When you get off the beaten path on Canadian Shield lakes the reefs are not marked. Local lakes maps usually have reef locations marked with a red buoy icon not exact but good enough warning to slow down and look light colored water in the area.

Tom

1 hour ago, WRB said:

When you get off the beaten path on Canadian Shield lakes the reefs are not marked. Local lakes maps usually have reef locations marked with a red buoy icon not exact but good enough warning to slow down and look light colored water in the area.

Tom

 

I've fished a few mapped and marked lakes in northwestern Ontario like Lake of the Woods and some that drain it, but most of the water I've fished is unknown. You'd think a reef or boulder or hump would never surprise you in a canoe, but they sometimes, they do.

23 hours ago, GRiver said:

I use the depth feature the mostly to find a few holes, when I’m after strippers.   

Say what!!!??? Hey buddy, this here's a family friendly forum!!! 🤣

13 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Say what!!!??? Hey buddy, this here's a family friendly forum!!! 🤣

Hahaha I had to look it up, stripers, is a the fish we catch on a pole. Strippers swing on a different kind of pole. …. Sorry everyone, English and literature “weren’t never” my strong points.

I know of a practically unfished lake near me, that is semi clear, and the big bass like to hunt along steep banks, feeding on large tilapia, next to the bank.  They hide out below the color line, and ambush any big baits that roam to far from the shore.  They seem to be constantly on the move.  I have climbed high up the bank on calm days and personally observed this behavior on many days all times of the year.

       I am positive an angler that was highly skilled with forward facing sonar, could catch so many double digit bass, it would make OH Ivey look like a lake full of dinks.  Unfortunately due to the lack of time and money that person wont be me.  I don't have the money for the equipment, or the massive amount of time it would take for me to become proficient with it.  Because that fortunate angler will not be me,  I will continue to fish the lake without the latest electronics, and will continue to climb the bank, and watch DD bass swim by while getting lucky with a blind cast now and then.  

37 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I know of a practically unfished lake near me, that is semi clear, and the big bass like to hunt along steep banks, feeding on large tilapia, next to the bank.  They hide out below the color line, and ambush any big baits that roam to far from the shore.  They seem to be constantly on the move.  I have climbed high up the bank on calm days and personally observed this behavior on many days all times of the year.

       I am positive an angler that was highly skilled with forward facing sonar, could catch so many double digit bass, it would make OH Ivey look like a lake full of dinks.  Unfortunately due to the lack of time and money that person wont be me.  I don't have the money for the equipment, or the massive amount of time it would take for me to become proficient with it.  Because that fortunate angler will not be me,  I will continue to fish the lake without the latest electronics, and will continue to climb the bank, and watch DD bass swim by while getting lucky with a blind cast now and then.  

 

Bonneville Dam on the Columbia lets you watch the salmon bypass the dam through a tube. I was squealing with joy when I watched them pass. I think I'd be so overjoyed when I watched those big bass pass below the bank that I'd jump in after them!

 

 

Watching DDs swim beneath you from a Mexican cliffside.......man I'm doing life wrong 🤣

39 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Watching DDs swim beneath you from a Mexican cliffside.......man I'm doing life wrong 🤣

 

Well, he might be the king fisher, but after your recent streak, you are the prince, my friend.

 

No electronics(except TM) here but considering a sounder. Id like to map(bottom) the lakes I frequent, more to be able to run a body of water without loosing a prop, skeg or lower unit. 

 

The BR article about catching bass in cold, deep water has me wishing that I could just cruise like @A-Jay does and see what's down there. I think that would be fun. I won't do it because I don't have the platform for it, but I can see its attraction.