One of the local fishermen at the lake I fish told me that I needed a topographical map of the lake. Apparently that’s the only thing he’s ever used and he seems to be an extremely successful Crappie fishermen, can you tell me how to use one?

A topographical map is one that will identify all of the structure in the lake such as the channels, ledges, flats, drop-offs, etc. I’m not surprised that the veteran you talked to swears by it - I’ve found them extremely helpful myself. Using a topographical map when you’re on the water will cut down the amount of time you spend trolling or drifting for fish because quite often you can simply identify the areas on the map where they’ll be holding and head right to them. It won’t solve all the problems you might encounter bit it’s an excellent tool to use alongside your electronic equipment. A topographical map will show longitude and latitude lines as well as UTM coordinates (Universal Transverse Mercator) which is a grid system that can be very accurate when determining your actual position on the lake. The contour lines actually show the three dimensional lay of the land which is extremely important when you’re looking for either deep drop-offs or even shallow water. I’d highly suggest you buy one and take the time to learn to read it well.

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