If your into finding new friends to fish with join your local fishing forums and ask to join some people on a trip. I took a couple guys fishing this winter that became good friends because of this. Forums also give you a good idea of the more popular lakes, then you can study the types of fish in those lakes and make a game plan with a topo map.
My favorite way to find new lakes is to pick a lake in the area that seems to have very little info on it. Look at the DNR stocking reports to see whats in it and more importantly what type of bait is there. I then try to find a lake map and make a game plan.