Tactical Bassin is pleased to welcome another video from Southern California’s own, Adam Hinkle. As many of you know Adam catches big fish from the boat (as seen in his recent jig video) but he’s also a force to be reckoned with walking the banks of San Diego’s famed fisheries. He was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule and lend some incredibly detailed insights that are going to help you catch more fish.
For the locals, he’s offering you specific locations. For the rest of us he’s offering tips on understanding your topographical maps and how to turn that information into fish. Get a note pad, you’re not going to want to forget any of this.
I hope you all realize how powerful this information is. Adam knows what he’s talking about, I’ve seen the numbers. These are the kinds of details that seperate “average” fisherman from the “untouchables” of the sport. This game we call bass fishing doesn’t involve magic. It requires attention to detail, and most importantly it requires time both ON and OFF the water. No matter where you fish you can apply what Adam just taught you and its going to have a significant impact on your fishing.
Adam, thank you for taking the time to share these insights. We look forward to hearing more in the future.
16. January 2012 at 12:36 PM
Great video. I found it very informative and well explained. For some reason it’s hard to find good explanations on topos here on the web. Glad someone took the time to do it. Being a fellow map junkie, I understand how topos are very useful tools in bass fishing, and I hope this video reached a lot of anglers. I’d also like to point out that for me it’s been useful to buy multiple different maps on the same lakes to compare and see if there is any differences. Thanks.
12. January 2012 at 9:28 AM
Great video. Thanks for sharing. It is going to give a different view of the lakes I currently fish.
I wanted to add one resource that I have find informational and fun.
Navionics has an iPhone app. I spend more time on my phone than I should looking at my local lakes. I think the app does a pretty good job giving me a detailed view of lakes when I have to be away the water.
2. January 2012 at 1:15 AM
That was a ton of info in a package. Most of the time you do your homework before visiting a lake, the better your chances are of finding the fish quickly. Guys who catch fish everywhere they go typically use maps religiously, and what you provided here is a great base to start learning lakes in and out. Thanks!
1. January 2012 at 7:12 PM
I’m glad you all find this info useful and I hope to hear success stories after using these tips.
Lance- That is a great suggestion. I’m absolutely going to film a video breaking down the way I believe fish relate to areas during each season.
Jeremy- I’m very lucky to have a good friend who actually worked for the City of San Diego and drew the topo maps that the city uses. He’s blown a couple maps up for me to be able to look at the details the way you saw in the video. Matt beat me to the link to the Fish-n-maps on Tackle Warehouse. The map of Lake Kaweah is made by this company. These are some of the best maps available to the public and are waterproof, so you can take these on the water with you after you’ve done your research at home.
1. January 2012 at 12:53 AM
I’m glad you all enjoyed what Adam had to share with you. I still pour over paper maps but since I spend mosty of my time on the boat this post prompted me to go invest in a much more detailed mapping chip. You can never have too clear of a picture of what’s happening below the surface of the water.
Lance, I’ll make sure Adam sees your post. I’d love to see him do a follow up covering the details you mentioned.
Jeremy, I’m not sure what lakes you fish but here is a link to some of the most detailed maps available. I use a navionics chip in the boat and fish-n-maps when I’m on the shore. http://tacklewarehouse.com/searchresults.html?search=products&searchtext=maps&x=11&y=14?from=tbassin
31. December 2011 at 3:33 PM
Where do you find detailed maps such as those? I am lucky to find maps that have the main river channels properly marked.
29. December 2011 at 8:44 PM
That’s some great, basic info there. Thanks Adam for that video, and thanks Matt for making it available to us.
What would be really helpful is to show what features to look for as a general rule for different times of the year, and kinda take us through a year in the life of a bass and show on the map where they will be and what they relate to and why. Like, during spawning in the Spring they’ll head toward spawning flats, and this is what a spawning flat looks like. During the summer they’re in wolf packs hanging out on deep water points and humps, and this is where they will be and what those look like. In the Fall they head up into creeks, etc….
29. December 2011 at 3:55 PM
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
This site is Freakin Awesome!!!
Great Great Info!
I’d like to add that there is an underlying message when Adam is talking about the “Big” fish bay and he mentions three ambush points and multiple flats.
This may be applied to any lake across the nation, from my experience, the more ambush points in an area the better, the more extreme geographical changes in confined areas the better. If you can find these with water inflow, DEADLY!!!
Keep em’ coming!!!
26. December 2011 at 9:57 PM
Stellar video. I fish from shore 90% of the time so I love getting tips and advice. And I love the topo map videos on the site. Adam is going to follow up with actually videos of him casting the spots from shore..what?! Is like Christmas just keeps coming!!! Thanks guys
26. December 2011 at 6:13 PM
Well Im going to look at some of our charts and maps a little different now ! I think most of the guys that come to this site can catch bass, but like us NO BIG ONES ?? Thanks Matt and Adam for this new video..
24. December 2011 at 6:29 PM
Good gracious He sure did find the best spot on lake with all those big fish.Great video.
24. December 2011 at 4:31 PM
Great video, look forward to more on shore fishing. Also excellent choice in a pen..lol
24. December 2011 at 11:11 AM
Great video! That’s the kind of information that I wanted to know for so many years! I can get a good idea with the information about fishing from a boat, but when fishing from the bank some things are different and It’s very difficult to find articles or videos about bank fishing. I don’t have a boat, so I always fish from the bank.
Thanks Adam for this great video! I’m looking forward to your next video!