I suppose most anglers have some sort of weakness that they struggle with. Unfortunately, I have several weaknesses that tend to add clutter to my workshop. One of these little problems is lake maps

For some unknown reason, lake maps have always intrigued me. I suppose with fishing being both a hobby and business, lake maps just sort of go along with the territory. But sometimes I even frustrate myself with the quantity of room they take up. Still, I can't imagine discarding them.

I certainly don't use every map every year. In fact, most of the maps have never been used, but I keep them just the same in case I ever make a trip to that particular lake or in case someone else asks me what I know about a body of water. I think of it as part of my resource library.

Actually, a good map can be a very useful tool in locating potential fishing hot spots as well as picking out lakes that seem to have the right ingredients for good fishing. I'll give you an example.

Many of the lakes that I fish in the winter months are considered bass-panfish lakes. These bodies of water are pretty much the same ones I fish in the summer with a few exceptions. The exception is that in the winter I like to target lakes that have one deep basin that attracts winter panfish.

By working through the one or two deep areas in bass-panfish lakes you will usually find a fair number of fish that are willing to bite. This deep fish concept is not a secret and is pretty typical of bass-panfish lakes that have fair to poor water clarity.

Once you come to believe in this pattern, you will be able to use it to find other lakes that have comparable structure and may have fish located in similar locations. By checking out lake maps you can learn what bodies of water are potentially going to be easy to fish during the winter months because they have one ortwo deep holes in the 25-40 foot range.

Last year I picked a lake to try that had poor water clarity and one deep 45-foot hole in the middle. The rest of the lake had minimal structure with a few shoreline points but nothing complicated in terms of structure.

Once at the lake, I was notsurprised to find that I had the entire middle section of the lake all to myself. There were some other anglers working the shallower areas, but no one else was in the middle.

I cranked a half dozen holes through the thin ice with my Lazer hand auger and started to check the depths on my sonar. I looked in most of the holes before I found one that showed fish up off of the bottom at 40 feet.

I quickly lowered my jig and watched on my Vexilar as it sank towards fish. When my jig got close to the red line on my flasher, the fish rose up to c heck out the bait. My line suddenly went slack and I set the hook.

This was the only crappie I caught out of this first set of holes. Eventually, I did find an area that held a good quantity of fish and spent the rest of the morning there.

Recently I spent the better part of a cold, windy afternoon looking through a pile of maps of lakes that were close to home. In this stack of clutter, I came across a lake that I have not fished in years. In reading through the DNR report on this small lake I discovered that it was a perfect candidate for my style of winter fishing. It had fair to poor water clarity, little structure, and one 40-foot hole in the middle.

Although I will have to wait a bit before I make a trip to this lake, I feel pretty darn confident that I will find deep panfish when I get there. Since I have never winter fished this lake before, I don't know what kind of pressure it receives. However, I would not be surprised to find that most of the anglers ignore the deep basin and work the edges of the drop-offs instead.

One of my favorite facts about deep basin panfish is that these fish will usually bite during the midday hours. In fact, the early and later periods of the day are often less productive than midday.

One other important tip has to do with tackle. In such deep water it is often difficult to pick up your jig on your electronics. Because of this, I use a System Tackle Pounder Jig. It has a very flat nose that reflects signals better than skinnier teardrop style jigs. Being able to see your jig is a must for this deep basin fishing.

Lake maps are useful tools that are part of nearly every angler's arsenal. When used correctly they give a pretty accurate idea about fish location, especially for this deep basin fishing pattern.

Now, it I could just find a way to keep my lake map collection from taking over my whole workshop, Iíd have it made!