Fish finders (sonar)

Fish finders (sonar)

Postby aunt betty » Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:13 am

Have been piddling around fishing a little. Last year I bought a cheap Lowrance Elite 3x. It's kind of neat knowing there's a fish under the boat and how deep. Other than that I am clueless on using the thing. Put it on the trolling motor. Had it on the back.
Have been looking at nicer ones though. (for the back) The new Lowrance triple-shot one looks badass.

How about some of you experts share what's good and what's not.
Settings etc.

Now to apply this to duck hunting. I could make a map of where I hunt with that thing. What I really want is the lowest price unit that can do the mapping/charting. It's tricky because some do and some don't. Some come loaded with maps, some don't, and others won't even accept a map chip. It's confusing. Looks like the way to go is to buy one that's already loaded with maps. Bass Pro Shop or Cabelas.

So who runs what, why, and how much etc? Have fun I'm trying to sort it all out. Looks like Hook2 triple shot is where I'm heading.
I've heard that it's incredibly stupid to fuck around with a crazy man's head.
User avatar
aunt betty
 
Posts: 14634
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:37 pm
Location: East Side

Re: Fish finders (sonar)

Postby Deltaman » Fri Jun 15, 2018 6:59 am

AB, I recently replaced mine with a Lowrance Chirp 7?? It has the split screen option for sonar and GPS, and is fairly easy to navigate. Not the cheapest ($400), but not the most expensive either. Nice having the gps function that leaves the trail for getting back in case fog rolls in!
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so"
Mark Twain
User avatar
Deltaman
 
Posts: 2383
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:55 am
Location: Mobile, AL

Re: Fish finders (sonar)

Postby aunt betty » Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:17 am

I think I'm going to wait until next year. By then they'll have Hook3 Omnishot and the transducer will be 11 feet long and mount on the keel. :)

The triple shot transducer is 11 inches roughly. I kind of want that badly but the lake I run is shallow and it'd be stupid to buy expensive electronics. The average cone size on my lake would be about a 5 foot circle. The stuff just isn't designed for 5 foot average depth.

Buying one of these things would probably end my duck hunting because I'd start traveling to fish lakes where the fish finder worked and spend all my munny on fishing. Better back off.

Last time I fished I was finding fish everywhere. (they weren't fish tho)
Had the fish ID set on fish and it was telling me that every weed was a fish...in 3 feet of water. Learning as I go. No more fish ID setting on fish.
I've heard that it's incredibly stupid to fuck around with a crazy man's head.
User avatar
aunt betty
 
Posts: 14634
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:37 pm
Location: East Side

Re: Fish finders (sonar)

Postby aunt betty » Fri Jun 15, 2018 7:37 am

One thing I'm unsure about is that the Hook2 series seems to be the same unit with different size screens. Hook 5 hook 7 hook 9...
Is that true or do you have to compare each of them devices along with their features to determine which unit fits best for you?
I don't have room for a 9 inch screen on a 16-40 jon boat. The 4" screen would be fine for me.
The 4 inch version is like $200 but probably don't do the mapping and charting. If I keep this up I'm gunna catch 2-foot-itus and end up buying a boat to go with the fish finder...lol
Not.
I've heard that it's incredibly stupid to fuck around with a crazy man's head.
User avatar
aunt betty
 
Posts: 14634
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:37 pm
Location: East Side

Re: Fish finders (sonar)

Postby Deltaman » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:14 am

Hook 7, that is what I have, with a Chirp feature. Wouldn't see a need for a depth finder if the water is only 5' deep, other than finding the deeper spots, getting a water temp reading in Spring for bass fishing, or having a bread crumb trail to follow in the fog.
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so"
Mark Twain
User avatar
Deltaman
 
Posts: 2383
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:55 am
Location: Mobile, AL

Re: Fish finders (sonar)

Postby aunt betty » Fri Jun 15, 2018 8:32 am

Clinton Lake is fairly decent size and has some submerged gravel pits. Other than that it's a whole lot of flat bottom. Finding the creek channels is important and I think maybe the sidescan could be used to find crappies or at least likely spots. I already know 'about where' but if I could just see underwater would help. Used to catch a lot of crappie bank fishing but that was before the Asians discovered the lake. Suddenly we had some new rules. They put a hurting on the crappie population that still has not recovered.

So far almost all of my fishing has been done on "the baby ends" of the lake where it's no wake zones due to shallow water hazards. Get on the big water part and it gets dangerous competing with drunks driving jet boats with twin v8 engines and stuff like that. Jet skis etc.

To give you an idea about just how dangerous...
My buddy Bubba was a party animal. He fell out of a boat and sometimes did it on purpose for laughs. Well he fell out of a boat and got decapitated by the following watercraft. Bad stuff happens on that lake in the summer time. I used to own it starting in late-October when they chain off the "refuge" which is in the big water part. Then the duck commander made a TV series and OMG the weirdos started showing up en masse.
I've heard that it's incredibly stupid to fuck around with a crazy man's head.
User avatar
aunt betty
 
Posts: 14634
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:37 pm
Location: East Side


Return to Fishing Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests