June 24, 2009 Stockton Lake Fishing Report

[zarraspook]

Thanks for the detailed report. I really need to seek some relationship counseling with my sonar. The only thing I can tell on mine is water depth and temp. Sometimes I can see fish arches but I cant even find the brush piles the core puts in. Ill troll back and forth from 20yds on both sides of the signs and from the shore out 40 yds or so. I cant find em. Sometimes ill happen across something that i can tell is a brush pile or a tree but not enough to make a day of it. I cant see foundations or brush or structure or anything. And that is my GOOD sonar. The one by the console finally took its last breath, so Im going to move the one up front to the back and shop for a new one up front. I cant afford a pro set up, but I was wondering if you or anyone that reads this has any advice on sonars. Something low to mid price range that would be a really decent one. What would some of the bare minimums be that you need in an lcr for finding structure and fish and have some sucess during these summer months? Anything anyone could add to Buying and analyzing whats on your screen would be a great help.

I have a Eagle 480 and I can watch a 1/16oz crappie jig go in and out of a brush pile , down to 25-28 feet !!!!!!

For a NON color unit it is great... on the "auto" mode is good but if you twek it to your fishing style it is Awsome

Right now Cabela's has them for $ 199... ( Fishmark w/ temp ) URL Page http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/template...&hasJS=true

Bass Pro has the same unit for $199 URL Page http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...0003000_250-3-1

[Frost1920]

I went with the eagle 480. It only took a hour or so and its hooked up ready to go. I cant wait to get to the lake and try it out. Thanks alot for all the imput. Its a big help having a forum like this because everything i pointed to at Bass Pro the associates told me was good. I couldnt get an opinion about anything really it was just this ones good that ones good just pick one and leave me alone. So i really appreciate this forum. Thanks alot!

[Stockton Lake Guide Service]

Just from my experience I would stay with the humminbird. I have had lots of trouble with the last 4 lowrances I have bought. I have the humminbird side imager now and it is unbeatable for finding the brush piles, drop offs, etc. I have had no problems with it. Just my personal opinion, I'm sure others have had just the opposite.

Good luck!!

[rps]

I had an Eagle 480 and now have a Humminbird 565. Both are good units, but the key to brush piles, seeing your jig, etc. is the unit set up. The default (how it comes from the store) setting on the Lowrance units seems to be more sensitive than on the Humminbird. The final, manual setting I plugged in allowed me to see the drop shot or jigged spoon easily on both units. The 565 has a wider cone from its transducer, which makes seeing your jig/spoon easier if your boat is drifting in the wind. That is the reason I switched to the Humminbird when my Lowrance unit died.

Read your manual and experiment with the settings to fine tune what you see to your preferences.

BTW - you will be happy you did not buy the inexpensive color. In bright sunlight they are very hard to read. The high dollar color units are much easier, but the low end ones I have looked at in other people's boats are almost impossible to read without a shade cover.