Reading and Dissecting New Waters Via Electronics

The reservoir is twice the size it was the last time you were here. The fishable water now has doubled in size. The potential of finding fish seems endless. You have only five days to dissect this water, put together a pattern, and have a game plan by tournament time. The challenge of finding fish is at hand. Do you have a strategy developed to tackle new water affectively? Do you need hints on where to begin in a vast sea of questions?

When you pick the brains of pros who do this day in and day out, you may be surprised at how quickly they resort to the basics, yet use available technology to find quintessential details. Look at Marty Glorvigen, who’s been in this business a long time. He’s had many opportunities to compete on and dissect a plethora of different waters. Yet, he relies on basic concepts to find his tournament spots.

I had the opportunity to spend some time on the water this year with Marty. To be able to observe a veteran map out a lake, make a milk run of spots, eliminate water, and see just how he pictures things in his mind is impressive. I witnessed the years of experience at work.

I wasn’t sure where to start my interrogation. As a matter of fact, Marty had checked four spots and eliminated two before I even began asking questions. His mind was a blizzard of ideas, and he was trying to catch the individual flakes that would make the difference—flakes that have made him what he is today, one of the leaders in the professional fishing industry. This is a trip into the mind of Marty Glorvigen to relay how he reacts to and interprets new waters.

As the day of fishing progressed, the methods to Marty’s madness began to unfold in front of my eyes. He has a two-step process in how he looks at water, dissects a spot, and decides if it’s tournament worthy or not.

Marty begins with his electronics. If you ever want to watch someone use electronics to the unit’s maximum ability, watch Marty, who has a unique electronics setup that meets his style of reading water. He sets two Bottomline 6500 MMC units side by side on his console. One Sidefinder unit is set up to read to the left; the other scans to the right. He simultaneously reads the depth below the boat while scanning for the presence of fish to the sides.

When it comes to new waters, Marty has one goal in mind: points, inside turns, sharp drop-offs, and to find areas of deep water that come close to shore. Why? Because these areas tend to concentrate baitfish, which in turn concentrate walleyes. Does he look for certain structural elements such as rock, bottom changes, or wood? Not to start with. He simply looks for deeper water that runs close to shore.

Now, combine the two systems. The way Marty sets up his electronics and the water he is looking for play hand in hand. He can run shorelines and easily pick out areas that match his deep-water theory because of his unique use and setup of electronics. In addition, the side-scanning feature detects the presence of both baitfish and gamefish, further instilling confidence in areas with “fish life.” In doing so, Marty creates a milk run of areas that he wants to check out. Once his milk run is established, Marty goes back and starts looking for subtle structural elements that make certain areas better than others. He drops his lines in the water and literally feels his way through the area to locate the fish he needs and wants. He pays close attention to specific details of the area. What holds fish and why? He pays close attention to structural details, bottom changes, logs, rocks, and other structural changes. He continues this process through his milk run until he has established a half dozen or so tournament-worthy locations.

Is this a science or a special gift? It’s simply Marty Glorvigen doing his job: finding and catching walleyes.