started using a fishfinder

[john crowe]

I bought an eagle 320. when it picks up fish, so you fish from behind boat, side of boat, etc etc??

how far past where the fish are picked up do you continue to go before dropping anchor?

 

[vickersfan]

Re: started using a fishfinder

hey man,

cool im looking at getting a finder too but i may wait till fall and see if i can find a deal... but from my experience we use them trolling slowly like 1.5 to 2.5 mph and when you spot fish we keep on going and if we have no luck we will try stoping after a fish is marked or a group and try casting or jigging or bobber fishing depending on what type of fishing your doing.

what fish are you after anyways?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: started using a fishfinder

Where the fish are in relation to the boat depends on how deep the water is. Most locator transducers do their sonar sounding using a 20 degree cone. If you are in 200 feet of water, a 20 degree cone covers a lot of area. If you in 15 feet of water it will be an area slghtly larger than the size of the boat. Actually, by the time the locator detects a fish, processes what it sees, and displays it for you, you are already past the fish by a couple of seconds. It also obviously depends on how fast you are going at the time. About 50% of what is identified as fish really are not.

 

[john crowe]

Re: started using a fishfinder

bass fishing mainly...

which brings the second half of the question.

met a guy today who had a boat full of fish. I asked him of course what he was using and where he caught them..etc etc....

he said to go to so and so water should drop to around 20 feet......then fish between 8 and 15 feet deep and I should get a few.

how the hell can i measure how deep im fishing. that part doesnt make sense. On the fish finder i see alot of what appears to be fish activity around the 15 foot mark in 25 foot water. how do i measure depth when casting/reeling??

 

[eurolarva]

Re: started using a fishfinder

First off you want to turn off fish ID. Then you want to reduce your gain to get rid of background clutter. When there are fish you will see arches. I have a manual that explains all this that I got here at Iboats. If you want a copy email me at ralgoetz@comcast.net. You also need to know the lake. Using your fishfinder and going over a lake many times is the best way to know it. After a few times you will know where on the drop off you are at and what to do when you get there.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: started using a fishfinder

To fish at a given depth you need to understand how you intend to keep your bait at that depth. If casting a given lure (a crankbait for example) it must first be designed to reach that depth when retrieved or trolled. When trolling, how deep a lure goes depends on how much line you have out. If bobber fishing, use a slip bobber. It will drop the bait to whatever you set the bobber stop knot at -- every time. Read some fishing technique books. Spend some time looking at fishing gear at your local sport shops. Not everyone is an expert and they understand that. They will explain things to you.

 

[tinkertinker]

Re: started using a fishfinder

I have the Eagle 320, and dialed in right, it is a great finder, just small screen and no color.

Turn off FishID! I hear fishermen troll by me with the fish alarm beeping and just chuckle. Could be weeds, could be a bait pile ... they'll never know.

I use 100% sensitivity, not auto (deep, clear lake), 100% ping speed. Solid voltage is important. I use a separate battery for it, usually - a rechargeable 12V from an outdoor store. Use Menu-> Digital Data or Overlay (don't remember) to view voltage. If it goes below 12V, you aren't seeing detail.

I can actually jig in 100 feet of water (we do that here) and can see my 1-oz jig go down, then reel up when the lake trout zooms up to nail it. Makes me wish it was a bigger screen. If you aren't perfectly still, you won't see the jig's full descent.

I attached two pics from a fancier depth finder from a buddy's boat. The blob could be bait, but we also get odd temperature anomalies that can cause this. FishID would show it as a big fish, which it isn't. The other pic shows the downrigger balls going through the water and the upside down U shapes of fish. We call them "hooks"

 

[bassboy1]

Re: started using a fishfinder

The best way I have found to find the depth of a lure is to test it in a swimming pool. Cranks have the depth usually somewhere on the box, and a sinking line like a heavy fluoro will increase it by one to two feet. But, with my soft plastics I cast, and count how many seconds it takes to get to the bottom of an XX foot deep pool. Then, I know almost exactly. I can fish a weightless soft plastic at more than 15 feet (and actually catch something on it) Takes forever getting down there, but the slow falling without the weight sometimes triggers a strike.

Also, never rely solely on what people tell you. You won't catch much. I almost always go to my local lake forum, and read the reports, and sometimes ask what is working before I leave to head to the lake. But, I almost never throw the same bait, or head to the same place and such. You gotta put your own variation on things, and try your own methods. Usually works best, and is the best way to LEARN, and not FOLLOW DIRECTIONS.

As for your sonar, for a while, you need to TURN OFF the fish symbols. Then, IGNORE fish arches for the most part. You need to learn to interpret different cover and structure. Start by fishing the type of cover you know holds bass. Then, learn to interpret baitfish on there. If they are in a tight ball, you can tell they feel little threat. If they are swimming in a loose and frantic pattern, you can tell that they are being chased, and they have separated as not to become such an easy target. Then, and only then, start interpreting fish arches as bass, and trying to catch them. A local guide around here rarely tries to catch fish that he sees on sonar. He uses them to see what depth they are holding at, but rarely casts to a structure cause he sees fish in it. I feel that it was invented more to find what depth they are holding at, and for finding cover and baitfish, more than actually pinpointing a casting direction for fishing.

EDIT: I reread my post, and realized I had one major mistake in it. I for some reason typed that if baitfish are in a clump, they are being chased. Didn't mean to type that. Meant to type the opposite. When they are in a tight clump, they feel safe, and are just following each other. When they feel threatened, the scatter. Sorry for any confusion. I fixed it in the main body of the post too.

 

[beerfilter]

Re: started using a fishfinder

That fancy bit of gadgetry is best used to determine depth,structure,bottom composition,cover,thermocline,etc..
It is virtually useless to try to pinpoint a particular fish to cast to.

If you couple this with a knowledge of the species habits,and,awareness of the activity on the surface(assuming you aren't after deep or suspended fish..),it is a usefull tool.

Otherwise,you have just wasted your money on a fancy distraction.

I fished for years without electronics.
I learned the water and the fish.
They are a great enhancement,and,you can narrow down locations faster.
They are not a substitute for lack of "fish sense",however.

 

[tinkertinker]

Re: started using a fishfinder

I agree with everyone else - usually you are looking for patterns, not trying to catch a certain fish you see on the screen. Regularly marking fish 80' down over 100' of water, etc.

 

[jtexas]

Re: started using a fishfinder

first, you have to realize that only the first column of pixels on the right hand edge of the screen shows what's under you right now - everything else is just history.

next, rule of thumb: at a cone angle of 20?, a lit up pixel represents an echo return from an object inside a circle with a diameter of appoximately 1/3 its depth. Other words, an object at 30 feet is somewhere within 5 feet of your transom - you don't know whether its ahead, behind, to starboard or port, or right under you.

shallower than 12 feet or so, don't expect to see the fish you're trying to catch.....but over 15 feet, if you're fishing under the boat, you can catch fish you see on the graph. At times I've been able to use the image of my lure on the screen to keep it in front of suspended fish - that's using a jigging spoon directly under the boat.

here's what a white bass feeding frenzy looks like on the 320:

(courtesy of my friend, Lake Ray Hubbard fishing guide John Varner)


btw, bassboy, I think you were right the first time.......at least with threadfin shad (the bait of choice on reservoirs in my area) - when threatened, they ball up, each trying to get as deep into the ball as they can.......when no predators are around, they show up as a line, across the screen, spread out, enjoying themselves, so to speak.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: started using a fishfinder

btw, bassboy, I think you were right the first time.......at least with threadfin shad (the bait of choice on reservoirs in my area) - when threatened, they ball up, each trying to get as deep into the ball as they can.......when no predators are around, they show up as a line, across the screen, spread out, enjoying themselves, so to speak.

That is what was originally in my mind, then after I typed it, I read otherwise on a couple of fairly respectable sources. Since I had about 3 sources saying the same thing, I assumed it was right, and that I had somehow mixed something up in my mind there (happens a lot to me) Logically it makes sense that they would bunch up when chased. I guess I will be researching this topic a bit more.