Have you ever asked this question: "Can you tell me where`s a good spot to fish?", and never get a straight answer? There`s a reason for that. Most anglers are reluctant to give away their honey holes for obvious reasons. Perhaps they don`t want their favorite spot over-run by anglers, or maybe they get disgusted at the sight of litter (i.e.- worm tubs, lure wrappers, beer cans, etc) on the way to or at their secret spot. Be it online or at your local pub, it would seem you could ask that question until the cows came home and would STILL not get a straight answer. So, I`m going to show you how to take matters into your own hands and tell you how to get started in the art of finding your own honey holes.

First off, you want to get your hands on a topographic map of your area. A quick Google search can usually help you find good free ones, but if you are fortunate enough to live in Canada, you can use this free top-of-the-line map: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/toporama . You will want to look for places where a topographic line crosses a river, a stream, or a brook, or are quite close to each other on both sides of said body of water. This will indicate a possible sudden drop in elevation, signalling the beginning of a rapid and a likely pool at the end of the rapid.

Now that you have located a potential hot spot, you will want to put technology into good use. At the bottom of the screen of your toporama map, you will see coordinates. Write these down, or type them directly into your gps. Next, look around in Google Earth to find the nearest road leading as close as possible to the target area, in the off chance that these are not visible on your topo map. This is where a Backwoods Mapbook comes in handy, if you can find one for your area.

Your last step is to pack up your gear and go try out your new potential honey hole. When I first moved to this area in 2002, I had no idea where to go fishing, and I found the locals to not be overly helpful, likely for reasons listed above. I have found probably over 90% of my honey holes this way. If you do your homework and attempt this method, you will find that most of your newfound honey holes are already known by many anglers, with trails leading up to them. The thing is, they would have probably never told you where they were, but now you know.