Fish Finders, Help Or Hindrance ?

[chuggs]

Hi all

 

Fish finders !! do we need them to catch fish. Well, I don't think so

 

On a recent post about the cost of starting up kayak fishing , fish finders were mentioned several times.

I know there will be quite a lot of you that will insist finders are a must have item and I agree at times they are totally addictive and fun .

 

I have owned many boats in the past and the thought of going to sea without a fish finder bolted to the fiberglass was well, unthinkable, you just cant catch fish without them! can you???

 

The trouble is you tend to spend all day just motoring around looking at the screen until a fish actually shoes up on it . then get totally hacked of when you cant catch it as it swims around beneath you.

Indeed even more frustrating, sitting over a wreck or reef that the fish finder says is covered in fish , at a loss to understand why your not getting a bite. Scared to move of the mark in case you don't ever find any more fish . I know I'm not the only one that's happened to guys?

 

On reflection, I don't think you catch more fish with a finder . I find it far more productive covering more ground actually fishing and not looking at a screen, also not knowing whats down there ads to the fishing experience ...... Still miss it though and handy on unfamiliar ground

 

What are your thoughts chaps ?

[YakDiver]

Fish finder I think is the wrong team to use

Ok it will find fish, but it also shows you the bottom

and what your fishing over sand rock mud gullys ect

with that and a chart is really all you need.

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hiya Chuggs.

 

Well, as you know I have a Fishfinder ( Sonar ) on the Prowler 15.

I suppose this is one of them some do, some dont situations.

On a personal note, I wouldnt be without mine.

 

When fishing local marks, you already have a rough idea of the marks and areas your fishing.

But the Sonar comes into its own I think when visiting strange marks, just my oppinion.

I actualy enjoy looking at the bottom stucture, but dont let it overtake my fishing by staring at it all day.

 

You certainly do not NEED one, and it is an expense that could be ignored.

But I feel, there are times when it realy is a bonus, and interesting too.

 

So get your cheque book out you aint looking at mine again.........

 

 

YY

[Stevo]

I agree with the Captain. Featurefinders might be a better name for them!

[Simon Everett]

I am in two minds over this. I have a fish finder - a really good one, the Raymarine DS500 BUT it has stayed in its box now for a year! (Waste fo money sitting there I know). The thing is, the information is very useful, but the clutter of the kit isn't and I am wracked by the thought of having the stuff indelibly stuck to my kayak!

 

I have now decided that i will fit it to the Dorado (when I get her home again), but not permenantly. The TX will get epoxied into the bottom of the hull (GRP, so not so much of a problem as the plastic kayaks on that front) and that will add about 2lbs to the overall weight. The battery and unit will then be organised into a portable system that can be plugged into the TX cable when I want to actually use it. Then for fly fishing obvious water I can just leave the rest of the system off. Seems the best solution to me.

 

Of course the very best solution is to go with someone else who has one fitted!! I might even suggest that route - I supply the unit, you fit it and suppply me with the info!!

[richi]

I am in two minds over this. I have a fish finder - a really good one, the Raymarine DS500 BUT it has stayed in its box now for a year! (Waste fo money sitting there I know). The thing is, the information is very useful, but the clutter of the kit isn't and I am wracked by the thought of having the stuff indelibly stuck to my kayak!

Totally agee about the clutter--recently bought the eagle cuda 128 portable -take it once to the mark map out the area and you don't need it the rest of the time making for a clut free kayak

 

info!! ]

is clut a swearword ,it sounds like one

[Starvinmarvin]

If you know your marks you can do without one, if you like to visit new areas, they you will need a good chart and a GPS to find the new marks or a finder to help you find some possibilities, I use both, the GPS less so, but that is because I'm lazy and don't always have time to enter new marks into the GPS.

 

The first time I turned it on it was as chuggs says, a day of paddling watching the screen, but it was facinating.

 

Remember it's not a fishfinder, that's down to you.

 

SM

[chevin]

I have to agree and as far as I am concerned depth finders are a waste of time as fish finders. They show a lot of echoes that could be anything but fish and normally are! Indeed, unbeknown to us, the transducer on my son-in-law's boat had worked loose and every time we started moving the fish alarm when crazy. However, on the odd occasion they do show a shoal of bait fish and that really is useful information. In the main however, I use mine only for bottom structure as one or two others have mentioned. Knowing what the bottom is like is far more important than knowing that a fish might have just swum under me! I can't remember catching a fish that I have spotted on the fish finder, but I have caught thousands that have never shown up on it - and some pretty big ones too!

[darnsarf]

Must admit only want one to show me the depth so I can set the float properly. Dont have any illusions about it showing me the fish.

[Simon Everett]

A plumb will tell you the depth! Also, when your float falls on its side you have it set too deep! Just keep bringing the float stop up until it sits nicely - then another foot to be sure! The simple ways are the most pleasing - but not necessarily the best. You can tell I am not a competition angler can't you!