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Humminbird Side Imaging reveals fish species
Freshwater Fishing Tips, Tackle Tips & How To's, Tournament Fishing theangler PM
That’s because Skarlis is well known for decoding the wily ways of walleyes for top finishes in tournaments, not crappies.
But after a two-day limit of 14 fish for a total of 27.83 pounds, it was obvious to others in the tournament that Skarlis and Steifeldt knew more about catching crappie than they let on before launching.
Or did they?
“Before the tournament, I could tell you what walleyes look like on Humminbird Side Imaging with my eyes closed, but must admit we both had to learn what made crappies stand out from the crowd while we were pre-fishing for the Championship,” Skarlis acknowledged. “But it really only took moments of on-the-water time to decipher what the Side Imaging technology was telling us, and soon we were able to come up with the winning technique because of what we could see on the screen.”
But it was more than just locating fish. Side Imaging allowed them to surgically place their baits in the strike zone.
“We soon figured out that if we deployed the lures directly behind the boat, we’d never get bit. So we sent out the in-line planer boards as far as we could—which was still within the echo of the Side Imaging transducer—and then maneuver the boat so that the lures would run through the small schools, or come back around so we could make the ever-crucial pinpoint pass,” says Skarlis.
But it was not only a precise pass with ‘cranks—clipped with a snap tied to 10-pound-test monofilament and let out 50 to 100 feet behind Skarlis’ Off Shore planer board—that made fish bite, but pulling them at the specific speed of 1 MPH, which was dialed in via the readouts on their Humminbird units.
Skarlis says it’s hard enough for one crappie expert to out-gun another, let alone a walleye guy walk in and compete. But he admits that Humminbird Side Imaging allowed them to fish with the big boys of crappie. “It’s hard to imagine what both Side Imaging and new 360 Imaging can do for the average angler, no matter what species they target, open water or on ice.”
For more information, please visit Humminbird at www.Humminbird.com.