Good bass fishermen prepare in the offseason in many ways. Tackle preparation is the biggest, of course, but I know if you get one more lecture on how to put new trebles on hard baits during the off season, you'll probably stop reading. In my opinion, too much time spent on altering what bass might bite takes away from time that should be spent figuring out where bass will bite. The Internet makes this easy during the winter, and I'm not talking about going to forums and reading threads about where Ralph's guide service has been chucking a crankbait with clients. I'm talking hardcore research in the form of advanced mapping. Google Earth is nothing new, but there is one feature of this free program that is largely underutilized by bass angler, and could possibly be your best off-season tool to get on fish faster this spring.