LAKE TERMINOLOGY
I was told by a friend (GUIDE), because this site is more for weekend or intermediate anglers, I should define words that you will be seeing in the future and or words you might hear from other anglers when referring to different lake locations. Thinking that made a lot of since, here are most of the words I can think of that are associated with fishing locations.
VEGETATION is just that, there are submerged (GROWS BELOW THE WATER) weeds like, cabbage or coontail, and emergent (EXTENDS ABOVE THE SURFACE) like reeds or lily pads.
DROWNED WOOD or DOWNED WOOD, shoreline trees that fell into the lake.
STICK-UPS, branches of a tree sticking out of the water.
DROP OFFS, the name says it all. Where the lakes bottom drops off to deeper water.
FLATS is an area (BIG or SMALL) of a lake that is shallow (COULD BE 5 to 10 FEET) and is mostly the same depth, before dropping off to deeper water.
HUMPS are basically different size submerged islands, and the top of those island can be at any depth.
POINTS (MAIN/PRIMARY) If you follow the contour of a shoreline, any part of the shoreline that extends outward into the lake is a point. (SOME MAY ARGUE, POINTS ARE ONLY ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP WATER) NOT TRUE. A point is shoreline big or small with water on three sides.
SECONDARY POINTS, some say secondary points are the mouth of bays or creek channels into bays. Maybe times have changed, but I was always told by old timers that a secondary point are or can be smaller point that extends off either side of the main point to deeper water.
COVER is anywhere fish can hide. So, weeds, stick-ups logs, docks and even a swim platform can be considered cover.
STRUCTURE is basically the lakes floor. When the bottom depth changes composition that is structure. Drop-offs, old river channels, mid-lake humps or deep holes are all structure.
The only two locations I am not going to define are INSIDE and OUTSIDE TURNS because if you ask 10 different anglers to define them, you will get 10 different answers. Second thought, here’s my definition of inside & outside turns. I’ve always been told it doesn’t matter what the depth is, but what direction your boat is traveling. Let’s say you are following a river channel while using your electronics/locator. The shoreline is on your right and the channel takes a sharp turn towards the shoreline, that’s an inside turn. If that river channel bends out away from the shoreline, that’s an outside turn. If you are going in the other direction, the turns would be opposite. See my point? If anyone can describe inside and outside turns better, please do so in comments and I will post that. I hope this was helpful for those new to fishing or do not fish a lot.
PLEASE RELEASE WALLEYE OVER 24 INCHES. THESE BIG GIRLS PRODUCE MORE EGGS AND LARGER WALLEYE IN THE FUTURE.