A Google Earth moment

If there is one tool to use before heading out fishing, Google Earth is KING. In fact, our success in New Zealand is predicated on doing our homework before leaving by loading up screen capture videos of Google Earth - of waters we're interested in so we can view them on a laptop in the middle of nowhere while camping on some river or stream.
The screen capture jpegs work wonders as well. At right: last fall I was looking at various waters and zoomed up the streams looking for features I knew would hold trout. On this particular stream, I noted the deep green pools, twisty nature of the river, and the relief of the topography in zoomed out mode. Obviously, if fish were going to be anywhere on this river, especially resident trout, they would be here. As I zoomed in a little further, I noted the big boulder and began wondering what the fishing would be like, what the camera angles would be. All this before we hopped a plane, sitting in my home office, 16000 km from the rock.

We fished the stream above sometime late November, during the monsoons that came at us every 36 hours for 3 weeks. It was tough fishing. The skies were white, the reflection a killer, and sight fishing tough. That said, the trees along the rivers there offer some sighting opportunities, so when we arrived, while we saw nothing at first glimpse, spending some time at lunch looking out over the pool revealed a pair of nice browns in the 4 to 6 pound range. The boulder we saw at home was right in front of us. So too, the trout we were dreaming of.

Sure, you'll need to know the tendencies of trout species, the water cycles, and many other factors of the local fishing, but Google Earth certainly opens up a world to explore.