When fishing a new venue it can be difficult to know where to start, especially if the venue is very large or conditions are not favorable. However, there are a number things you can use to your advantage on any venue to get yourself closer to the fish.
'Get the info' Try and find out as much as you can about the venue before you fish. Check out the catch reports in the angling press or on-line and the local tackle shop can also be a good source of knowledge. If you can visit the lake, even better. However, if anglers are fishing don't be too pushy when trying to find out information, be polite and unassuming if they want to tell you something they will!
'Fish where the live' the leading factor in choosing a swim should always be where you can see the fish or even better, where you can see them feeding. This would seem obvious but I have often arrived at a lake to find most of the anglers setup in their favorite swim or nearest to the car park. A circuit of the lake or wander down the river has found the fish feeding in abundance! Never be in a hurry to setup, especially when fishing a venue for the first time and always do a lap of the lake or walk a length of the river/canal.
'Look for the signs' You may not always see the actual fish when looking especially if the water is deep or coloured. However, a decent pair of polarising glasses will certainly help to cut down surface glare from the water. Often you will be looking for signs of feeding fish such as bubbles/fizzing, colouring/clouding of the water, fish breaking the surface/jumping, weedbeds/lily pads moving and flat spots on the surface. All of these things are signs of active fish and are usually a good bet.
'Features' On some occasions you may not see many signs of fish especially in winter or if conditions are not favorable. It is in these times that you must 'think like a fish' and look at what features your venue has to offer. These may not always be obvious and may often be below the surface of the water. However, before you reach for the marker/plumbing rod there will always be a number of visual features on any venue. The biggest feature on any venue is the margins. Fish love to patrol the marginal shelf, look for swims with marginal cover such as overhanging bushes or reeds (especially on rivers). Islands are also very good features as the margins are likely to be less sensitive to bankside disturbance. Although not technically a feature, wind direction is also very important. In the summer months, look for bays where the wind is blowing into as a scum line will often form containing lots of natural food and on many venues the fish will follow the wind. Sometimes in winter you will want to avoid the windward bank as this will contain much colder water resulting in the fish hanging on the back of the wind.
'Under water' Most venues will also have a number of features under the water which are just as attractive to the fish if not more. However, how often have you setup and cast out without even plumbing the depth?... I know I have! Always try and gauge what you are fishing over and what depth it is as it will certainly enable you to identify any underwater features in your swim and lead to more fish on the bank. I always look for an area which is out of the norm on the lake/river bed, such as a sudden depth change or a silt pocket on an otherwise gravel bottom. These features are like magnets to the fish and can be located using a marker/plumbing rod setup (check out my up and coming youtube video on this topic).
'Never choose your swim before you arrive!' Even though this post is about approaching new venues, it is very easy to have earmarked a favorite swim or area of the lake before you arrive as it may be a swim from which you have caught well before or it may be a comfortable peg that you like. However, this will cost you fish in the long run.
Hope you find this useful! Please feel free to comment!
Check out my youtube page for more advice and videos!
http://www.youtube.com/user/FishingProTips
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