Trolling is a good method for understanding what's going on beneath you. A good map can put you in the vicinity of productive areas, but from there, trolling will give you feel for where the sweet spots are and can reveal concentrations of fish.

 

Good answer.

Pretty much all my fishing in water < 10' deep is done with the graphs off. Like Speed said, look at the shoreline and visualize what's there.

Looks like good reads, on weight, for probing/ countour work I say 1/2 to begin... Then you can adjust if need be.. Depending on you're rod/reel/line set-up... I assume you have fishing Experience to a degree, pay attention to what you're bottom Comp. is and takes notes... Even a handheld GPS unit would help.... A stand alone not ur phone... USGS maps can help and you can write on those.. Keep em dry though... Once you done the work... Potential will be there for a lifetime of fishing success and it will become 2nd nature to you...

It's been that way for me, in fishing and whitetail/turkey hunting....

Best Wishes..

If you can get a topo map and then mark structure on a handheld GPS then that will go a longs ways.  If not then focus on the visual structure such as points and humps/rock reefs if the water is clear enough.