Graphs

[D Mann]

Yes knowledge and intuition is the best but you guys are talking about fishing the same bodies of water for 20 years. If someone is new to this sport or fishing a new lake the benefits of the new electronics are exceptional for finding the structure that holds fish very quickley.

[Seth]

You guy squabble more than little kids lol.

Here's my opinion on spending good money on graphs. If you are a bank beater and/or fish the same body of water all the time, then they probably aren't going to help you much. If you're somebody who fishes new water and wants needs to cover a lot of water to find cover (I do this for crappie all the time and it has turned slow days in to awesome days in areas I was not familiar), then a higher end unit with side scan/imaging is worth it. For the bow, any 2D unit will work and getting units to that link up and share waypoints is VERY handy, but not a necessity since you can still use marker buoys to help stay on a piece of cover once you find it.

For me personally, I have a Humminbird 998 side scan unit that I mainly use for crappie, catfish and snagging paddlefish. When I'm chasing bass on rivers, I mainly use it for the mapping and don't even have the sonar on. . The point I am getting at though is that it is simply a tool just like a trolling motor, rod and reel, etc. It's invaluable on some fishing trips and doesn't make a bit of difference on others. The value of good electronics can vary a lot between anglers depending on how they fish and the species that they are targeting.

Put a good angler with no electronics and a bad angler with the best and I'd put my money on the good angler every time. Reading a graph and finding fish is only part of the equation. If you can't make them bite then you aren't doing much good.

[Fish24/7]

Yes knowledge and intuition is the best but you guys are talking about fishing the same bodies of water for 20 years. If someone is new to this sport or fishing a new lake the benefits of the new electronics are exceptional for finding the structure that holds fish very quickley.

this knowledge and intuition about bass fishing is something that is earned by fishing many bodies of water over an extended period of time, years, decades. Not just one body of water. You'll have to have one hell of a memory bank upstairs to be able to remember it all,lol

[Fish24/7]

somebody once told me "don't stare at those screens too much, or you might miss out on a great day of bass fishing because you weren't paying attention"

[D Mann]

Back to the original post since this has turned into another peeing contest for this forum. From my previous experience if you are wanting side imaging on the console you will want a screen larger than 5". I could not see the detail on it like I can on the 7" touch screen. I think DI is overrated you can see the same picture with sonar once you know what your looking at.

[mjk86]

If a paper graph is good then an electronic map with 1' contours is much much much better.

The paper and pen is for jotting down notes while on the water, i use the contour map for contours (gps is helpful too though ill admit)....Example. 08/03/12. 2 adjacent gravel/chunk rock runout points, Main lake 1 inside bend, 1 creek channel/main lake junction 6-7am. Vertical presentation, 2 fish on spoon, 2 on DS, 3 on Crawler. 2 on bottom in 22 fow over sharp drop, 5 fish 25ft down over 50-80ft over that ledge. Larger fish on bottom, larger fish on spoon. I have pages and pages of notes like this from various points/docks/humps/islands/pilings/bluffs ect. This makes it easier for me to pinpoint patterns on bodies of water i only get to fish a few times a year. Its a process of honing in on a bite/pattern as quickly and efficiently as possible, and perhaps more importantly eliminating variables that arent producing bites.

[5bites]

The paper and pen is for jotting down notes while on the water, i use the contour map for contours (gps is helpful too though ill admit)....Example. 08/03/12. 2 adjacent gravel/chunk rock runout points, Main lake 1 inside bend, 1 creek channel/main lake junction 6-7am. Vertical presentation, 2 fish on spoon, 2 on DS, 3 on Crawler. 2 on bottom in 22 fow over sharp drop, 5 fish 25ft down over 50-80ft over that ledge. Larger fish on bottom, larger fish on spoon. I have pages and pages of notes like this from various points/docks/humps/islands/pilings/bluffs ect. This makes it easier for me to pinpoint patterns on bodies of water i only get to fish a few times a year. Its a process of honing in on a bite/pattern as quickly and efficiently as possible, and perhaps more importantly eliminating variables that arent producing bites.

I totally agree and see what you are saying. What I'm getting across is that electronic maps have a remarkable amount of detail that paper just doesn't have. Also the ability to highlight areas etc makes finding specific depths for fishing and navigating safely handy.

My original post should have said paper map not paper graph. Speaking of paper graphs, I assume boat mechanics that fished around oversized farm ponds thought they were useless in their day too while others thought they were invaluable.

[5bites]

Back to the original post since this has turned into another peeing contest for this forum. From my previous experience if you are wanting side imaging on the console you will want a screen larger than 5". I could not see the detail on it like I can on the 7" touch screen. I think DI is overrated you can see the same picture with sonar once you know what your looking at.

This is exactly right. I am learning this year though (albeit slowly) that di is handier than I first thought. It has just been another page in the way to the page I'm looking for. Now I'm seeing that it's more useful for for finding fish themselves due to it's really good target separation. I know of at least one guide on table rock that applies it while vertical fishing which I thought was interesting. So I'm not disagreeing with you but I'm learning that it's more useful than I thought before.

[inshore]

if all you do is fish the bank or visable cover all you need is something to tell depth and temp. if at table rock and you want to fish the depths get the best you can afford. be sure it is color and at least has gps. if you can afford it go all out with si,di and good map lakemaster is good but you can survive with navonic. also get the largest screen you can afford. if you learn to plumb the depths at table rock or any other you may not catch bigger fish but at least you should catch more and know you are fishing over fish.

[Sore Thumbs]

Well said