Google Earth Pro has updated images for northern Colorado

If you have time on your hands these days, waiting for either warmer weather or weather that’ll put a proper ice cap on your favorite lake, you might want to play with Google Earth Pro. It’s free; it’s a bit complicated to use when you get started, but it's manageable and will give you views of favorite fishing spots that you can’t find anywhere else. They've added updated images for northern Colorado, taken in June and October...

Check it out; if you like it, with a little patience you can learn to use it. If you're puzzled, drop me a note at billjohnp@gmail.com. We've talked about this before; see articles from last February "Finding your secret fishing hole" Parts one and two

Google updates its virtual map of the world regularly using satellite and aerial photography, patched together by software to make it seem like one giant view of earth from space. Once you locate and zoom in on a particular location, at the bottom right of the image you can usually find the date that image was taken. 

Up on the lower left you’ll find a bunch of icons to try, including ones to save the image of a favorite lake or potential hunting spot. The one that looks like a little clock, called “Historical Imagery” allows you to literally look back in time for satellite images taken at different times. You can look for the best available view, for example, when water levels are low enough to learn something new. 

I’m attaching a June 20, 2020 view of St. Vrain State Park. If you click on the photo you'll be able to zoom in and out; you can do it even better within the Google Earth application so you can probe for things like shoreline cover and weedbeds. (If you were camped there that day, you might be able to spot your camper.) (If you’re reading this with a cell phone, the image is pretty small. You probably won’t be impressed.) The bigger the PC screen you use, the happier you’ll be. 

Below is the link to the free Google Earth download. The one for Microsoft-based computers is better than the version for Apple. Hey, it’s made by Google.

To download Google Earth Pro: https://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html?hl=en-GB