7 Tips for Getting the Most from Your Fish Finder

Fish finders have surely made fishing more enjoyable and productive – but can also be one of the most frustrating tools in a fisherman’s day. Today’s fish finders are a must-have item for most anglers – the problem though is that most fisherman rarely get the real value out of their device simply because they don’t really know how to make them work – or read them properly. It’s not good enough to just press the auto button – and wait fish-shaped icons to appear as false readings are very common is you do not have the settings correct. When used correctly – fish finder should be your eyes in the water – but you need to know what you are seeing and how likely it is a fish. With that said – here are 8 tips to get the most from your fish finding purchase.

Dos

1) In most fishing environments – turn off your devices’s fish ID as those fish icons can be misleading. When fish ID mode is turned on the display shows any object in the sonar beam as a fish. This means weeds, bubbles, floating junk and even fish hooks and show up as fish. This means that fish and all the other false positives show up as fish on the screen. Fish finders can’t with 100% accuracy tell you if something in the water is a school of minnows, a diving duck, a giant pike. When you turn off the Fish ID you will get a more accurate idea of what is in the water and will be able to identify the difference between weeds and underwater objects from actual fish. Most modern finders allow you to turn off the fish ID by going to the menu screen – but check your manual if you are not sure. .

2) Most fish finders have a zoom setting which allows you to see the bottom of the lake where most fish are rather than the entire depth of the lake. By using your zoom setting you will receive a more accurate look at the bottom of the water and have an easier time identifying fish. Walleye and other bottom dwelling fish usually mark L type shapes on the lake bottom in the direction of the boat. Some fish might show as non moving dots or blobs.

3) When buying a fish finder – get the unit with the most pixels which will result in far more accuracy. The top or upper of column on the fish finder’s screen shows the position of the transducer with each pixel in the column represents an amount of distance from it. This means that 300 pixels in each column will read 300 feet of water as each pixel display 1 foot of depth. When the sonar beam returns from a detected object in the water such as a fish at 40 feet – it will darken the 40th pixel and so forth. If the signal is very strong – more than one pixel may appear on the screen. Typically stronger signals or sonar echoes are recorded as marks from top to bottom.

4) I know it goes against what most of us stand for – but read your manual – you’ll be shocked at all the features even the most basic fish finders have and will dramatically improve not only your understanding of how the unit works but also will improve the amount and size of fish you catch. If you don’t have a manual, go online and find one at the company that manufacturers your fish finder.

5) Don’t always leave your fish finder in what is called auto mode. Your unit comes from the factory settings in auto which allows for basic usage such as water depth and basic object recognition but you are only getting about 25% of the value of your purchase. Auto mode is rarely effective in shallow water as the fish finder will have trouble giving an accurate reading. To turn of Auto – go to the menu and shut off auto mode and set the reading for the shallowest depth it allows.

6) Don’t buy the fanciest fish finder you can find – instead buy one that suits your needs. Many of the advanced units are far too complicated and hard to use – particularly if you are not overly tech savvy. If you have never used a fish finder before – get one that has a basic and easy to understand keypad , a screen with a minimum 200 pixels and a decent warranty. Once you get used to the unit, then decided if you want the fancy one with all the bells and whistles.

7) Just because you see a fish in the water doesn’t mean it will bite. I learned this lesson as a child when fishing at a small dam where you see the fish in the water and we spend all afternoon dangling various bates and hooks right in front of their mouth and not one would bite the hook. Fish are temperamental and there are a lot of things that effect how and why they feed. With this in mind – knowing where a fish or school of fish is via your fish finder does not guarantee they will bite.