Offshore Smallmouth & Electronics

[motodmast]

Hey guys, i think this is gonna be a good topic.

 

so i just got a new humminbird 998 with S.I. and D.I. gps all the features. havnt used it yet, but cant wait to!

 

in my local lakes, the smallies are all offshore (at least if you wanna catch a 4+). im tired of dock fishing and wanna get out on these points and humps.

 

im thinking i should use the gps mapping to find the offshore structure, then go over it with side imaging trying to find any specific things the fish are relating to. then go from there.

 

so my question is, is this the way you guys do it? this seems proficient but is there a faster, easier way? and any other tips on what to look for when looking at the side and down imaging and mapping? ive never had one before, im a quick learner though when it comes to this stuff

 

thanks for any tips guys! 

David

[Crestliner2008]

I'm sure you will some good responses here soon. I do not have a sonar with all the bells & whistles that most come with today. However, I believe that has taught me a thing or two as well, along the way. I simply use a map. Find good primary & secondary points and/or humps. Scout them out and only fish those that have bait fish relating to them. Has been a very successful strategy for me.

[cyclops2]

I do the same as Crestliner.

NO hitech sonars or deep diving cameras.

You have stopped fishing and are now becoming a commerical meat hunter.

I limit my gear to a chart with depths & visual references....Channel bouys, land towers. DONE.

I forbid the use of those 6 lured rigs on my boats.

Might just as well net & use explosives & say you are sport fishing for big eyed tuna.

[reo]

I have the 898 si and the si allows you to find offshore structure NOT on any map. Cruise a likely area with the si and drop waypoints on structure. You can then go over them with convetional sonar to see if it is worth fishing. I usually give it a shot just in case I missed marking them.  

 

When fishing big water no amount of bouys, towers and landmarks are going to put you on structure that can be as small as the hood of a car, imho.

[jhoffman]

I dont have SI because I couldnt justify spending 1/3 of what I spent on the boat on it with a boat I will likely sell in the next five years. But what you do is exactly what I do. I use google earth with the usgs topo plugin. Find likely spots, upload them to the unit. Go out and check it out and when I see something or start catchin fish I mark it. Basically fine tuning the waypoint.

 

From there its a matter of looking at the conditions, making a selection and trying it out.

[stratosjoe]

I also do not have a si and probably never will. I use the maps and load waypoints as well. One thing I have done different than in the past is label wp's by type and depth such as scfl3 which in my code would be St Clair flat 3' deep  or dhled55 which would be Dale Hollow ledge 55' thereason for this is as I go thru my list if the smallmouth are active on the flats in 3' I won't even look at flats in 10' . I have a lot of wp's for various lakes make finding them far easier and cuts down on driving around looking for these types of areas.  BE SURE and back up your waypoints as I did not and had to go back and start all over again when my unit went down. Now I use a sd card and about every other trip I  back it up

[jhoffman]

Dont let anyone tell you that SI isnt valuable. The more I think about it, the more I see it, the more I read about it... it has set the fishing world on fire. It gives you the ability to see exactly whats down there. I go by a tree, I dont know if a fish is on it, someone goes by with SI and they know whether to even bother stopping. In tournament fishing that is probably THE most valuable tool you can have.

[stratosjoe]

I did not mean to infer SI was not valuable , its just not valuable enough for me to spend the amount of money they cost. I have had, many years ago a BottomLine sidefinder that was the technolgy Humminbird bought and then further developed . Motomast, seeing ain't always catchin. good luck too you