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WHERE TO FISH

Florida Fishing	Naples Pier	Sanibel-Captiva	Naples	Live Shrimp	10,000 Islands	Summer Fishing
Bait/Lures	Fishing Holes	Techniques	Artificals	Fish On	When to Fish	Where to Fish

Piers, Docks and Pilings

Wherever there's structure there's food, shelter and fish. Weeds,barnacles and other food sources can attach to anything. Docks andpiers provide shelter from the sun and a nice resting spot for both bigand small fish. * Rivers & Streams * Bays & Estuaries *Surf& Shore * Open Ocean

Get to know your lakestructure. Points, inlets, holes, sunken islands,dams, submerged objects (manmade or natural) and reeds and weeds areall considered structure. You should always fish in and aroundstructure. It's a simple formula.

* Structure createsshallows * Shallows create plant growth * Plantgrowth attracts bait fish * Bait fish attract game fish, the fish youwant to catch

Cliffs and Steep Shore Banks

A shear cliff or bank that goes straight down into deep water provides nostructure, break line or gradual path to deeper water. So it doesn'tattract fish. On the other hand, a cliff or bank that has an underwatershelf or slopes gradually toward deeper water does attract fish. Youshould also look for crumbled-off rock at the underwater base of sharpcliffs. Deep-water fish may be attracted to these rocks for food orspawning.

Rocks

Rocks are structure. They provide fish with shelter (cover), food and apossible place to mate. Remember, always fish structure. If the rocksare in deeper water or on the edge of deeper water, they provide aneven better place to fish. Just don't snag your bait.

Points with Break Lines

A point extends out from the shoreline and slopes gradually down andinto deeper water. It's a good place to fish. But a point with a quickdrop-off or one that doesn't extend into deeper water isn't a goodplace to fish.

* The sloping-outformation of a point creates a break line. * A break line draws fishfrom deeper water to shallow water in search of food. * Fish the pointof the point and the corners of the point (the part that curves backinto the shore).

Drift Lines and Wind

Haveyou ever noticed lines on the water during a breezy day? Those breezesare actually pushing surface water around the lake. Which in turnpushes around surface food. Look for the drift lines and you'll findfish.

Stronger winds canactually push bait fish closer to shore, bringing game fish closer toshore to feed.

Even really strongwinds can make for good fishing. Stirring upeverything from microscopic food to lunker fish, but it's pretty trickyand more than a little dangerous. Leave it to the pros.

Weeds Beds

Weedbeds are structure. They provide food and shelter for bait fish andbait fish attract game fish. Look for weed beds that lead to deeperwater and create a break line. Or look for sunken weed beds in deep,open water.

Islands and Sand Bars

Thesesunken or partially sunken bodies of land will attract both bait fishand game fish if they create a break line. In other words, if the landslopes gradually down and into deeper water. Water currents run aroundislands, too, carrying small plant food and aquatic animals that floaton the surface. That can also attract bait fish and game fish.

Holes

Holesare glacially formed basins that are lower than the rest of the lake.Water in these holes is cooler, so they attract deep-water fish on hot,summer days. You'll need a topographical map to find them.

Spring Holes

When water boils up from the bottom of the lake, it creates a springhole. In the summer, deep-water fish are attracted to these holesbecause the water coming up is always cooler. Even when the hole is notin deep water, spring holes can attract unsuspecting, deep-waterlunkers. But don't get too excited, spring holes are really tough tofind.

Sunken Objects

Trees, branches, logs, stumps, rocks, treasure chests—they're allstructure. They all provide shelter, shade and protection for fish. Soit's a good place to hook a fish. Always watch your line and be extracareful if you're in a boat.

Lily Pads

heinsects and other aquatic critters that live on and around lily padsalways attract smaller bait fish; and bait fish always attract biggerfish. Huge patches of lily pads can also create shade, which alsoattracts fish. Cast into the edges and openings. Otherwise, you'relikely to tangle up your gear.

Gradual Shores

Like any structure that tilts gradually down and into deeper water, agradual-sloping shoreline can provide plant food, attract fish andcreate a path out of and back into deeper water. However, a reallygradual slope will create a large expanse of shallow water that willnot attract fish.

Inside Turns and Coves – The Oppositeof a Point

An inside turn is a small inlet that cuts into the shore. If the waterin the turn is shallow, you've got another break line, and anothergreat place to catch fish.

Walkways and Bridges

Walkways are like piers, but are specially built fishing platforms thatare near or run parallel to bridges, piers, shoreline bulkheads, orsimilar structures. An example is a walkway along a bridge, butconstructed at a lower level. This keeps anglers safe from auto trafficand puts them closer to the water.

Open Water

Good luck. If you're not in shallow water, and there are no weeds orother natural or man-made structure in sight—above or below thewater—you're in open water, and you're in a pretty tough place to catchfish.

But you might beright above a stream or river channel that deep-waterfish use to go from one side of the lake to the other in search offood. Or, you might be above a deep hole or drop-off where deep-waterfish rest from the current. Still, it's tough to catch fish in eitherof these places.

Sometimes, in earlyspring and late fall, when there's very littlevegetation anywhere, bait fish will roam open lake waters in search ofplankton. During those times, you can look for small fish on thesurface in the open water. If you see a bunch of small fish, it's agood bet larger fish are lurking below.