Northwest Fishing Reports

Anyone know how to use a fish finder?

fishnislife wrote:Turn it on.




fishnislife

:compress: :compress:


Don't think of it as a locater of fish... don't think of it as leading you to catching more fish exactly. Think more of using it to look at underwater structures and topography. Look for drop offs, logs, reefs, places that fish may hold up.
You aren't going to see a fish on there, and then suddenly run up on him and set the hook.

I lost the manual...that's why i'm asking.

Turn it on and use it to show the bottom. We used ours to find where the "medium sized" fish were holding at, fished that level and caught a fish. Not super hard to use.

The Quadfather wrote:

fishnislife wrote:Turn it on.




fishnislife

:compress: :compress:



You aren't going to see a fish on there, and then suddenly run up on him and set the hook.

Not true! I was with a friend out off Hat and he says "There is a big fish under the boat" So I drop a heavy jig and WHAM I real in a nice 10# Blackmouth. It does happen but that was luck.

Scott

LOL, you have got to love your responses.

First, a fish finder is indeed more of a structure locater. Still, in some cases, it does and will show fish. I find that to locate suspended fish, it can be quite useful. Still, if I don't see fish on the locater, that does not mean that they are not there. I have observed that boat noise, or shadow, can cause fish to move out of the sounder cone, and you simply will not see them. So, a fish finder/locater is just another tool, not a bird dog hunting for pheasants.

The on-site manuals are the best way to get current information, but to be honest, the just turn it on is not bad advise either. The manuals are good for teaching you the more difficult features, but most have default settings that will work well enough to get you by, and then when things are slow, just play with the unit and get familiar with it. I know people that have never cracked their finder's manual and still do quite well with them.

If you are trying to spot fish then look for the arches.What you are seeing is the swim bladders of the fish.Semi -useful for judging size too.As previously mentioned I find mine more usefull for seeing bottom structure,depth,surface temp than actually spotting fish.But still if you cruise around with the fish finder on you will get a general idea of the depth that the fish are holding at.Remember to look for the arches.My finder has a fish id feature which shows everything that gets a ping as a little fish icon.Under water lilly pad leaves ,salamanders and even the anchor rope show as fish.Not real reliable but still if you cruise around you will get a general sense of where the fish are holding.Transponder location and mounting are key to accurate use.If mounted too close to the prop wash of the motor you will get a lot of weird readings.I've found that if not positioned staight from left to right then it will show some small things as very large things.If not positioned straight from front to back than your depths will be in correct.All these things change depending on how your boat is loaded so take them into account when on the water.I dont think of my fish finder as a precision tool so much as another tool I can use while fishing.

I've got an Eagle 350C on my float tube and I use it for marking structure and looking for spots that will hold fish. If I see a fish, great. If not, that doesn't mean they're not down there. If I see a spot that just looks too good not to hold fish, I'll swing back around and cast at it from a distance - the sonar could have spooked the fish, but after a few minutes they should move back into their area if they were there to begin with.

It's a tool, like anything else. It might show you where they are but it won't tell you how to catch them....