Fish Finders - do they?

[orduna]

The following is the opening of Elton’s press release for the new Prowler 13 and this got me thinking!

 

“Ocean Kayak is the World’s Number 1 for Sit-On-Tops and the Prowler 13 is one of the most popular angling kayaks in the UK. It now incorporates extra features to make it even simpler to fit a fishfinder. Fishfinders have revolutionised kayak fishing and the Prowler 13 has been tailor made to make installation of a Humminbird fishfinder kit quick and easy”.

 

I always thought the term ‘Fish Finder’ to be a ruse of a clever marketing man, yet another ‘must have’ piece of kit that will help – no, guarantee – to find some of our ever decreasing fish stock. I admit I have used ‘fish finders’ for numerous years to locate reefs, drop-offs, banks etc., but apart from an occasional mackerel shoal, never once has it found me a fish to catch! A Fish Finder certainly has not revolutionised my yak fishing, true I now have instant depth, but apart from that it has just made me a little lazier as I do not have to remember numerous bearing lines to locate my favourite fishing spots.

 

What is the feedback from Yakkers? Has anyone caught an individual fish by using a Fish Finder or is the main use (apart from GPS) simply used to locate a spot where fish should congregate? Perhaps, on a scale of 1 – 5 (with 5 being excellent) how you would rate your own individual experience of your finder – or not!

[scotsgun]

Great for discovering what the bed is like and guessing where the fish are lying.....no chance identifying individual fish - more likely to be a clump of weed, etc

[Steinbeisser]

Have never used one so cannot speak from personal experience. However, I think they should be able to show you the sea bed features and a good, experienced angler could use these features to identify fish holding areas.

 

As said, clumps of weed and other debris is likely to cause false echos of fish.

 

Steinbeisser

[musket]

Spooky you asking that question.

Yesterday I caught a couple of pollack and my first two mackeral of the season.I only considered my Garmin 140 as a very useful indicator of the depth and type of sea bed.however yesterday I had a fish reading at 24' after nothing for thirty minutes -5 seconds later I had the fish on!

Jon.

[paintfly]

Great for discovering what the bed is like and guessing where the fish are lying.....no chance identifying individual fish - more likely to be a clump of weed, etc

 

Agreed, the term is a bit sneaky, although I suppose you could argue that if it helps you locate features it is also helping to "find fish" . Think the fish symbols are what most people feel aggrieved about (still have mine turned on though ) The sonar read out is very useful, but my favourite feature is the GPS link telling me about my speed/overall distance covered etc. The speedo has helped me with identifying and picking a better course through strong currents in the past. Wouldn't be without it.

[SeaDooDavid]

Spooky you asking that question.

Yesterday I caught a couple of pollack and my first two mackeral of the season.I only considered my Garmin 140 as a very useful indicator of the depth and type of sea bed.however yesterday I had a fish reading at 24' after nothing for thirty minutes -5 seconds later I had the fish on!

Jon.

 

I never believed the hype either!!! I bought a matrix finder just to see the depth and see if the seabed was sand or rocks. The manual that came with it says you can see a jig down to 40 metres..........you can! When I drop my line, not only can I see the droppers on the line (or feathers etc) but you can actually see the line!

 

Fish appear as little dashes rather than the "fish arches" they quote, but they ARE fish!. I have stopped many times on the way out to my mark because I have spotted a cloud of baitfish and other bigger flecks around them and caught fish!

 

The finder, when set to "structure" shows the bottom and rocks etc beautifully. You can see the sea weed that lies flat on the beach at low tide, standing tall in the flow, excellent!!. My finder does not like shallow water though unless very still (lake) in the sea it needs to be at leat 6 feet or deeper to show the quality returns that I seem to get. To cap it all, it is (transducer) held down with a big blob of silcone! ha ha

Mackerel just blot the screen out, it is really weird to see! time to get the feathers dropped and fill the bait bucket!

 

SDD~~~

[paintfly]

I never believed the hype either!!! I bought a matrix finder just to see the depth and see if the seabed was sand or rocks. The manual that came with it says you can see a jig down to 40 metres..........you can! When I drop my line, not only can I see the droppers on the line (or feathers etc) but you can actually see the line!

 

Fish appear as little dashes rather than the "fish arches" they quote, but they ARE fish!. I have stopped many times on the way out to my mark because I have spotted a cloud of baitfish and other bigger flecks around them and caught fish!

 

The finder, when set to "structure" shows the bottom and rocks etc beautifully. You can see the sea weed that lies flat on the beach at low tide, standing tall in the flow, excellent!!. My finder does not like shallow water though unless very still (lake) in the sea it needs to be at leat 6 feet or deeper to show the quality returns that I seem to get. To cap it all, it is (transducer) held down with a big blob of silcone! ha ha

Mackerel just blot the screen out, it is really weird to see! time to get the feathers dropped and fill the bait bucket!

 

SDD~~~

Dave, we have the same FF and I've never been able to set it up so I can see my rig going down. What other settings are you putting in? I've got the sensitivity on max. Do you use wide or narrow beam (80 or 200 thingumybobs/Mhz?)Anything else?

[SeaDooDavid]

Dave, we have the same FF and I've never been able to set it up so I can see my rig going down. What other settings are you putting in? I've got the sensitivity on max. Do you use wide or narrow beam (80 or 200 thingumybobs/Mhz?)Anything else?

 

Hi Kev

 

I have it set to duel (80/200) and have not messed with the settings much! I would say make sure it is set to salt water while at sea as this makes a difference!. Have you downloaded the latest firmware from the h/bird website? This gives you loads more controls, but mine has shown the line etc right from the begining mate. You can see the bounce of the feathers etc as you pump them up and down quite clearly! The only time I had a poor picture was when my transducer partially worked loose last year, but was fine when I re=bogged it down

 

SDD~~~~~

[boring_old_fart]

i might look into a FF but will have to wait till next year now! and already got a long enough list of wants for this year!!!! in know a few peps who have them, and swear by them!

[Nicepix]

They are useful for identifying fish holding structures, the depth and type of bottom and the presence of bait fish. When used in conjunction with a GPS I would say that they are an excellent addition to the angler's armoury.

 

Like anything else, they are not perfect and can give false readings. Experience will assist you to mininimise these drawbacks and exploit the advantages.

 

One thing to remember is that in shallow water the fish are more likely to be spooked by your kayak, so just because the finder does not record fish under the boat, it does not mean that there aren't fish around the boat.