Finding fishing lakes and ponds using Google Maps

[fruitloopy]

I just thought I would share a useful tool I have found for discovering unlisted or unknown fishing lakes and ponds.

Because my job is in IT I mostly use the internet for finding local fishing waters, but I do occasionally talk to people as well!

 

I use Google Maps and Google Earth, both of which are completely free to use.

 

Google Earth is an application that you can download and install but you need a reasonably good computer to run it. If your running Windows XP then its probably good enough. You can also use Google Earth to record all the places your looking for or have been to previously. I use it to keep a record of where I have been, what I caught, bait I used, etc.

You can get Google Earth here: Google Earth

 

Google Maps is just a regular webpage which you can find here - http://maps.google.co.uk

This allows you to use it as a map to find your way around but if you click on Satellite on the right it will give you a birds eye view of the area. I spent a couple of hours looking around my local area and found several ponds and lakes that I can find no other information for on the internet.

One of these was a small collection of ponds not far from my house which I have now found to be free to fish! There's tench, carp, roach, bream and rudd in them, all you need is a license.

Another is a reservoir but I have yet to find more info on this.

There are more and they look to be on farm land, I'll take a drive out that way and ask around.

I have also used it to find a lake that I used to fish on when I was a boy in Dagenham. I found it quite easily by remembering the path I used to walk. Its still there today.

 

I had not used these applications I would have had no idea these places existed. Sometimes they can also help you to see features in the water that you cant spot from the bank.

 

It takes a while to get used to what a lake or pond looks like from above because it can just look like a ploughed field or, in the case of a river, a dirt road.

As an example I found a place that another topic had been talking about by following the directions in the post and looking in the satellite images in Google Maps. The pond was easy enough to spot from above...it looks quite nice as well!

Here it is

 

I apologise if I am teaching many of you to suck eggs as a lot of you may already use this to help you, but there may be some who had no idea of its uses.

 

If you have any questions then either PM me or reply.

[bingo]

Yes I've spent many hours using Google Maps! Good quality aerial photos. Quite recent too, I think. My computer didn't like Google Earth (kept on crashing) so I had to uninstall it.

[Anderoo]

Also good (in some areas, at least) is MS local live: http://maps.live.com/ especially if you're looking at somewhere that has the 'bird's eye view' enabled.

 

The measuring tool on Google Earth is very good for getting an idea of how far out a feature is, or how far across a gravel bar is.

 

By the way, if you find that the arial photo of your lakes are very good, save a copy as an image file. They do change every now and again, and can be replaced by a newer photo which isn't as good. This has happened to me on one particular water - the new photo doesn't show up half the features the previous one did

Edited April 22, 2008 by Anderoo

[yorkio]

I've spent countless hours poring over Google Maps/Earth looking for undiscovered waters! However handy it may be though, it's pretty rotten at naming places so I almost always combine it with the OS Get-a-Map site.

[Barry C]

Like the rest of you I use google maps to find my way to new waters. Can someone tell me if it is possible to print off the satelite photos! When I try I just get the road map.

[chesters1]

"flash earth" is very good but the once full set of "maps" seems to be growing smaller ,i expect the mappers changed their urls to stop it

 

http://www.flashearth.com/

 

the good thing is theres no download program to install like some

Edited April 22, 2008 by chesters1

[ayjay]

Like the rest of you I use google maps to find my way to new waters. Can someone tell me if it is possible to print off the satelite photos! When I try I just get the road map.

 

If all else fails just use the *print screen* button and copy the pic from your clipboard.

[Jigotai]

Like the rest of you I use google maps to find my way to new waters. Can someone tell me if it is possible to print off the satelite photos! When I try I just get the road map.

 

Google earth lets you print the pictures off. Here's an interesting one I saved a while back.

 

[admin edit by Si...] Sorry, but the owner has requested that this lake cannot be shown on the site

[Neil G]

Been using Google maps for ages not to pinpoint deep areas & gullies etc on big waters...IMO very, very useful.

[Leon Roskilly]

There's also a facility to upload pictures of places, so that others can have a better idea of what the place looks like from the ground.

 

I've started doing this with pictures now available at Timsbury and the Lower Itchen fisheries (it usually takes a few weeks for Google to get around to accepting pictures for public viewing).

 

So, consider taking pictures of swims around the waters you fish and upload them, giving others a much better idea of what the fishery actually looks like.

 

You can share photos on Google Earth using http://www.panoramio.com/