A good fish finder...?

[ngt]

I bought a cheap one...Eagle Cuda 300


great for depth, but that's about it. Either there's nothing on there, or 100 fish swimming by. I tried adjusting things and all but am still not liking it. My buddy's is an older one, not sure what model, but if it shows some fish, there ARE fish there. Anyways, what is a good affordable fish finder? I don't need GPS or anything like that....just depth and fish.

thanks

 

[JB]

Re: A good fish finder...?

For fresh water and moderate depths Lowrance/Eagle are the best SONARs.

For great depth and/or salt water I would vote for Furuno.

My experience has been that most SONAR frustration is because of not understanding (not reading?) the Operator's Manual thoroughly enough. Setting the sensitivity and/or noise filtering correctly for the conditions would make a lot of difference.

 

[BLU LUNCH]

Re: A good fish finder...?

JB hit it on the nose Lowrance/Eagles are really nice depth finders I started with a Lowrance X-15 paper graph back in the 80's I still have it down stairs I now have a Lowrance X-15 color graph/GPS , like JB it's probably a setting.

 

[88steve]

Re: A good fish finder...?

JB is correct about understanding the manual and sensitivity, it can be frustrating sometimes. Friend of mine recently bought Lowrance X96 and really likes it for the price and the way it works.

 

[dingbat]

Re: A good fish finder...?

For fresh water and moderate depths Lowrance/Eagle are the best SONARs.

For great depth and/or salt water I would vote for Furuno.

Why is that?

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: A good fish finder...?

The best advice I was ever given regarding use of my Lowrance 527DF sonar to find fish was;

Don't look for fish on your sonar, you may see fish on it but its unlikely you will catch them just because you see them. Instead use the sonar to find places that hold fish, learn to understand how your sonar displays bottom composition and structure and the limitations of seeing the underwater world through a 20 degree cone.

No doubt about it this was a lesson I learned the hard way, it took me a year to stop looking at the darn thing like it was going to show me fish and start using it to find structure, bottom density, gravel beds, the difference between logs and weeds etc.etc.etc.

Now I can find the fish, its funny how an electronic tool for looking at the bottom of a body of water can make a good fisherman a bad one. In the "olden days" we would jig around and feel the bottom and judge the depth.

Here is a website that got me in tune with my sonar and got me started in making adjustments and getting to know what I am looking at, the sonar links are Lowrance related but apply to all sonars.

http://www.hightechfishing.com/home.html

Lowrance also has some great tutorials on their website if your willing to spend more time at the computer, just remember...use the sonar to find structure...not fish.

You will get better at it with experience, its just like a different language.

 

[ngt]

Re: A good fish finder...?

I don't know man, my buddy's would show a bunch of fish around some trees, we'd cast, and we'd pull in fish. I've adjusted a ton of stuff. Not sure about the noise thing. I'm mostly using mine on a river. What type of bottom/structure should I be looking for? It's mostly gravel with some mud based on what my anchor pulls up, lol. Sides of the center? drop offs?

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: A good fish finder...?

What kind of fish are you going after?

Sounds like your buddy is experienced, why not have him explain the basics to you? You can tell bottom composition by reading the sonar, but it takes time to get good at it and know how to adjust the sonar to tell the difference between gravel and sand and mud.

Sounds like you are expecting the sonar to find your fish for you, BTW the Cuda line of sounders is very basic without a lot of high end features or power.

Have you read the Lowrance sonar tutorial?

 

[John_S]

Re: A good fish finder...?

What are the depths and type of fish you are looking for in the rivers you fish?

I fish allot of smaller to mid size rivers, where the depth will only go to 30'. On average only 5-10'. When in shallow water like this, you are scaring away most fish. Most river fish hug the bottom and will be in depressions, etc, where a wide beam finder will have problems detecting them. Very seldom will fish suspend in these rivers where any fishfinder will see them. As Chuck said use it to find structure, bottom difference, holes, trougths, weed lines, etc. Record where you find them and fish them from a distance. You need to learn what habitat the species you are after prefer given, time of year, current, water clarity, etc. That takes time and experience.

While some of your issues are related to having an entry level finder, I don't think you have used it to its full advantage. Going to a higher level one now, may just cause more fustration. I recommend the reading Chuck indicated, and spend some more time with the Cuda, before upgrading. My 1st finder was a HB TCR101 which probably had less capabilities then your Cuda. I used that for many years while learning the river, and how the fish related to it.

FWIW: We recently did two river drifts. One boat forgot their portable Cuda depth finder at home, and I was using my older HB 400TX which is better on batteries than my color SI. No fish was caught by seeing them on the screen and then going after them.

http://joefish.homestead.com/Tale2Rivers.html

 

[ngt]

Re: A good fish finder...?

Water is usually about 15-25 feet where we drop anchor and we usually catch striper and sturgeon there, with a little bit of ray recently. We usually hit the sides of the main channel and fish the drop off and flats around marker 7 in Napa. It's gravel for the most part, with long flats of mud going up to the grass side on the west. Too shallow on the flats to get near that grass. The east side is very shallow w/ gravel going to a rock wall.

I have read the manual and I have gone out and played with the adjustments while on the water. Maybe I need to go to a lake and mess with it for better results. Or maybe I just need to know what is what on there a little better.

 

[John_S]

Re: A good fish finder...?

Water is usually about 15-25 feet where we drop anchor and we usually catch striper and sturgeon there,

I can't help you at all with striper or sturgeon. They are not in the rivers I fish, and do not know their behavior. Now, if you said smallies or walleyes, that would be different.


I do think a clear lake could help. Where you would be able to see what was on the graph and then look down and see what is there.

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: A good fish finder...?

Finally found the article/post I was looking for that helped me out a lot when I first got my sonar last year, here it is;

http://fishinweb.com/messages/messages/13028/13028.html?1251511465

Not a lot in there regarding discerning bottom composition etc. but its a good start.

I was thinking about how confused I was when I first got my sonar which is on the medium to high end of things and the hundreds of settings and GPS changes you can make not to mention creating custom gauges etc. The fact I went from catching fish to just being baffled by how this thing was just messing me around.

I figure I spent the better part of 24 hours sitting in the boat driving around the river watching the sonar at different speeds to see what fish looked like, and sitting in my driveway pushing buttons...I am sure the neighbors think I am nuts.

It wasn't until I started picking spots that were likely to hold fish that I started seeing them and catching them at the same time, seeing them hanging around my jig inspecting it helped me sort out presentation and colors of jig tails to use etc. Amazing how watching a fish come and look at your jig on screen and swim away without a bite then come back after you change the color or presentation and WHAM you got him. I now carry minnows and worms when I am fishing for walleyes because I found out if they don't like one...they will like the other. The other thing I found out fishing for walleyes is if they are hungry you could hang a piece of lint in front of them and they will taste it, its when they are picky that the sounder really helps tune into the bite.

Now I am no expert but I have approached my fishing scientifically and learned from guides I worked with who fished without fancy equipment, they used past knowledge, weather, water levels and time of year to know where the fish are at and dang it weren't they good at finding the fish. I spent a lot of time asking stupid questions like "why are we trying out here instead of where we were yesterday" and they would say things like "that rock over there is exposed which means the water dropped two feet so they won't be where we were" or "this bay is long and flat with a channel down the centre. they come up on the downwind side to feed in the day and the east side in the evening when the sun goes down" Mostly I just listened and caught fish they basically put on my hook by knowing their quarry and the places they live and feed in.

BTW thanks Tim and Dan up in Pointe Du Bois for taking the time to teach a friend most of their secrets.

Now I fish in unknown water all the time so I have to spend a few minutes cruising up and down to find these spots that are likely to hold fish using the rules they taught me. I find them eventually by perserverence and using the sounder to find the spots where they might be, I'm also not afraid to move if I don't see anything on the sonar after 20 minutes...its kinda a rule in the boat...we move if this spot isn't producing.

Don't give up on the sonar, you will soon learn to love how it helps you in unfamiliar water...seeing a spot with 10 boats all anchored catching fish is also a pretty good indicator. A little trick I use is inspect spots I see people fishing at to see what was there that attracted that fisherman. Many times I find a big rock or sunken tree that is holding fish around it and the guy before me was 30 feet from the sweet spot and I catch his fish...obviously the guy knew of the spot but missed the mark and gave up. I always consider my fishing an education.

A good example;

Last weekend I went fishing by myself in a spot where I caught the 22 inch walleye in my avatar, the weather was turning bad that evening and a low was sweeping in from the west...ideal fishing conditions if there ever was one. I fished for about 4 hours and only caught small walleyes that I tossed back, I watched boat after boat come in and try their luck and leave. One guy in a big cruiser came in and yelled over and asked how they were biting and I said "just smalls ones", he and I hung around until the storm was getting too close for my comfort and he yelled back "whats the deal here, this spot always produces?" I shrugged and moved to another spot I knew of to try my luck.

Wouldn't you know it coming down the river is a small fishing trawler with his nets down scooping up all the fish in the spot I was going to, my heart sank...no wonder there were nothing but small ones. This guy was sweeping up all the eaters! He was a proffesional fisherman and he knew more than me and had the equipment to clean em out.

So I learned a lesson, you can know the spots, you can see the fish on the sounder, you can be catching em but nothing worth keeping comes up. There is always a reason why, sometimes it just not obvious.

Oh well thats fishing, if it was too easy it wouldn't be fun!