(In need of) A teaching moment

[22Tango]

I have just about a year in on the kayak now. Still on a steep learning curve - especially on new waters. Like many of us, I will be at the meet and greet tomorrow. So my question is, what are you guys doing today to prepare. I would appreciate you being as specific as possible.

I looked at google earth - so now I know there is a beautiful marina and the water near it is dark greenish brown. What else should I have looked for.

I looked at the NOAA chart via the link that was on the M&G thread. I see water depths and abbreviations for some structures like "submerged pilings" but is that all I should be looking for.

I didn't check the tides myself because I don't have a go to tide site, but I know there is a link with a few of them around here somewhere! One post indicated that the tide and wind would be moving the same direction - and that was a good thing. Sounds to me like I better choose the right direction to travel first or there will be a long paddle back. I'm sure that the poster meant something deeper, however. I just don't know what.

Anyway, don't want to make this too long. I'm sure your clear that I'm just looking for guidance on how to survey a new area. Thanks for the tips from the host and those that have been there before. That is very helpful.

Now to go decide whether I should put rigs on my lines or not now? (Opinion being solicited). Thanks guys and see you all tomorrow.

[J.A. Veil]

I often check the Navionics website http://webapp.navionics.com/?lang=en. Zoom in until you see your area of interest. Then click on the blue circle in the lower left corner. You get a much more detailed projection of depth contours. This may or may not show anything of interest, but it does not take long to check.

I also like to look a wind forecast site. I use www.windfinder.com. There are hourly forecasts for several days in advance. Check both the Forecast tab and the Super Forecast tab (these give results from two different weather models). You often find that wind speed and direction will change throughout the day. When you couple that with tide information, you get a better sense of how the water is likely to be moving when you are out there.

Search back through recent and older fishing reports on snaggedline and other fishing sites for the area where you plan to fish. Often the fish show similar patterns from year to year, although 2014 has been a hard one to figure out.

And as you pointed out, try to get tips from other anglers who know those local waters. Most snaggedline members are very willing to share locations and techniques via pmail or when you fish with them (they do not necessarily share that same level of detail in public posts read by hundreds of lurkers).

I mentioned in my post about Kent Narrows earlier this week that I had seen the Solunar charts the night before. I almost never look at them. However, on that day, they were right on -- the 2-hour window they said would be good catching proved to be just that. I plan to start checking that more in the future.