What to do.....

[dieselaw]

As the summer approaches i begin to read the techniques and strategies for summer bass fishing. As i read i start to get the feeling that understanding the contour of the lake i am fishing is very important. Whether it b for drop offs, humps in the lake bottom , or thick beds of weeds. I do not have a fish/depth finder and i am wondering the importance of getting one. i would appreciate any input you could give me whether i need to get one or other options to get me through the summer. thx

[SnowBass23]

Fish finders can be very helpful in a lot of situations.  Are you fishing from shore, or from a boat?  If you are confined to shore then it is a lot less critical IMO.  Even from a boat, depending on the size of the lake you are fishing you can usually get topo maps that will give you at least some ideas where the major structure is at on a given body of water.  If you don't have a fish finder now, that certainly won't stop you from doing great this summer.  You will just need to develop different tactics to find those optimal places to fish.

To be quite honest, I rarely use my fish finder on my bass boat, but that is just because I have learned to 'fish blind' so to speak.  I know that what works best for me is finding structure oriented close to shore, drop offs, areas where creeks feed in, weeds, riprap.  These are all things that you can find quite easy with out a ff.  I like to fish these areas from shallow, and then work my way deeper.  I'd probably have much more success if I used my ff more, but as it is I just use it as a general guide.  Good luck!

[Hookemdown.]

If you don't want to spend the big $$$ for a sonar, look into getting a good map of the lake.  My favorite lake to fish during the summer is absolutely brutal at times, I don't know what I'd do without a map.

[Catt]

One can learn a lot about bottom structure with a Carolina Rig  

[George Welcome]

One can learn a lot about bottom structure with a Carolina Rig

Thank you!

[Just_Old_Fisherman]

Check out the Navionics Hot Maps Explorer.  Software and files for your PC of 10,000 lake contour maps.  Cost $20.  You get 1 free download of a "High Def" lake with 1' contour intervals.  Additional HD lakes can be downloaded for $20 each.  Their website shows the 10,000 lakes and list of HD lakes.  You can print out maps of areas you want to fish.  Does take a pretty good chunk of disk space, 7-10 GB for the full download.  You can reduce that some by only downloading maps in the area you are really interested in and skip the road maps and 3D downloads.

[ring fry]

One can learn a lot about bottom structure with a Carolina Rig

Thank you!

X3

Also I've used a jig n pig to count down the depth.  Depending on the weight, 1 - 2 feet per second.

[Crestliner2008]

Do you fish the banks, back waters and small to medium sized ponds? If so, you don't need a sonar. However, you will never be as good a fisherman as you can be without one. JMO.

[kms399]

how much do you spend on your rods? how about your boat or your line, lures. why would you not want a sonar? you can get a good unit for around $160 (Eagle fishmark 320) for example.  I don't rely on mine to find fish just depth you would be suprised what it will tell you. my .02