Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
using a fish finder
#1
Hi my name is Dale Thomas, I am a newbie here this looks like a great site. I love nc. I love to catfish but I have done it from the bank. recently I purchased a 24 foot pontoon it has a fishfinder on it. can anyone give me some tips on how to pinpoint fish and mark them.

thanks Dale

[url "mailto:wvmountainman@ctc.net"]wvmountainman@ctc.net[/url]
[signature]
Reply
#2
I am not sure what you meant by pinpoint fish and mark them. As you may know, your fish finder sees in a cone formation and reads back to you in a vertical line. Take your boat out to your favorite fishing holes and just watch your fish finder, before long you will be able to determine what are fish and what are not. If you have a fish i.d. feature on the finder, it will display fish as a small fish looking symbol. if it is an option to turn this feature off, i recomend it. you will be able to more acuratley determine what is below you if you spend the time watching it and catching fish. If you are fishing a river, you probably nkow that the big cats that are active and feeding will position themsleves at the head and rear of holes. So I would start looking there to get a feel for your new purchase. Basically its like learning a new way to read, it just takes time and effort, but when you can read your fish finder it can be your best friend. What brand name and model is the unit? And more specifically, what do you need to know to use it?
Reply
#3
Dale,Predator is right,turn off the fish cartoon mode(fish I.D.mode) and read the screen pixels(dots).The cartoon mode is a simulation of the true picture,anything in the water shows up as a fish.The higher the vertical pixel count the greater vertical definition,enabling you to see something an inch or two off the bottom easier.For example with a lower vertical pixel count,you may to have to raise your lure or bait 6 inches to a foot or more off the bottom to see it.Start out in the auto mode until you learn to adjust the sensitivity correctly.Anchor your boat and watch the anchor drop through the water to the bottom,then drop your lure or bait and see the difference.When you mark a fish you are just looking at where the fish is at in relation to where it is on the depth scale,for example you are on the 40 foot range scale and see a fish half way up, you have marked it at 20 feet off the bottom.You will gain more confidence with it the more you use it,and it will become a valuable tool for you.Be sure the transducer is pointing straight down when your boat is in the water.When you see a fish on the screen put your bait or lure in its face, or at the same depth as the fish.Good luck!
[signature]
Reply
#4
Hey fisherman thanks alot for info, my son and I are leaving for high rock lake at 5 today. We are going to practice what told us to do many thanks.

DALE THOMAS
[signature]
Reply
#5
[size 4]As far as how to mark a fish, you will have to be moving fairly slow to accuratly toss a marker to a fish location. I dont believe you finder has a fast track feature on it so you will need to boat slowly around the area you are fishing, when you see a fish on the screen, just toss out a marker. Now, determining what is a fish and what is not, will only come with use, as will dertermining what type of fish is below you. What you see on your screen is a sound returned from a fishes swim bladder. A fishes actual body is made of such a high water content that it is difficult to seperate from the surrounding water, so what you are seeing is the sound return off the air inside the swim bladder. Now, each fish has a similar but different anatomy. Swim bladders on a 45 inch musky and those on a 10 inch walleye are different so they will appear differnet on a screen. Some guys say kokanee salmon are different enough that they dont get seen by many fish finders. This is where you will get what you pay for, I use a lowrance lcx-15 mt. The power, and pixels, as well as the quality of the listening end of your tranducer will all help you to see fish better by picking up even the slightest returns, and give you a very clear difference between the type of sounds being returned by the various objects under the water. Some locators have excellent power and quality in the transducer but skimp on pixels, so you get good info up to your screen but the screen turns it into a blob and you cant tell anyways, others have good clarity through thier pixels but are underpowered so they return weak and unclear images to the screen. Basically you have to learn to use YOUR finder. It will be different than mine, but once you learn what a fish looks like on your screen, and how to pick him apart from the bottom or other structure and cover, you will be able to use it to your advantage, just dont give up on reading it and turn it off. Learn how to read it, and it will make you better. If you want or need more info, any of the sites like eagle, lowrance, garmin, should have a bunch of helpful info on using fish finders, or you can contact me through e-mail. I am no expert, but I may be able to help.[/size]
Reply
#6
Thanks (PREDATOR) I believe what you say get what you pay for we tried last night but we could'nt see a fish or anything else we tried to drop ancher but we did'nt see it either. we bought what we could afford at this time. It is a piranha 3 humminbird we would use the fish ident we see fish then cut it off no fish. but we will keep trying we mainly fish nc for catfish. we are glad to see there are people who carew enough to help.

thanks alot

Dale and Larry Thomas
[signature]
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)