Ultimate Online Maps, pic added, a fishing tool to behold!

[Chinook SSSF]

I wanted to share with you one of the maps I like to use to find new spots and see other spots I have been to from a different view. I have been using this online map for many years now to guide my way in many of the places I go. I had never really thought about sharing this because I myself had not realized what a great tool this really is to me or could be to others who have not used it yet. It had become second nature to me like sharpening a hook. This map

http://maps.live.com/

has 3 different modes to use. Road view, ariel view and a 3D hybrid map. You can zoom in and out of any mode but keep in mind the 3D mode actually makes it harder to understand so stay with 2D road and ariel views. If you spot your target, try the "birds eye" view to realy zoom in close... Example

For fun I decided to find my old house I grew up in......

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/amapcap1.jpg

I found it! Still standing back in time somewhere in California! The red dot is my old house....The green dot was the house my childhood friend Matt B. grew up in....That swimming pool in the backyard sometimes would go foul from not taking care of it. One day Matt B. and I decided to go to the lake shown below and get some bluegills and crawdads for the pool. It worked and they lived! We even got to fish for the bluegills for a few weeks before his mom found out. She was steamin mad!....we tried to tell her the fish would keep the bugs down but she insisted we drain the pool and clean it...

Here is the birds eye view once you find your target. Wow, love what they have done with the place in the last 20 years........

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/amapcap2.jpg


OR how bout your old favorite fishing holes? Here is mine "Echo" lake. I caught bass in this pond close to 10 lbs in the 1980's.

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/amapcap3.jpg

Here is my favorite saltwater shorefishing spot on the west coast....Coyote Point......Stripers, sturgeon, sharks and bat rays as big as your truck hood made up the mixed bag of fish you might catch during an all nighter with lanterns and squid off the end of the point.

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/amapcap4.jpg

So try this out sometime when your wondering about someplace. I use this every year many times to locate spots before I go. This map works killer for things as simple as finding a good place to park you can not see from the road or on a highway. In some cases even show deep spots and channels in lakes that you can not see from the water.

There are other maps of the same nature but so far I have not found a need to move beyond this one since the 3D stuff does nothing for me as an angler. I also preffer the real photos over the generated graphics. Might take you a bit of getting used to but once you learn how to get around this map it will be easy to find the place your looking for, then zoom in.

If you find anything interesting from your past or present, cap it and show us. Someone could darn near retrace the steps of their entire life through this map alone.

I already have!


....

[The Nothing]

And, something that is cool, is that I was able to import a ZML file that has all my fishing spots from Google Earth/Google Maps. That's a lifesaver. 97 locations...

[RollinontheRvr]

I'll defnitely be checking that out. Thanks Matt.

[Shortbus]

Cool link, thanks

[ryank]

That is badass thanks for sharing. nice place by the way!

[Chinook SSSF]

Here is a birds eye shot of the same lake after rotating the grid in 2d ariel mode. I can now see the lake in a whole new way I can not seen from the ground. Ares outside metro may not have birds eye to offer but if your fishing close to ground zero, give a look before you go. I will post a few more things in the weeks to come here. :cool:

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/amapcap5.jpg

[Chinook SSSF]

I was able to locate a few photos from when I was around 12 years old already standing knee deep in lakes sporting polarized glasses and holding chunky bucketmouths plied from the reed with live minnows or black rubber worms. This was also from the lake pictured above in the hills of Almaden California. Echo Lake had some big bass at times but I am told the lake is now gone. The images from the map above are a few years old now and the lake was removed in the last few years. I spent 10 years walking around the edge of this lake as a kid, fishing for bass, crappies, bluegill and golden shiners. The other blond kid in the photo {James Barrette} is still a friend of mine I speak with every few years.

This is my favorite thing about these maps, how you can retrace your steps and if you are like me, it really helped having taken photos my whole life along the way....This is what you get :cool:

http://www.smallstreamsalmonfishing.com/sssfimages/hostedimages08/echolake.jpg

[worm slayer]

I love photos of when we were kids especialy when you catch one that really shows the time period, aka the comb in the sock and the socks alone. Thanks for sharing that pic.

[Chinook SSSF]

I love photos of when we were kids especialy when you catch one that really shows the time period, aka the comb in the sock and the socks alone. Thanks for sharing that pic.


LOL Yea Terry! I know, thats so true and his long hair was such a sign of those times for us lol........

[stephan009l]

well I took a look at the map thing there matt, very impressed!:) But when I look at my place it looks desquesting lol, probly cuz the water is brown :eek:

Well this is where I basss/crappie/perch/catfish an just about everything else down here!

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=33.16599~-96.112626&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

[Chinook SSSF]

Cool, I checked it out, looks like a neet place. Alot of big nice looking lakes not to far from you as well. Try any of those lakes?

[stephan009l]

Cool, I checked it out, looks like a neet place. Alot of big nice looking lakes not to far from you as well. Try any of those lakes?

Actually yes I have, the ones where u first see are small resivoirs, but if you zoom out, there are about 4-5 very large lakes. Lake fork holds the Tx state record for bass. So i'v gone fishing there a few times, but its easier to walk to the local spots:cool: