Understanding fish finders

[fishingtomatoseed]

I was just woundering where i could get some reading materail on how to read a fish finder. or is it just all experiance.

[ThomWV]

As much as I hate to say it the ability to make heads or tails out of the display is almost all experience.Fortunately that is at the subtle level. The truth of the matter is that if you have a half way decent fish finder (read Furuno into that, all others are second rate) you will immediately be able to tell a good solid return from the trash that shows up on the screen.Some things you can come to understand pretty quickly, and bottom structure is first on that list. I personally think that the ability to interpret structure is vastly more important than actually seeing fish on the screen.Think of it this way. Remember those two sniper guys in the DC area a year or so ago? Well, when they were looking for folks to shoot at they didn't have to go looking for individual targets, all they had to do was park themselves over a gas station or a Wally World, some place where people were bound to show up. Fishing is a lot like that most of the time. If you are in the right place the targets will show up and the fish finder's role in all if this is to help you find the right places.Once you get the hang of structure down the next important thing is bait. Now I don't know how it is for fresh water guys but out in the deep stuff if I find a big green cloud under me I'll put out baits every time. For us bait and structure, along with temperature breaks, are really what define the areas we fish. That's because the fish we mostly target don't show up on fish finders, even though they are good sized fish.Oh, to get a better idea of how fish finders work I'd go to the Lowrance web site if I were you. They have an excellent tutorial there and I've always though it was well worth reading. Just ignore the obvious built in hype for their own fish finders and you'll do just fine.Here, take a look around and tell me what you see: Thom

[fishingtomatoseed]

thanks alot Thom. i am useing it in fresh water and was wanting to learn how to fish for stripers on lake texoma. thank you

[fishingtomatoseed]

i see two humps a channel and about 4 objects. i am new at actuley useing it to find stuff and not just the depth.

[imported_JD__]

fishingtomatoseed I have a tutorial prepared by the international tech coordinator for Lowrance. This guy really knows his stuff, he teaches/trains tournament fishermen how to use their products. It is in color with actual screen shots of fish, bait, structure, etc. and is fully illustrated, way beyond the basics. The principles would apply to any brand sonar. Its in Word format, 2.8 MB. I'll be happy to email you or anyone else a copy if interested. JD

[fishingtomatoseed]

thank you JD my email is clint405@hotmail.com

[LTC Birkett]

Hey JD,I would be interested in that tutorial as well... Would sure appreciate you sending it to me if you had the time. thanks.birkbill@cox.net

[vidar]

i woud alsoo like to read that .....please...? vidar.olsen4@chello.no

[eurolarva]

same here for the reading. Thankyou in advance ralgoetz@comcast.net

[18rabbit]

...if you have a half way decent fish finder (read Furuno into that, all others are second rate)...

You probably couldnÂ’t guess that Thom has a particular bias here, can you?

[ThomWV]

__________________ __________________ Well, Maybe just a little ....... Thom

[rodbolt]

hello yep my understanding is that they are programmed to beep and show a big fish periodically to keep you enthused. tackle dealers and boat makers are all a part of the scam. good luck and keep posting

[ThomWV]

RodBolt,It is my understanding that if you were to head up around Duck today, what with that southwest wind blowing and it being fairly flat right off the beach that the rock would have a lot of beeping going on .... Lord, its hard to be here in West Virginia.Thom

[rodbolt]

possibly there were on the bar at the kitty hawk swimming beach 2 days ago. 30 pounders in the surf. must have been over 500 birds screaming and diving. I was taking my son to school and had to stop and walk over the dunes to watch a while.

[Boatist]

JDI would love to see your file as well.Boatist@yahoo.com

[Boatist]

Fishing TomI agree with ThomWV that Furuno is top of the line for deep saltwater (over 300 feet). I would strongly disagree if your are fishing Shallow Fresh water. I like Lowrance much better or Garmin. Ever see a Furuno Fish Finder in a bass Tournament. I have fished many and never seen one. Went to a lot of wayin when I did not fish as well and never seen a Furuno. http://www.lowrance.com/Tutorials/So...utorial_01.asp

[Boatist]

ThomWVWhat I see is a fake DEMO picture almost as bad as what Lowrance puts in the demo's. That fish deep in the notch or V can not be seen with a normal 200khz transducer and for sure not with a 50 Khz. The fish would for sure be in the dead zone at 50khz. I see a depth reading of 55.8 on a display showing less than 51 feet. I would question if you get enough returns to show that fish at 20 feet while doing 19 knots. Maybe at 50khz with a 45 degree transducer.

[eurolarva]

JD Thanks for sending me that file. Man is that cool. I have a pretty good understanding of how the thing works now and it explains why I could see fish and not catch them. I am dying for the ice to melt so I can go out and play with my fish finder and see if I can become more proficient with it.

[JimB6898]

JD- I would also like a copy, thanks for posting as I am new to this, and there is sooo much to learn. I picked up a Garmin 188. I also found this site when I was thinking about getting one and couldn't sort thru all the opinions: http://store.oneeyesallysfishfinders...ounetokna.html my address for attachments isjlbuck@pacbell.net

[Andrew Leigh]

Hi JD,would love a copy. Is it any different to the one that appears on the Lowrance site under all those differing headings?aleigh@iafrica.comThanks for the help.CheersAndrew

[jack bowman]

JDDitto ,would you send me that fish finder fileThanksjack.pat@sympatico.ca

[danberlin]

Hey JD,If you could send me that file too I would appreciate it.danor1063@msn.comThank you

[Homerr]

Toss that file my way if you could:Homerr999@msn.comThanks!H.

[fowl intent]

JD,Please e-mail me with that info as well.fcmjr@ffast.netThanks

[imported_JD__]

Hey Guys,As I said, I'm happy to share the file with anyone who is interested but please remember that the file is 2.8 mb. Some servers will not permit a file this size, especially the "free" ones. Check with your provider before requesting a copy. If you are limited, the email simply gets returned to me and I have to notify you that I "tried" and it was returned.Thanks,JD