Fish Explorer has been developed as a tool for anglers to help anglers. Consider it a portal where you control the information (well not all of it, but the good stuff anyway). It is designed for you to pull up a lake detail page and find out its current status. In order for that to be true for every lake, we ask for your help in keeping the lakes updated. So the next time you get back from a trip, tell us what you observed!

If you fish a specific lake or lakes often, consider being a Lake Skipper. Skippers commit to maintaining conditions on one or more lakes on a regular basis. So if you live close to one of our featured lakes and can use an excuse to get out more often, fill out our Skipper Application!

How do I?
It's a piece of cake! Go to a lake page using the drop-down menu at the top of the page and then click on the "Submit lake Update" button (Or you may click on the red button which appears at the top of every page on the site.) This will take you to the lake update form. Enter any information you have for any of the fields requested. Click the submit button and the info will be sent to us for review and approval. Once approved, the information will be displayed at the top of the lake detail page with your nickname next to it.

What kind of information are you looking for?
Water levels, water temperatures, and any other conditions that are pertinent, including road closures, boat ramp closures, campground closures, ice conditions, wind conditions, fishing reports, and anything observable that could conceivably factor into a fishing/camping/boating trip to the lake.

But I'm not a good fisherman, so my info isn't worth a darn
Baloney! Any information you can provide is likely valuable to other people. You don't need to know the spawning traits of the pikeminnow to submit a great lake report. This is why we ask for mostly observable conditions - things that are measurable. The best reports will detail conditions as they exist. While some reports may go more into depth regarding fishing techniques and observations, you do not need to include that.

I don't want to give away my secrets!
We' re not asking for secrets! We are looking for conditions of lakes and lake facilities to help other lake visitors. While we'd love it if you offered any fishing observations, it is more important to us to get help keeping the basic conditions updated. Water temperatures and levels are some of these that we feel will give a knowledgable angler enough information to be successful without exposing your well-kept fish-catching secrets.