Technology Takes The Guesswork Out of Fishing
By Scott Wiseman
Ahhhh….remember the good old days of driving 100 miles to your favorite fishing destination only to find out that the boat ramp is 10 feet underwater due to the worst flood that area has ever seen? Remember the days of people telling you about a hot fishing spot that is 20 miles downstream only to get there and realize the water is 6 inches deep. Remember the days of bait shop owners telling you that “the walleye bite is hot” only because they had an abundance of leeches and wanted to sell down their stock? Those days are gone my friend. Technology and the personal computer age has now taken a lot of the guesswork out of fishing. Thanks to programs like Google Earth that allow you to see your fishing spots in advance, websites like NOAA that can accurately predict river levels, and thousands upon thousands of fishing forums everywhere on the internet, your next fishing trip can also be a success.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a free interactive program that provides satellite images of almost every place on the Earth. From the largest rivers, to the smallest creek, Google Earth is the source for pre-trip scouting. Using Google Earth one can: Find boat ramps, find bends and other structure on the water, locate back roads to get to those out of the way spots, find warm-water discharges on rivers in the wintertime, and generally just scout the water from a satellite perspective. The one drawback to using Google Earth is that in some areas, the images don’t come in as clear at the lower levels, but for the most part, all areas of the U.S. are visible. Google Earth can be downloaded free at: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
NOAA and the Corps of Engineers
Another great resource available these days to anglers is NOAA’s advanced hydrologic prediction service. Basically, it is a fancy name for river levels and forecasts. On the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) website, one can find river levels for the past few days and some sites offer a prediction for the next few days. Generally, fishermen will want to fish when the river is stable or on a slight rise, but in the event that the river is rising, care must be taken to avoid debris that will be coming downstream. The NOAA website also will show when a body of water is at “action level”(bankful conditions) or when it is in Minor Flooding, Moderate Flodding, and Record Stage flooding. I would like to stress that in this author’s experience, anything above action stage is dangerous and IF you decide to go, the utmost caution should be taken. Below is an example of the charts located on the website at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=ind
This is an example of river levels at Mt. Carmel Illinois for the Wabash River:
While the NOAA website provides almost real-time info on rivers, The Army Corps of Engineers has a website that can do the same with major lake impoundments. The A.C.E. website will provide you with: Summer Pool, Winter Pool, 24 hr change, current lake level, and outflow at the dam. This website can be seen at: http://www.lrl.usace.army.mil/wc/reports/lkreport.html (This is Louisville District site).
Fishing Forums and Websites
Among the many things that the internet allows us to do, fishing forums and websites are probably one of the greatest assets to anglers, no matter where you live. Gone are the days of going to the yearly boat, sport & travel show only to find that no one there has any info on the species that you fish for. Forums are basically a chatroom or message board, where members can post fishing reports, info on locations, water conditions, and accommodations nearby. Who knows better than a member that may live near where you want to fish? Regardless of the species that you chase, there is probably a forum for it. To find one near you, simply go to Google (http://www.google.com) and type in your state + fishing + forum or your species + fishing + forum (Use spaces where the + signs are).
Search Engines
Last but certainly not least, do not forget that anything can be found on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Just type in what you are looking for, and chances are you will have thousands of pages to search from. Additionally, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) can not only offer information but also has some excellent user-submitted pictures of many locations in the US.
Summary
Embrace technology for your next fishing trip. It can make your life a lot easier and save you some time and hassle using just a few of these tips. Good luck to you and God bless.
Scott Wiseman