When fishing a new lake?

When you go to a lake that you haven’t fished before, Where do you start? What do you look for? I’m not a fan of going where everyone else is, so I’m curious to see where you start. Specifically talking ice fishing.

Depends on species. Eyes I look for sharp depth changes or points along the break.

I am mostly looking for crappies when on the ice. When you are looking for do you find the sharp depth changes. I’m assuming just by punching holes and droping the flasher in to check?

Having a map of the lake is key. Community spots are good to know. You don’t have to join the group but it might key you into other similar places on the water that are not getting as much attention. Finding weed beds is good to do as feeding flats in deeper water for perch.

Either looking at lake maps and go from there or my lake master and gps. As for crappies I usually look for deeper parts of the lake or close to them

I like to start with a good map/chip of the lake and a trip to the local bait shop. Ask if they have heard of any particular bait that is out producing others and let them know what you are targeting. Also ask if they can tell you what types of structure is producing. I have found most bait shop owners will steer you in the right direction, they want repeat customers. Of course there are the few that you will need to weed out some of the information from. I have found for the most part this will get me a starting point.
I first look for deep water along breaks holding good structure, submerged wood or cribs. Crappies like having deep water nearby holding cover. If there really isn’t any deep water to speak of look for weed lines near any creek entrances, Crappies also like some flow.

I like to start off with bigger baits such as Lightning Spoons, Slender Spoons and Demon Jigging Spoons. They make for a great search bait. The bigger spoons will call in targets from great distances. Perfect your technique from there. Sometimes there will be no need for any change.
Most importantly to me, don’t be afraid to drill holes, many holes. Keep on the move until you find what it is you are looking for. Do not set up camp until you start pulling marks. Keep notes on your map of your findings so each trip you have either weeded out areas not producing or you start to build up hot spots.
The more time you put in on even given body of water the more success you will start having with each trip.
Good luck, go get em

For winter crappies I look for deep water near shallow bays. They will usually be suspended in these areas during the day. If they aren’t in the deep part, start looking on the weedline closest to the deep water or right in the weeds. If there are no deep area, try a weedling adjacent to the deepest water.

first = MN DNR website
check the cull stats for possible target species
factor in the expected growth rate for older stats
check lake type number to compare with other fisheries you may have experience with or reports for

Then you are ready to go with Brett’s post recommendations

In some cases you can pinpoint sharp drops by looking at the gradient of the nearest shore…. A camera helps cover more water per hole when looking for structure/drops