[How to] Use Google Maps to Find Great Fly Fishing Trout Streams
Google Map Junkie
I'll admit it, I'm a Google Map junkie. The amount of information Google Maps puts at your finger tips is insane! But before I load you up with a 997 Google Maps of the best places to fly fish in the United States, which I intend to do, I figured I ought to show you how to use the maps first.
How to Use Google Maps
I made this quick screen cast video to illustrate how to use the navigation features of Google Maps, including a hidden feature few know about, using one of the maps in our Pennsylvania Fly Fishing Guide.
How Do You Use Google Maps?
Know of additional Google Map features that you think your fellow fly fisherman might be interested in learning about? Drop us a note in the comment box and we'll incorporate it and acknowledge you in our next Google Map How-To Video.
Enjoy!
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Awesome tactic. I plan on using it next month n Montana. Too bad I don’t go fishing in PA. Can you find all the fly shops via Google Maps in other states?
Thanks John. I just recently started mapping the rivers and fly shops in Montana and have some of them on my Yellowstone National Park Fly Fishing Guide (a work in progress).
I am working on mapping the location of major Rivers, Local Fly Shops, Fly Fishing Guides, Fly Fishing Outfitters and Lodging in all the states using Google Maps. It seems every time I take a trip I end up having to dig around to find all this information. I thought it would be cool to have it all in one place on a map.
Right now I am looking for a better tool to interface with Google Maps to make uploading data easier and to enable others to add information to the maps – for me to do it all myself would take forever! I will also be adding search and filtering capability to the maps so you can pull up just the information you are interested in.
Thanks for the feedback and good luck in Montana!
I did a dedicated study and FINALLY was reminded that NOTHING beats hitting the stream on foot. We all know this but it was a hard slap. Miles of hiking after months of research (including Google images) only to find a feeder stream no less appealing for migrating trout than any of the others that had already been identified as impassable. Sometimes you can’t see what’s under the canopy of the thick forest …. sigh.
- Still a fan of Google maps
Bernard Yin
You are absolutely right Bernard! As much as I love Google Maps, nothing beats getting out there and doing “research” on the stream. Thanks for the feedback!
Ken
Very informative. Wondering if you get any blowback from fishers wanting to keep secret spots secret? Now was that a map with pinpoints created and detailed by you? If so, I would definitely like to know more about actually creating unique maps. I am a GPS nut (Texas is pretty big), and would love to be able to transcribe the points onto a typical googlemap. SD
SD,
I have not had too much pushback from fishers looking to keep secrets spots secret – not yet anyway. But I fully expect that to happen. There’s a delicate balance between providing folks enough information for them to find a stream without giving out all the details. Part of the fun is the exploring, right?
The map I used in the video tutorial was prepared by paflyfish.com but I also create these types of maps – I have 20 in the works right now. My goal is to have a map for each state and national park in the country. This is too big a task for me to do myself so I am collaborating with folks around the country who know the local waters better than I.
Google Maps are pretty easy to make and to collaborate with others. I’d be glad to help you get started.
You can exchange data between Google Maps and your GPS pretty easily. I have all my favorite streams mapped!
I will make up a few more video tutorials to help you out with the above.
[...] previously introduced how to use Google Maps to find great trout streams . In addition to detailed online maps, Google Maps allow us to provide stream descriptions, fishing [...]
[...] you have not seen it or just need a refresher, check out our video How To Use Google Maps where we show you how to use Google Maps navigation features so you can get the most out of this [...]