lunkerdown

Thanks everyone! Reading the responses here (and the items linked) has helped a lot. I'm still learning, still doing a ton of research, and still trying to fish! Rodfather, a couple of things: 100%, I've noticed this. For me, if I am going across deep water at 15+ mph, it blinks out, and loses depth entirely. Anything slower and I'm fine. Have you messed with adjusting the beam width at all? And what frequency and gain do you run, or do you leave it default? One other thing: Is the temp on the screen---straight out of the box---water temp?

Hey ya'll! Proud owner of a new Bass Pontoon, which is my first boat...and first time as an adult fishing FROM a boat. I went ahead and got a "middle tier" fish finder (Garmin 73 SV) to go with it, and---much to my consternation---I just can't seem to "get it". Sad to say, but I actually work in Information Technology, and this stuff is beyond the wisdom of Solomon, much less myself. So anyway, here are some realllllly amateurish questions, if any of you feel so inclined. Thanks in advance! First: My transducer is mounted on the very back of the left pontoon log, so literally the back left corner of my boat. When I see a fish (or what I am assuming to be a fish, that nice little arched shape) come onto my screen, as it scrolls right to left, *where is that fish in relation to my boat*? Is it such that the moment that fish appears on my sonar (like as soon as it pops up on the far right of my screen) it is directly under the transducer location, aka "the very back of my boat"? Or is it out further? Or further up front? Second: Is it possible to cruise slowly, using the outboard, to spot anything? If so, at what speed? Or does it cause too much "sonar noise" to be of any use? Third: It felt like basically every time I spotted a fish (and several times, it was several fish) on the sonar, I would go into GPS anchor with the trolling motor, get ready to fish, and then the fish would be gone from the screen. What gives? Was I running past them all? Scare them away? I know this sort of stuff must sound really ignorant, but this is a whole new world for me. I really appreciate any advice. Thanks again!

Hey y'all! Longtime shore fisherman/farm pond junkie, first time boat owner here, and looking for advice specific to Pontoons (specifically electronics---I'm going to make a post there as soon as I finish this intro). I finally reached a point where the local farm ponds and small lakes around here have either been fished out, or are under new ownership that don't really want folks fishing there anymore, so to provide a better platform for myself, my Dad, my grandpa, my wife, and other members of my family (and friends!) to fish out of, we took the plunge and bought a new Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 18. Super excited about the boat, and I've had it out once already, at Carter's Lake in Georgia. The boat is a lot of fun, but MAN there's a lot to learn about ownership and usage. I did really well with the trolling motor, the outboard and just generally driving the boat, but getting the rig down the ramp and the boat off the trailer/back on the trailer and up the ramp is gonna take a lot of practice. As far as what we fish for and where we fish, we are in NW Georgia, and plan to stick around Carter's for now. Eventually we'd like to fish Blue Ridge and possible Allatoona, and MAYBE Lanier. If things go well, we'd also want to get OOS licenses for Tennessee and Alabama to do Chickamauga and Weiss. In order of importance/frequency, what we go after: Largemouth (obviously) Smallmouth/Spots Crappie Catfish Whatever else is in the lake (Striper would be great, but literally never tried). Rig: 2019 Bass Buggy 18 Pontoon, 60hp Mercury outboard, MotorGuide xi5 55lb trolling motor with GPS Anchoring Pulled by a 2010 FJ Cruiser with no dadgum mirror extenders (fixing that THIS WEEK) Gear: Predominantly spinning reels ("open face"), juuust now getting into amateur birdnesting, errr baitcasters. Grew up fishing spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, spoons, rooster tails and the like. Very much an amateur when it comes to soft plastics. Personal Best: 4.2 lb Largemouth (sad, but honest). Thanks for hosting this forum! Go Dawgs!