# River Maps



## racetech (Dec 2, 2013)

Anywhere to get a good map of local rivers. Something to give you an idea of depths at various points, even the terain of the river bed. Kinda like the lake maps you see that depict the bottom and the depths of water? Just wondering if there is such a thing.


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## FISHIN216 (Mar 18, 2009)

racetech said:


> Anywhere to get a good map of local rivers. Something to give you an idea of depths at various points, even the terain of the river bed. Kinda like the lake maps you see that depict the bottom and the depths of water? Just wondering if there is such a thing.


There is no such thing outside the shipping channels as far as I know. Rivers are always changing

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## racetech (Dec 2, 2013)

I know ive never seen one really. Would be nice tho lol

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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

FISHIN216 is right, I don't think there's a such thing for rivers, except for maybe the big stuff like the Mississippi, Ohio, etc. 

Take a look at various topo maps. They won't neccessarily be able to tell you the depth of the river, but it'll show what the terrain and gradient is like and will give you a general idea of the structure of the watershed.

Satellite and terrain view on Google(and other sites) maps can help greatly also. I'm always on Google Maps checking out new river/stream sections.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Only thing I've ever seen was nav maps, and they only cover shipping channels and the like as 216 said.
I'm a fan of bing maps, their "birds' eye view" has fond a few spots for me.


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## mokabe (Jan 23, 2011)

Hey racetech, Ron Guttu was a guest speaker at our OCBS meeting. Check his website SGCmaps.com. He has on stream reference maps for all the major steelhead rivers. They show parking areas, access sites, runs, pools, etc. I bought the guide for the Vermilion River. Also check out the ohiosteelheaders.com website.


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

Holy 35 dollars! I'd like to have that map but i'd rather walk a river and find out for myself than pay that much.


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## gildor (Oct 12, 2008)

I utilize Google Maps to spy for spots to fish, and it works pretty good for me. I can see those maps on that other site to be useful, like having a guide in your own home. I keep a blog to record successes, failures, photos, and other thoughts but one could use the old pen and paper journal for this purpose. So, it is what you make of it.


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## tehsavage (Aug 16, 2013)

gildor said:


> I utilize Google Maps to spy for spots to fish, and it works pretty good for me. I can see those maps on that other site to be useful, like having a guide in your own home. I keep a blog to record successes, failures, photos, and other thoughts but one could use the old pen and paper journal for this purpose. So, it is what you make of it.



I +1 google maps. Usually you can tell the depth of a hole by the deeper the shade of blue, the only problem with google maps is i wish it had a topography feature. Many times have i found great spots and said wow thats right off the road! only to find out its a 200 foot cliff from the road.


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## fishinnick (Feb 19, 2011)

tehsavage said:


> the only problem with google maps is i wish it had a topography feature. Many times have i found great spots and said wow thats right off the road! only to find out its a 200 foot cliff from the road.


The terrain view can help you with that. Also, if you have Google Earth try pushing down on the roller on the mouse, and then move the mouse to tilt the view. That gives you a better idea of the terrain(especially the big shale cliffs on the Erie tribs).


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## racetech (Dec 2, 2013)

Ive tried a few different maps seems like alot of them were photographed when the rivers were muddy. But google maps does help

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## fishchris (Jan 15, 2013)

You need to do, what a lot of us older guys do ..is get yourself a bluegill rod and some worms.a nice hot day and fine the holes you are looking for .it is fun relaxing,just remember that in summer the river is at its lowest pool,.so you have to take that in account when making up your mind where you think the fish will be at winter pool..i us my cellphone to take pics of land marks .so i know where to fish. have fun ,be safe and good luck to you all.:B


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

as FishChris said, get out during the summer and find the deepest holes. The water is at its lowest, but it gives you an idea where the winter holes are. Basically the deepest, slowest parts of the river. Also try to mark the gravel areas just off a main flow. These areas with rocks the size of a baseball and smaller, can be used for spawning. So fish will hold below these areas waiting to spawn and after spawn as "dropbacks."

Another time to view the river, is when it is about half frozen. The areas that are left flowing, are usually the "highways" the steelhead use to swim upstream. Keep these images in your head and learn to imagine them when the water is clear. This will give you an idea where the seams are that the fish hold in for food lanes.

Oh yea and keep in mind the river flow changes with each flood. But when you find bedrock, those areas don't change as quickly, and they usually don't hold steelies unless gravel is on bottom.

What you really want to concentrate on is reading the water.

Best of luck,
Rickerd


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