How To Use Topographic Maps To Find Bass

Hello I'm the Dwight Norris of fishingatwork.com. I am at my home on the video and on my computer screen both at the same time, which is something new. I am just trying this out to see how you like it.

Today we're gonna be talking about finding fish; mainly bass using topographic maps, like this digital one done by the Charles River alliance of boaters and the MIT Sea Grant College Program. it is super cool.

I think they last charted this in 2017 during the summer. they just drop a measuring rope and they measure it. They do it everywhere until they figure out what's going on under the water. It's probably pretty time intensive, but people like myself appreciate it.

Where Do I Fish?

Let's first talk about where I fish locally. That's right here, the Charles River Esplanade. if I reviewed this from some of my videos you've been watching great. if not, thank you for showing up and being here now.

I've been looking for the bass or really any fish since it turned cold right around like 20 degrees or so. I just couldn't find them didn't know where they are. I couldn't cast anywhere. I'm starting to see why this area from here to here doesn't look like a long distance.

if you look at what my body size would be from right here; you can test. I can probably only reach this edge of this zone here. I couldn't really get far and I was using four ounce weight of some worms. I got nothing. Somewhere over here and I knew there was a hole here. I still couldn't reach it.

I went down all the way to this road place where you can fish some bridge abutments and I still had no action. there was just not steep enough drops the water was going too fast to hear now confining thing, but a great viewer of my channel in the comments gave me a tip, and I found the perch.

I found yellow perch, white perch, and I even caught a blue gill. There were no bass bites and as you can see, it's 15 feet in this canal. It's called the broad canal. it's right next to MIT, which is this purple area says Kendall Square and there's the Massachusetts Institute of Technology which is one of the people who made this which is why it made it all special in purple.

Super cool. Thanks guys. Really appreciate it. If you see this fishing at work gives you a thumbs up great job while you're at it, go down to the go down to this broad canal is awesome. Probably around 15 feet of scrape and there's some ice forming. It's been much formed all the way across the here this area.

That's why I had a video just a couple of videos ago and I kind of fish this area really close to the walkway and right here. this building was making a shadow across the water and right on that shadow were like the dark. I was catching some much larger perch much a really big bluegill there.

Every thought was a smaller fish hiding hiding under this walkway and the bigger fish was sitting here for some reasoning as the deepest point. I couldn't cast near the abutments and it's like it's like a piling wood piles are right here because it's covering nice. I don't have a 30 pound stone to throw in there and break the ice so I can actually ice fish. maybe next time.

Where Are The Largemouth Bass?

So where are the largemouth bass you're wondering though, they'll they'll probably here actually now on that side. It's too brackish water right there. It's too salty because right here boom that's at the ocean basically. 

That's the ocean it goes right out to the right to the harbor where we know it's salty. so we really want to stay on this side of of the river and go up they will be at the Charles River Esplanade. 

once it gets colder, they're looking for a deeper hole. So I think their could be some right here and maybe hanging around here.  they want to stay out of the current. They don't want to work hard. So they'll go deep, or they'll go hide behind something. This is how you use topographic maps to find bass.

Fishing Deep Water Holes

So I wondered where could a bass hide? where would they be? behold, Eric Harrison and Greg minor, both were right. there on these deep holes. right next to the bridge abutment on the river. Further in near close to the freshwater are holes and they're sitting there out of reach, because you can't fish on the bridge and you can't cast too far. here is a possibility.

Cast decently far it's around 10 feet, not quite optimal I'm looking for. What I'm looking for is more of this a 12 and there's a little bit of title flow for the Charles River, maybe not where you live, maybe you don't even have a river, you can just look for the deepest hole in the lake or the pond or wherever else that you're fishing.

 when the water is moving, you have to find places where the water isn't moving that much and it's also deep. fish are lazy, especially the big ones. They get bigger, they get smarter, and they know how to get bait and get food while not working that much.

While the small ones are up top chasing the schools jumping out of the water going crazy making all the fisherman super happy. Oh man. The fish are biting the day and they hit the buzz baits in the poppers and top water. it's mostly small fish of they're going out to the bay fish eye catching smaller ones, but where the big ones are on the sides and down below waiting for the injured minnows.

Those that weren't quite caught by all the youngsters the float down. Oh, and then that big behemoth this comes up and sucks it up. that's where I want to be fishing but when you're ice fishing I mean in the cold and looking really hard for fish that are very sluggish. even more sluggish to normal, you have to take certain measures.

So this is the western AV bridge continues up and here we are the john w expert was nice it's 12 here and it's not as you see it's a really a really steep drop here on this side. This is definitely a side that you want to fish and you want to see if you can get to this point and that exactly sure what it takes to get there.

We'll look at another map we might even yeah we'll look at another map and see exactly what that looks like here in a little bit and there's some other bridges run here look a little awkward. Why is there a hole here it has something to do with the flow of the water and the way it was cut.

Because of the great day that I know that the deepest part is it right under the bridge next the abutment is actually behind it and the steep part is on I'm not sure what side this is but it's on this side. It's the side that this is actually a bike path right here which is primarily going to access it.I ride my bike to work when it's good weather right now I'm doing some maintenance on my bike and when I get it moving again to a little community fishing.

Stop hit some spots like these and see what happens. then report back to you actually probably does take my video camera with me just to see what happens. we go up here we see a long stretch down to this hole. I believe the water is cutting around this corner and actually shaping the ground when it rips around here and making this hole. I am not sure how you will pinpoint the exact spot where the fish are, but they're definitely in this area as well. might be going too fast so we might be on this edge. so you can get easy access to the depths, but also the shallows when it's warm.

 I think the best spot there is right now is next to the Auburn hospital, it's also a one of the the row houses for the thing called crew. It has a long skinny boat that  you probably saw that movie made for Facebook. I think it's called Facebook and the two brothers that try to sue them and do it a successful eventually that's what they're good at.

That's one of those places but right here is an 18 foot hole goes from three to six and then boom. look how is could be a sharp but it just goes so deep. Once you get off the stage foot ledge it is drops 12 feet. I can almost guarantee this fish right there. I don't know what time but I think because it's more fresh water.

And what I've caught in the past I've caught of yellow perch in like six feet of water in the middle where there's really nothing I'll show you where it is. It's a little further away. I'll show you in a minute but right here this is obviously that the deepest hole in it. It doesn't go back that far is because it's behind in an abutment.

The middle abutment, which is probably I think it's the only abutment on this one because sparely long enough to need one it slows it enough and that what data not hold is formed. I'm that's going to be my number one location. So if you have like a a topographic map in your area for rivers or lakes or whatever, wherever you fish, you should try to access it and use it effectively.

On here are some more holes stripped down the middle and there's some silly things here. You see right past the two abudments. There's a long gated areas for drops and still Home Depot Arsenal in Watertown. let's skip over, I'll talk all about this area first, you might have some areas which were breaks off so we're not like that can now we had it's a complete break off and it's deep.

That's a very nice place to fish but some areas are this generally shallow and you're like there's nothing here man, it's too cold for any fish to be chilling out here. Not quite, not quite true. This island actually stops the words a slow area and when you slow down the water, even if it's shallow and you have structure like the boats sitting here some of them are actually still sitting in the water most of them are in this area and they're covered up with the plastic.

You have some some pretty cool stuff the fish like yellow perch, a white perch and even bass will come to hang out there sometimes the middle of the day because it's warmer and  sometimes just for good I've been quite shock of what I've caught but maybe the first time I went out there and let me to show you.

I had fish right here with my son that cast out to write about here so I always see these boats, I cast out as far as I can. It's like a buoy is sitting the water here in this here's high driller underwater which is primarily what yellow perch like the highest they like to stay generally shallow during the winter that's number one reason I like yellow perch and they like underwater grasses.

Apparently right here in the middle of this hope to grass near the shore it's all rocks and mud but every time I cast in the middle I come back with a piece of grass I don't want to pull that back the grass but it confirms me that that's why they're there I cast their boom soon his the bottom yellow perch bite.

So I found them, they're pretty prominent in the river but where are the bass, but I could take a little longer walk or ride. I mean with my car and try out this area here on the back end, there's I don't know why it went so far to say 3.6 and 3.1 right next to this three foot sandbar.

Not sure why it's there is I was uninhabitable. It might be something on it, but I think it's mostly Marsh and some trees not sure why they exist but the marina I mean, the the Watertown Yacht Club owns this whole area. That's some pretty cool stuff.

So none of thoroughly talked about my River. What about your river? Do you think you can kind of convey your knowledge from a topographic map to how you can catch fish in this super cold weather. 

Ice Fishing With Topographic Maps

Maybe you're not an ice fishermen and you thought about trying to read up on it. I don't know everything about it. I don't have any tools. I've seen a lot of stuff on Craigslist for sale or for free. Just like giving it away to like they're trying to freezing and drinking shots is something just totally can stay warm which that's not a bad idea.

You out there alone, you get the radio going, or some music going, get some some beers, some some liquors and wine wherever your fancy is, and have some good time alone sums. People need time alone, think I'm one of those people but I'm gonna give it a try. If it gets cold enough.

The weather's been a little odd, I'm not sure where it will be good to do that near me up north in Maine, and northern New Hampshire and Vermont area, it'll get cold as I've seen people while visiting friends, like, like 10s of people, 10 to 20 kind a hundred, but like 50 people on the ice, with the trucks with the tents, making a bonfire.

Almost some like you can make a fire on the ice, and it won't melt, crazy. It was crazy cold, like minus 15 or so. I might try it out. If I can find a place that has the least four inches of ice at the measure. It needs to be four inches. Otherwise, no, don't go. Don't take the chance.

It's too many news reports about people falling in and pets fallen in and people going after people falling in and bad things happen. So avoid that at all costs. So let's come over to this secondary map which is actually powered by Google Maps. I think this one I don't think this one is powered by Google Maps.

This one is powered by ESRI. I am sure I've heard of it before, but not quite sure what it is, it's powered by ESRI and it uses a Garmin and the USGS which is good stuff. This one is actually powered by Google Maps. It shows the topography but not only the numbers, it shows the contour lines and all that cool stuff.

It uses their data that quite perfect because well, yeah, it's no underwater on the river on the on the bridge, which is weird. Didn't happen everywhere. Yeah, this one too. Weird. Anyway, this isn't an option as well. If you want all this other information here. It's kind of like an overlay, I believe.

They didn't do it very well. They show most of the important parts Hmm. How do you get if you actually search this crab in MIT secret, this is gonna pop up or they obviously didn't do it for your area and then in because they didn't maybe you're gonna have to buy your own topographic map.

Buy Topographic Maps

I know a good place to do that. The guy down the New Bern North Carolina. Whoa obviously I was on the web page to here we go. Aaptains seagulls without a. Nautical, sport fishing charts and it looks like he has the most states Maine, New, Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Jersey. I'm not gonna say it all.

But he has Massachusetts, he has a stuff for sharks. All the fishes, just realize that's incorrect, all the fish. I'll leave that be here's Martha's Vineyard corner too often. Who's Buzzards Bay I don't get a chance to fish down there, Ah Boston Harbor let's see if we can take a closer look.

I thought I could give it to the but here we go. Yes. Boom. As you can see here there's a lot of information about the Boston Harbor, nautical charts, and maybe you can zoom in to be blurry this want you just print this out, but they'll print it out for you they'll put it on some nice laminate and you could take it with you if you're going anywhere in a Boston Harbor.

There are some people actually do that because of the title charts and exactly where they would have fish from the boat or from shore. Many people will go to some several the islands and actually cast into the water, they know the spot, so where the fish are coming by specifically the striper and the cod during. ​

During the spring early spring there around and the striper coming in during May all the way to like September and then the cod are a spring the fall thing too is that flounder right yeah the founder the winter flounder than summer flounder or vice versa sure which goes first.

There's information online about that I'll get some more information about that later maybe even catch, but you can use that go to the islands use the the harbor ferry and just go Island, do your research, to the timing right for the tides, cast line and from the island, catch a fish, put it in a bucket, put it in the bag, where we have, go back on the boat.

Do you have to own one, get help the local transportation boom right back, to your house, striped bass for dinner, fresh, not from someone else, you don't know where it came from. You put your lure in the line, you put your lure in the water, you caught the fish, you take the fish home, you got it, you fry it, you cook it. A to A.

So that's pretty much all I would say about this, got caught in a tangent about three bass and all the other fish available. I really just wanted to show off all the great work for crap in it and how he's fully can be if you have something like that in your area as a digital topographic map and you can use these these ones right here capital seagulls for your local area if it's available.

I think he does mostly, he does he does see areas so there might be ones for rivers to yet you should actually check out your local state website for their fishing game where you could share licenses, they actually have stuff like this available or they know where that available from. 

Sometimes it's not on the web, you actually have talked to them and ask them Yes, you have to talk to the government officials to get information that will help you go fishing but it could be something that makes you look like a rock star fisherman so it's very important.

So I'll ask I'll lastly I'll talk about the website, it's a little free video, fishingatwork.com this remind you to go to a website, go down below on this YouTube video. Subscribe if you like it, like it if you like it, leave a comment. Tell me what you like what you don't like, tell me what you what you want to change give me any kind of comments that you have suggestions like when the other viewers if we know where the bass are.

Please tell me so I can go there fish it and show everybody everybody's not on Charles River obviously, but some people just want to catch a fish here and there, also if you can go here and get my 10 step process to go fishing at work PDF, completely free, provide your email address, it will be yours and sent to you right through your email and the same things available for how the catch or bass.

Sust below my little blog roll there, there's all this great stuff in it, I've learned learned over a long time and get through the same thing, and it's all yours, awesome so, I'll just leave this like that and watch out for holes Whoa.

The Thrilling Conclusion

So I'm Dwight Norris of fishingatwork and it's want to tell you though, remember that go out there and go fishing no matter the environment or the issues or maybe even not knowing how to or where to fish properly for the game fish that you want to go after, it's all available some of its online so it's not you have to actually buy or as people for information.

It's okay. People want to people want to generally help you, so just be a little brave and just ask the question. Hey dude, do you know where the bass are? It's a real question. Do you know where the bass are? I'm not joking, I'm not a fisherman but I'm trying to be, now I'm doing the work so you do the work too.