This Is What Fishing a New Spot REALLY Looks Like
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Inshore Fishing, Fishing Reports
One of the biggest challenges in fishing isn’t figuring out how to catch fish.
It’s figuring out where to begin.
That’s especially true when I’m launching into an area I’ve never fished before.
Every shoreline looks promising.
Every creek seems worth exploring.
Every point has potential.
So how do I decide where to make my first cast?
For this trip, I intentionally launched into water I’d never fished before and walked through every decision I made along the way.
Featured Gear:
- Lure 1: Prawn USA Jr.
- Lure 2: Mulligan Paddletail
- Rigging for Prawn Jr: 2/0 Hoss Round Eye Jighead (1/8 oz)
- Rigging for Mulligan: 4/0 Hoss Helix Hooks (1/8 oz)
Featured Software:
Every Trip Starts With a Plan
When I launch into unfamiliar water, my first goal isn’t catching fish.
It’s finding the highest-percentage water.
Before I even make my first cast, I’ll often use Smart Fishing Spots to identify a handful of promising starting locations. From there, it’s all about letting the conditions tell the story.
Instead of making random casts, I’m constantly looking for clues:
- Current flow
- Shoreline shape
- Water depth
- Bait activity
- Wind direction
- Bottom composition
- Areas that naturally funnel fish
Every observation helps eliminate unproductive water and narrows down where fish are most likely to be.
Think of it like solving a puzzle instead of playing the lottery.
The Reality of Fishing New Water
If you watch enough fishing videos online, it can feel like everyone catches fish every time they launch.
The truth is, most days aren’t like that.
This trip was a perfect example.
The fishing was slow. There weren’t fish around every corner, and every decision mattered.
But that’s exactly why I wanted to share it.
The lessons you learn on difficult days often stick with you far longer than the lessons from an easy bite.
Success Isn’t Always Measured by Fish in the Boat
At the end of the day, the fish count didn’t tell the whole story.
We found multiple redfish in a completely unfamiliar area.
In fact, this trip was only a few casts away from looking completely different. One cast landed too close to a cruising redfish, spooking not one, but two fish. Another opportunity ended when my lure caught the shoreline before reaching another fish.
Those fish never made it into the kayak, but they proved something important:
The process worked.
The fish were there.
The opportunities were there.
The execution simply wasn’t perfect.
That’s an encouraging place to be because it’s much easier to improve your casting or presentation than it is to find fish that don’t exist.
Judge the Process, Not Just the Results
One mistake I see anglers make is judging every trip solely by how many fish they catch.
While catching fish is always the goal, it isn’t the only way to measure progress.
Did you eliminate unproductive water?
Did you identify a pattern?
Did you find bait?
Did you locate fish?
Did you learn where you’d start next time?
Those are all wins that build toward consistently successful trips.
A few years ago, I might have left this area thinking there simply weren’t any fish there.
Today, I leave knowing exactly where I’d start the next time I launch.
That’s progress.
And sometimes, that’s the most valuable catch of the day.
Final Thoughts
Fishing new water will always come with a little uncertainty. That’s part of what makes it fun.
The goal isn’t to have every trip go perfectly. It’s to leave the water knowing something you didn’t know when you launched. Every clue you uncover, every area you eliminate, and every fish you find makes the next trip that much better.
Stick with the process, keep paying attention to what the conditions are telling you, and before long you’ll be able to break down unfamiliar water with confidence. That’s a skill that will help you catch more fish no matter where you launch.
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Excellent! This felt very relatable and encouraging for those of us who have gone out and had a similar day. Sometimes these videos give the impression that fishing is 4 hours of straight action, but your video felt a lot more like the real experience. I think what made some of your coaching tips even more valuable was that you were in a new location without much insider info; it was a good lesson on what to look for and how to decide where/how long to fish based on what you were seeing.
Thanks Bryce! You won’t see a lot of videos like this on social media because everyone wants to show their best side but the reality is, not every day is going to be a great day. Some days you’re going to flat out struggle. I’m glad you liked it and hopefully you picked up some tips that will help out.
Nicely done Pat. Thanks for all that you guys do.
Thanks Matt!
WOW! What a great video Pat! This is the way all “teaching videos” ought to be done, showing the reality of what happens, and not making it appear as though everything is perfect, and goes right all the time (I loved the calling out of your tree cast). I also appreciate the clarification on fishing the current over fishing the wind direction. I think the people who tend to watch these types of videos want to see how things really are, and not have their expectations set artificially high because of the deep knowledge of the teacher and/or video editing. I’d love to see more content like this, thanks!
Thanks Dave! I enjoy making these types of videos, it’s real. This is what fishing looks like on those tough days. I believe there’s a ton of lessons that can be learned from days like this that will make those good days even more productive. Unfortunately these types of videos don’t perform well, the mass population doesn’t want a lesson, they want the easy button, the magic lure that is going to solve all their issues. But there isn’t one, it’s lessons like this that moves the needle to catching more fish.
I’m glad you liked it and hope it helps you.
Keep bringing the weeds, Pat! There are still many who will watch, apply, practice & get better and then pass some of the wisdom forward. I hope you guys get time to fish without the cameras for the simple love of it.
Well as for me if I personally was going to fish in an area I have never fished before and it was during the hot months I would probably launch sometime in the very early morning just to explore keeping my eyes open all the while looking at my fish finder to find cover on structure that could hold fish and also looking for deep water especially around channel edges and docks then after I got a comfortable feeling in knowing the place pretty good I would plan a night trip and fish it but this is all here say because I have plenty of areas that I fish and all of them I know like the back of my hand and I don’t travel much I have done this technique before and all I can say is it works for me I’ll give you the daytime heat to deal with because I want to keep my sanity at least another 10 years thanks for your input and all you do🤔
Thanks for sharing a ” normal ” day Pat !! Although seeing & not catching fish can be frustrating, we can always learn things that will make future trips a bit better.
Very true, but I think not seeing anything might just be worse! Always a new puzzle every day