Impact of fish finder on fishing

[done]

So, this was something big for me but i am sure the rest of you will be going crosseyed with how obvious this is.

When I first got a boat and got out on the Lake, I had no electronics so I would try to fish areas I noticed the guys who had them would go. I had very limited success and while I had enough cat fish to open a fish camp, did not catch a single bass out of the lake for 3 months .

I got my fish finder a finally and got out to use it, started getting more and more bass. I was out again the other day and started hammering Bass. Finding them left and right and then I actually realized, there is a specific bottom signature to coves that are going to hold Bass in the lake. Every time I find it, I get lots of Bass. What amazes me is I can hit 5 coves in a row and though topside they look identical (actually the one that produces more fish looks very unspectacular topside), they are very distinct on the bottom and really 2 of them match the signature. I have finally figured it out. Like I said those of you who have been using these things for longer probably thinking "Duuuhh!!" but really, for those of you who don't, electronics are such a game changer for finding fish. MY Eagle Cude is about the cheapest they have out there too,

[senile1]

I absolutely agree.  On very large lakes (a few thousand acres) they are indispensable.  I know that back in the day there were old timers who caught lots of fish without them but to learn a lake without one, you have to spend a great deal of time fishing it with lures that hit bottom, or you learn information about the lake from someone who already knows it.  

[Paul Roberts]

specific bottom signature to coves that are going to hold Bass

So...what specifically is it that you are seeing that hold bass?

[senile1]

specific bottom signature to coves that are going to hold Bass

So...what specifically is it that you are seeing that hold bass?

X2  Thanks Paul.  I meant to ask the same question.

[done]

This time of the year, the coves I am hitting are not the deep coves, they are really more indents on the main lake/river channel. Which we have hundreds of on the lake.

Once you find those, you need them to have small beaches, bounded on either side by cliff like dropoffs (5-15 ft high), still dozens of these that I have found on the lake.

When you find this. you need to start 50 ft out, should be 25-35 ft deep, 15 ft out 14-20 ft deep, 5 ft out - +5 ft.

The bottom signature with the depth has been the tough one to find. The best on I hit has a set of 5 of coves that look identical but they are all diferent. 2 hold Bass, 1 is a rock solid Catfish hold (HUGE catfish in there), and the others not much fish out of either this time of year (20 ft off shore it is already 4 ft deep).

The keys to remember on these is the cliffs on either side ensure plenty of sunken logs on the outskirts of the beaches and some that float right up on them or sink just offshore.  Also, the cliffs never seem to have Bass but are loaded with tons of little baitfish at all these spots, usually the cliffs have fallen trees and shrubs hanging off them into the water.

This time of year the Bass are hanging near the logs. I will throw a spinner, jig right on the beach, and bring it bank into the water past the logs and they hit it hard.

If you back off the beaches 10 or 15 ft, you will usually hit scattered structure (piles of sticks, and logs judging what what I brought up when I snagged a couple), and fish will be hanging all over it.

[Paul Roberts]

Are your fish spawning yet?

[ilovefooffur]

I use a cheap Eagle Cuda 168 that doesn't really seem to help anything but tell me the temperature.  

[kms399]

I also use  a cheaper unit, an eagle fishmark 320. I have found tons of spots with mine. just last weekend I found a brush pile in 38' of water. will it hold bass, probably not but should be a sweet crappie hole this winter. thanks to gps I'll be able to find it again right away. I cant imagine fishing with out it.

another sweet spot Is in about 10' of water. there is about a 25' wide strip of bare bottom going through some thick coon tail. I never would have found it with out the sonar.

[done]

I use a cheap Eagle Cuda 168 that doesn't really seem to help anything but tell me the temperature.

Actually, the Eagle Cuda 168 is the model I have on my Jon. I have put it to good use.

[FD.]

Are your fish spawning yet?

My question too. Shallow flatts with a hard bottom (rocks), slightly protected, close to deep water, baitfish nearby. Sounds like a spawning pattern to me.

Now the trick is to keep good notes.  Write down everything you see.  Weather, water temp, water depths, moon phase, description of what you see on the depth finder.  This will be valuable information for the years to come.  This pattern will most likely change in the next month or so.  Then you will need to discover your next pattern.  Most likely in deeper water near these spawning locations.

[done]

yeah water temp in these spot is low 60's right now. Last year I started hitting this lake in Summer and was on the road all fall, so I missed this season. LOVE it. Compared to fishing deep, for me, there is nothing like trolling in close to shore, and throwing around logs and docks, and such for that big hit.

When they go deep during the summer, of course fishing is always fun, but then the cats go real shallow and they can be just as fun as Bass sometimes, they surprise me how large they get, how hard they hit, and how good some of them will fight.

[redboat]

Interesting. I wish there were more articles or books on how to use sonar units; so far I've only been able to locate a couple. One DVD was interesting, had a pro and a Lowrance engineer explaining Lowrance fish finders. Right at the end the Lowrance engineer said, "We get a lot of these units back because people don't realize that most of the "fish arches" they see are actually not made by fish at all but are underwater gas bubbles."

I have a Lowrance 322C main and Lowrance 125 front on my boat for four seasons now. Before that I had various Eagle and Lowrance products for sevral years. I've seen a ton of "fish arches" just like in the demo, but have never caught one of these elusive "fish".

I think what you're describing here is a better approach - use the sonar to map out the features that attract bass rather than trying to locate actual bass with it.

If anyone knows of articles or other literature describing how to use sonar I'd appreciate references.

[cato]

My transducer cable got messed up and I thought I wouldn't survive until I got another!!!! So I totally agree with what you are saying. Back home before I moved here to Western NC I didnt really need one because the lakes and farm ponds I fished, I already knew most of the structure on bottom because of the lake being drained for work on the dam and every summer the farm ponds would get irrigated to very low levels. When I moved to Western NC I was lost on the Lakes and now that I use my sonar life is so much better!!!

[WRB]

Interesting. I wish there were more articles or books on how to use sonar units; so far I've only been able to locate a couple. One DVD was interesting, had a pro and a Lowrance engineer explaining Lowrance fish finders. Right at the end the Lowrance engineer said, "We get a lot of these units back because people don't realize that most of the "fish arches" they see are actually not made by fish at all but are underwater gas bubbles."

I have a Lowrance 322C main and Lowrance 125 front on my boat for four seasons now. Before that I had various Eagle and Lowrance products for sevral years. I've seen a ton of "fish arches" just like in the demo, but have never caught one of these elusive "fish".

I think what you're describing here is a better approach - use the sonar to map out the features that attract bass rather than trying to locate actual bass with it.

If anyone knows of articles or other literature describing how to use sonar I'd appreciate references.

Google Doc Bruce Samson and Don Iovino, Samson for excellent Lowrance DVD's and Don for his book Finesse fishing and the sonar connection.

WRB

[farmpond1]

I'm probably not observant enough or I can't put the pieces of the puzzle together well enough but I've yet to find a fish finder more than moderately useful.  I wish it were otherwise.  Maybe I need to hire an an expert to teach me.  For me, the feature which is the most obvious and cheapest is the depth indicator-particularly at certain times of the year.  Right now, for example, areas on my lake which are deeper than around 15 feet aren't producing at all but areas between 4 and 10 feet are.   So I steer clear of the former.  But often the topography of the surrounding land will tell me this.  I've yet to have much success when I find humps, river channels, drop offs, etc.  I often see fish congregating on the graph but I rarely catch them.  When summer rolls around, I always say I'm going to pay close attention to the graph and work deeper water but it's always the same story-After a few hours of fruitless fishing, I'll gravitate back to the points.  So I applaud those of you who succeed where I have failed.

[tnhiker44]

... I've yet to have much success when I find humps, river channels, drop offs, etc.

I obviously do not know your waters, but based on where you live and the time of year I would guess that you will be more successful getting your boat about as shallow as you care to go right now. The humps and drop offs will come into play when the water is much warmer. I am gonna guess that right about now your fish are thinking about survival of the species... i.e. spawning. I may be wrong... but if I am right you cannot fish too shallow right about now.

I could have it all wrong, I live down south... where I have already seen 88 degree surface temps!!