What do you look for in an area

[Joefish]

What do you look for in a new fishing area (besides excellent fishing that is....) that you plan on spending from a few days to a few weeks in? With or without the family.

[Suzuki]

I look for some shops and boutiques for my wife. She loves that stuff. Of course this means being near a decent size town which usually equates to worse fishing. A nice public beach is also a big plus. Sunbathing for her and swimming for me. I also like there to be lots of public land nearby so we can drive through the woods (late afternoon/evening), enjoy a beverage, see wildlife and just look at the great outdoors. We call this "rolling happy hour".

[sib]

I usually start looking on paper. I'll check with the state DNR web site and check the planting records. I'm from mi and that info is available in pdf docs to download. Also check state records to see if any fish came from that body.

After finding a prospective lake, I look for more info, like is it a lake that has a fishing hotspots map? If so, I'll try to get my hands on the map and see what they say as far as species go. You can call a local bait shop and get their info on the lake(taken with a grain of salt).

Try a search on a search engine, be specific using the county name, state, etc. and any other info, as there are thousands of lakes that share the same names. If your lucky you might find a walleye club with a bbs that has good info on the lake, or ask the info you want to know.

Generally I disgard chamber of commerce info as it is always bias.

"go outside and play"
sib

[cisco]

Walker, MN is hardy a "big town," but it is filled with shops the women like. Same for towns near hot fishing lakes in Wis -- for example, Spooner, Hayward, Eagle River, Minoqua, Mercer, etc.

Door County may be the ultimate shop and boutique place in the Midwest, but there's good fishing all around.