Fish Finder Training

[J-Doc]

Hi all.

If you're like me, you may only subscribe to your lake's forum so you may not have seen this new thread below. Between all of the lakes on this forum, I know there are some very experienced anglers who understand their sonar and how to interpret the data they see. There are also a lot of people who do not know or understand how to interpret what they see on their sonar (fish finder).

Swing by and take a look at this thread and participate if you like. Post some screenshots, post your opinions on what others have posted in an effort to teach others how to read a graph.

Thanks!

[Diamond City Fisher]

Thanks for posting this. I am looking forward to learning more about what I am seeing on my lowrance.

[J-Doc]

No problem. I figure there are lurkers and there are folks that don't get out of their home lake forum (including me) so I'm simply getting the word out.

Check back on the main thread in the General Discussion forum (link above in my initial post) or follow the thread by clicking "follow this topic" on the upper right and I'm sure we will get more information on their.

I know I'll be posting more screenshots in the coming months.

[lonkm]

Wish this post had been here when I got my first fish finder. Would have saved me lots of frustration. LOL This is a very good idea and I hope it continues. I an still looking for a picture of a fish laying on the bottom. I don't know the differance between rock bottom and a fish. Keep up the good work.

[J-Doc]

Same here! I wish I had some sonar training years ago so I would have known what I was looking at. Its not a matter of "how to use the sonar" more than how to READ the sonar. I myself and others tweak settings often based on conditions but knowing how to read it will allow you to know how and when to adjust the settings to get you what you need.

Fish or rock??

Man that's a big question and I can't tell you how many fish I passed up not knowing they were fish or thinking it was catfish only.

I'm going to kick start this question within the main thread so stay tuned. Much to learn on this question. I was fortunate enough to have a guide show me the way on this particular question.

[J-Doc]

Oh and thanks for the support on this topic. I think its a very good one and something not utilized enough (sonar that is).

[Diamond City Fisher]

Saw this interesting article on Wired to Fish....good looking screen shots and information.

http://www.wired2fish.com/using-sonar-to-keep-bass-interested/

[J-Doc]

Saw this interesting article on Wired to Fish....good looking screen shots and information.

http://www.wired2fish.com/using-sonar-to-keep-bass-interested/

That is excellent information and with example screen shots. Thank you for sharing! This is exactly the type of information I was hoping to collect.

[J-Doc]

Here is a quick little video that I made Saturday morning. I found some fish in ranging depths between 10-20ft in this one particular area and they did not want to bite my crankbait. As I was drifting down the bank, I dropped a Texas rigged worm down and would twitch it like a dropshot just off the bottom. I had a few nibbles so I switched over to a jigging spoon. I was getting good sonar shots and decided to make a video.

Reading the Wire To Fish article, I learned I should have pulled the bait up and not popped it up.

Anyway, here is a quick video showing jigging but it works for any vertical presentation including drop shot.

http://youtu.be/H4gBf4xMWVo