notice that these drops will naturally be occurring if there is a channel next to the point. The speed of the water will eat away at the point and make that side of it a sharp drop off by taking away all the dirt. Work your bait from the high areas to the low areas. Let your lure fall into the darkness where your next trophy fish is waiting.
Conclusion
Now that you have a good idea of where to go find the best fishing hot spots near you please go out there and try. We focus on people that love fishing and have lost almost all of their time to work and whatever else is going on in life.
I believe that everybody that loves fishing should be able to go fishing. Life is too short to be wishing, hoping, praying, begging for more time to do what you love. You need to make the decision to do it and take action! Nothing happens until you take action!
I learned a lot about fishing the Charles River in Boston from a local freshwater fishermen. You should always tap into local knowledge resources when you can.
Go online and find articles written by fishermen in the area. Write them an email asking how you can be successful as well. More often than not you will receive a warm welcome as a fellow fishermen.