If no electronics, then why?

[Catt]

@MN Fisher & @A-Jay y'all ever stared at a screen?

 

I've spent 100s of hours idling Toledo Bend staring at everything from a Fish-Lo-K-Tor to Mega 360. Staring at screens is part of structure fishing. 

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

@MN Fisher y'all ever stared at a screen?

Once I reach a 'promising' looking area on the 25hp, the TM goes down and my eyes flick between three things.

Where I'm going - so I don't run into anything

The screen of my Striker - so I can see what the bottom is doing/find weedlines/etc

Where I cast my lure - so I'm 'on target'.

[A-Jay]

21 minutes ago, Catt said:

@MN Fisher & @A-Jay y'all ever stared at a screen?

 

I've spent 100s of hours idling Toledo Bend staring at everything from a Fish-Lo-K-Tor to Mega 360. Staring at screens is part of structure fishing. 

I do ~ Dedicated RECON & 'Fishing' are two separate deals for me.

When 'fishing most use happens 'on the way' or as I approach my 'spot'.

I'm never looking for fish, sometimes bait, but mostly I'm using the mapping to position my rig.

Different/changing conditions dictate what that looks like each time.

Once I'm where I want to be, unless I need it to stay there or re-position, I'm fishing. 

In some shallow water deals, I'll turn it to stand-by;

especially if & when I can lock down with the Talons.

 

When I'm fishing a large area, with isolated cover I'm constantly using the 360 to present baits to 'the edges' of the cover.  But it could be in 5 feet or 25 feet.

So when everything goes well on those trips,

I'll be using the net & scale while getting that neck cramp.

Off shore Night ops are an entirely different animal - and you know what that's about. 

A-Jay

 

 

[Susky River Rat]

I fish a shallow river and still use. I feel lost without it. 

[TnRiver46]

@Susky River Rat, I feel lost when I am looking at them haha. I have a nice lowrance at the console with excellent detail , down and sidescan. I can see all kinds of cool stuff and fish on it, only problem is that never really translates to meat in the box. Maybe a time or two but I catch a lot more fish just going to where I know they will be and fishing around. I don’t have a depth finder up by the trolling motor where I fish from 

 

I do have a few extra smaller ones I should put on the front , maybe I’ll do that tomorrow since we are snowed in 

[GRiver]

I’ve got an old hummingbird,($99.00), It’s got temp and depth, and supposedly fish blips. It’s over ten years old, but works for me. I use the depth feature the mostly to find a few holes, when I’m after strippers.   
When I’m Hawg hunting …… troller motor off and raised, electronics off and pole in. 
I agree with @ol'crickety whole heartedly, think on what I would’ve missed looking a a screen. 
 

[Susky River Rat]

@TnRiver46 I don’t target specific fish. I use it for depth and to find areas underneath the water that would hold fish. I have trolled for musky and fished off bait balls using sonar. Bass it’s more for just finding structure/cover 

[TnRiver46]

Even the structure and Rock piles and other cool stuff I find seem to be unproductive compared to just working down a ledge or cliff 

[Swamp Girl]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Even the structure and Rock piles and other cool stuff I find seem to be unproductive compared to just working down a ledge or cliff 

 

Are they tucked under the overhang of the cliff? I used to catch muskies in that position. 

[Woody B]

I don't spend enough dedicated RECON time but I'm getting there.   At times I've had a "knack" picking somewhere on a map or just riding around that looks "fishy"   Some of these areas produced Bass, some didn't.   A few minutes staring at a screen has helped my understand why some areas held Bass while other areas I thought was similar didn't.  

 

When I MAKE myself use my electronics the way they're designed to be used I catch more Bass.   

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Are they tucked under the overhang of the cliff? I used to catch muskies in that position. 

Seems like lots of them are. I just fish everywhere I can and try to never skip vertical stuff 

[WRB]

7 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Yes Sir! 😉

 

Shallow water marshes, swamps, bayous, & rivers; no electronics nessary.

 

On Toledo Bend I use a Hummingbird Helix 5 G2. I ain't even looking for fish, I'm looking for structure. I never idle over the structure I intend on fishing. 

Agree except Rivers some are big water.

Where the OP fishes can’t see any reason for sonar, GPS might come in handy on a iPhone.

Tom

[Susky River Rat]

@TnRiver46 it not a matter of finding one thing interesting. It’s what’s there  what are the other conditions with current, pinch point, etc. there is some spots I won’t touch when it’s low. Some spots I won’t touch when it’s high.  With river a lot of this stuff is timing. Sometimes I wish I’d keep a log like I did when I musky fished all the time. 

[TnRiver46]

21 hours ago, gimruis said:

 . I am not throttling down without knowing the depth is deep enough for it. That’s a good way to ruin a prop or lower unit. GPS is a must on big water. You’d get lost without it.

 

 

And 500 years ago our ancestors set out to cross the ocean in a wooden boat with a spyglass in search of spices to make their food taste a little better. They weren’t quite so worried 

[Swamp Girl]

31 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

And 500 years ago our ancestors set out to cross the ocean in a wooden boat with a spyglass in search of spices to make their food taste a little better. They weren’t quite so worried 

 

Let me edit that just a pinch:

 

And 500 years ago, our ancestors set out to cross the ocean in  wooden ships with a spyglass, sextant, compass, and maps in search of spices to become rich. They were worried because many of them died in the attempt, but the promise of wealth was the real siren, i.e. the monster that lures you to danger, of the sea.   

[MN Fisher]

45 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Let me edit that just a pinch:

And almost 500 years before that, my ancestors set out to see if they could find new lands to colonize...after setting up colonies on Iceland and Greenland...and they found Vinland.

[Tennessee Boy]

@MN Fisher  I hope Erik fished that point.  🙂

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I hope Erik fished that point.

It actually would have been Leif - Erik's son - as he was the one to do the Vinland excursions.

[gim]

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

And 500 years ago our ancestors set out to cross the ocean in a wooden boat with a spyglass in search of spices to make their food taste a little better. They weren’t quite so worried 

 

Don't care.  I value my prop and lower unit too much to go blasting like a bat out of hell plowing into a shallow unmarked reef of rocks.

 

Maybe some people don't.  Its their equipment, they can do what they want to.  I'll play it safe.

[Swamp Girl]

26 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Don't care.  I value my prop and lower unit too much to go blasting like a bat out of hell plowing into a shallow unmarked reef of rocks.

 

Maybe some people don't.  Its their equipment, they can do what they want to.  I'll play it safe.

 

Minnesota has rocky lakes. It's not quite as glaciated as northwestern Ontario where there's enough  topsoil to grow about two ears of corn, but it's rocky enough to shear scores of lower units every year.

[TnRiver46]

Leif was dragging live Blue runners the whole way on a 18/0 circle hook 

[gim]

28 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Minnesota has rocky lakes.

 

We've had drought the last 4 of 5 years now too, that isn't helping with lower water levels.  The prop shop nearest my house has an endless supply of customers from May - October.

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

 

We've had drought the last 4 of 5 years now too, that isn't helping with lower water levels.  The prop shop nearest my house has an endless supply of customers from May - October.

Probably from running at high speed, following old waypoints and not re-setting the lake depth adjustment on their unit...flying blind.

[gim]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Probably from running at high speed, following old waypoints and not re-setting the lake depth adjustment on their unit...flying blind.

Honestly I think a lot of them are recreational boats too.

 

My Father goes to Ontario every June for a family fishing trip and he comes back with a dinged up prop every time.  Nothing is marked there, visually or on his GPS.

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, gimruis said:

Honestly I think a lot of them are recreational boats too.

 

My Father goes to Ontario every June for a family fishing trip and he comes back with a dinged up prop every time.  Nothing is marked there, visually or on his GPS.

That's the Ontario I know.