Using Fish Finders?

[NCBASSFEVER]

I have a Basstracker Pro 16 with a junky little depth finder that don't work most the time. I live in eastern, NC and bass fish alot in the rivers around here, with little success. I see guys catching bass consistently, and nice ones and I am just at my wits end. My best day was 2 fish about 1.5 lb each. I use all the stuff everyone else that catches fish use. It hit me over the weekend that alot of the guys who have success have a little better equipment and always hav a fish finder up front on the deck with them. I am clueless about these things and was wondering how much these help bass fishing in the rivers? does it really spot fish? do you troll around until you see a fish on the screen and cast for him? In need of some info, I have been after them hard for three years now, trying to figure out what the other guys are doing I am not, thanks in advance for any info, Rob

[Nitrofreak]

I have fished rivers up here in virginia for a long time and I can tell you what I have learned.

Fish finders are a great tool to have but I rarely use it for fish, I primarily use mine for structure and depth in rivers.

What kind of bait or tackle are you using?

[kms399]

i use mine almost strictly for locating structure. once I do that it's knowledge that tells you weather it is a good spot or not. there is so much info in the articles section about structure and what makes it good or bad. any cheap depth finder will work but the better quality finders offer more power to help you get through weeds and pick some of the more subtle things like bottom composition.

so no I don't rely on mine for actual fish finding mostly locating deep weed edges or other types of structure.

btw I use a cheap unit I have an eagle fishmark 320. works great unless in heavy weeds.

[NCBASSFEVER]

I am using shimano spinning outfits, texas rigged plastices (culprit in red shad, junebug) crankbaits, bandit 200 in firetiger, occasional spinnerbait ( never caught any bass in the rivers except on t-rigged plastics)

I am trying to figure out if its my presentation or if I am trolling too close to the structure or what. I have tried everything.

Keep the tips coming, something is bound to get the monkey off my back, lol.

[Catt]

My depth finder shows depth of water, structure, cover...my lures find fish 

[Nitrofreak]

Ha Ha,

Sounds like your trying too hard, Slow down and work parellel to the bank about 10 feet out, Normally I will work backwards and let the bow face the current and allow the boat to drift about 10 feet or so every 10 casts this way the bait swims up stream with very slow retreve pausing it for about 10 to 15 seconds every 4 or 5 revolutions and very slightly tipping the rod tip upwards to help keep the weight from getting hung up in the rocks.

Try using a watermellon color swimtail lizzard or find a pocket and use a drop shot with a senko and slightly raise and lower your rod from 9 o clock to 11 o clock staying in one spot.

This is what works for me I hope this will help you

Be safe and wish you luck

[egolfer]

When I spent a lot of time fishing lakes, I relied heavily on my fish finder to locate structure, drop-offs, bait, and schools of fish. Also, one that measure temperature is plus, it helps you determine what the fish might be doing at that time. Now that I fish mostly rivers, I really only use it for depth, finding grass, and temperature. Most of the areas I fish are less then 5' deep, so as long as I can get there with out wacking my boat on anything, I am happy.

As for the fishing, every bait has a time and place when it will work. Like Nitrofreak said, slow down. Learn to work smaller and really figure out what is going on in an area. This should help you hone in on any fish in that area. Also, when you do catch one, stop and think about what you were doing at the time, what the fish was doing, and where that fish was. Then duplicate that across the water body and you should do ok. Lastly, the colors you mention are standard colors, you shouldnt have a problem with them. But you might want to try some more natural colors too like greenpumpkins, watermelons, blacks, and browns. These days, the fish everywhere are very pressured and see a lot of baits all the time. I think the natural colors add a bit of finesse to fishing.

[fishfordollars]

If you are trying to use them to spot fish you are cheating yourself.

WHAT CATT SAID!

[NBR]

I refuse to call mine a fish finder. It is a depth finder that allows me to seek out structure and cover that provides areas that attract bait and fish.

Now, tell us about your river, depth, flow rate anything else to give us a clue as to the water you are fishing.

[Nitrofreak]

OOPS !! sorrry I meant to say 10 or 15 yards off of the bank not feet.

[Fishing Rhino]

We've always used the term depth sounders, not fish finders.  I too do not consider them to be fish finders.  They are habitat finders.

But, because the term is commonly used, I will use the term fish finder from time to time.

And, I use one term transition bottom to describe both structural and cover changes of the bottom.

Sounding is a nautical term for dropping a weight, usually a "sounding lead"  to the bottom then take a measurement of the amount of line it took from the surface of the water to the bottom.

Hence the term for the electronic gizmos of "depth sounders".  Eventually someone noticed flashes between the surface and the bottom, and found they were sometimes fish.

From flashers to paper recorders to images on cathode ray tubes to the units of today.

To think that their initial purpose was nothing more than showing the depth of the water.

The next step, and we are very close now will be a virtual image of the water column and the bottom with everything looking much like a televised real image of the bottom.  It will make the side imaging look like something from the stone ages.