How Much Time Do You Spend Scanning For Fish?

[abkeenan]

Just wondering on a typical trip how much time do you guys spend just scanning for fish? Do you scan each area with your electronics on the console before you even stop to fish an area you stop at?

[motoman]

Not a heckuva lotta time; unless I'm looking for schools of fish...........cause if an area looks good on the maps or the shoreline; I'll try it. I've caught WAY too many fish in places I've never seen a blip on my electronics. Cause I don't like to get on top of an area, before I fish anyway. And my transducer is thru-hull, so I would only see them if I'm on top of them.

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Maybe I just have antiquated electronics?

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I don't recall the specifics of my Lowrance transducer cone off the top of my head (bow and console are only a few years old), but the size of the cone it throws on the bottom is relatively small if I'm not mistaken. So a few feet either way from a specific area; and I there's a good chance I wouldn't see them anyway.

[fishinwrench]

Nothing kicks you in the nuts and kills your confidence worse than knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that the fish are exactly where you are fishing, and yet for all you're worth you can't catch them.

I kinda like having that safety net of...."well, maybe they changed locations".

So since I'm gonna fish a given area whether my electronics show fish or not, I do NO scanning.

[wayne b]

I use my electronics to scan for structure and depth that is about it mainly for reasons wrench listed above

[Feathers and Fins]

Heavily scan an area with side-scan and set up a more finite up and down scan based on the side scans finding for new area. Then Mark all the structure on gps tracking. After that is done I troll the area and zero in to the key structure and type after I have that known I drop aqua-vu on it to see what features they have over others and write them in my log.

After that is done the following trips are easy, Troll over all the marked points reference the log at each catch and quickly I have a pattern the fish are on ( Depth, type of cover ) then fish it with whatever lure or bait I think maximizes my chances but the key is the first trip to a new area is purely a scouting and education trip. I want to know everything about the area and map it out. Think of it as hunting you want the most detailed maps and know the forage, cover, choke points etc, fishing is no different but few people seem to put in the time and effort they should.

[Quillback]

Kind of depends what kind of fishing I'm going to do. If drop shotting or spooning I'll spend some time looking around for fish. But if I'm fishing steep chunky rock stuff or working cover I'll generally just pull up and start fishing.

[Old plug]

You guys that fish for school fish a lot like stripers and whites need to scan unless it is some flat or something where you know they will show up. But you can really mess up your fishing paying to much attention to the electronics when bass fishing. Since I fish a area of this lake I know I sometimes do not turn it on for weeks at a time.

[Old plug]

FIns ------- You are a troller. I think for you it would be important. and you seem to be one of the few I have met on here that fully understand what you are doing with electronics. black bass are different. Most of the bite pattern is revealed between experience conditions and between me and the end of my line. but I do use mine to find small humps far out in the lake and other things of that nature.

[Feathers and Fins]

OP im not just a troller. I do it when conditions dictate but I am also very deadly with jigs, spinners, worms etc. It all depends on the conditions and species I'm after. I use my electronics when bass fishing with very high success rates. What im doing in that conditions is still the same to a degree as I posted above. I side scan an area, then I up and down it marking structure. After that I will go sit out on a specific depth casting past the structure points and bringing the bait back through the strike zone. By doing that I actually increase the strike zone area as im able to cover 360 degrees of it while not ever having to come on it or near it after the scouting trip is done.

Many times I will scout it then leave and come back an hour or two later so the area is rested from the scouting. Electronics are extremely valuable but only a small part of it as you have to know how to use them for catching fish but not using them to see the fish. Using them for precise boat control on a contour line is a great tool but takes a lot of practice and self control. The up and down in this situation keeps you away from the target but in great casting position the side scan targets the structure. I actually have one of my sidescan transducers on my bow mount trolling unit and use it to pinpoint the previously marked structure WITHOUT having to turn the boat to find it.

To many people get a unit and then don't maximize its potential is my opinion.

[Old plug]

Finns---- in my case i do. Not have to scan been fishing this same 15 sq miles or so for 25 yrs. I do well enough to suit me most years. I know what you have to do with electronics to get the most from it. It is also expensive for a retired person 74 yrs old. My way is i know where there are hog places and I go there are like places over and over. A example of what I mean about the conditions where it will not catch fish for you is early this this fall we had a big rain here. There is this place that has a creek flowing large cove that draws bass in there when there is a fast rise. I caught 2 bass 22 inches long in about 20 minutes in water not over 3 ft deep. Electronics would have been of little help I believe in that situation. There was no structure, no brush just a flat mud bottom with the bass holding fast against the bottom of the dock flotation. In this case it was experience and knowledge. I suspected they might be up there and I was almost sure they would be holding on the outside corners of the docks that provided the best ambush spot.