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Thread: River Channels

  1. #1
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    Default River Channels


    So we all know river channels can be the key to crappie most of the year..My question is how do yall fish the river channel, or I guess how do you find it, diagnose where they are and everything else that pertains to it...Is the only viable way to find the river channel and follow it is by having a 1000dollar fishfinder and all the ho9tspots maps? without seeing the lake before it was flooded, my expertise and following and even finding the river channel is zilch..if they aint up in the brush or shallow where you expect em, i aint catchin em...just wonderin if any one has any pointers..

  2. #2
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    No, the cheapest fishfinder will do a fine job of keeping you on the river channel. Take along some marker bouys for when you find it. You probably won't have to fish along the edge very long before you run into a brushpile.
    CATCH A BIG-UN

  3. #3
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    I like to pick out a point on the other side of the lake and move the boat straight in line with it. As you hit drop-offs pitch a marker and when you hit the one on the other side pitch a marker. That's as simple as it gets for me, cause I ain't buying a $1000 GPS or depthfinder either. I am not very good at it myself. That's why I stick the lakes I know this time of year.
    Caught so many fish today my thumb is sore from clicking the counter.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by slabbandit View Post
    No, the cheapest fishfinder will do a fine job of keeping you on the river channel. Take along some marker bouys for when you find it. You probably won't have to fish along the edge very long before you run into a brushpile.
    Ok so how do you follow it? i can usually find it by looking at depths on a map, but say you are trolling along, do you just know when it gets shallower or something that you are out of the channel? i aminly fish shallow lakes, max depth 20 feet...

  5. #5
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    I guess I didn't fully understand what you were asking. If you plan to troll right along the breakline, which I do a lot, mark the channel edge about every 50 yards before you start fishing. Then just troll from one marker to the next. This is easier than trying to constantly make corrections by watching your depthfinder.
    This is just how I do it but others on here may have a better way.

    Hope this helps,
    Dave
    CATCH A BIG-UN

  6. #6
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    Cane Pole is offline Crappie.com 2011 Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Quote Originally Posted by slabbandit View Post
    I guess I didn't fully understand what you were asking. If you plan to troll right along the breakline, which I do a lot, mark the channel edge about every 50 yards before you start fishing. Then just troll from one marker to the next. This is easier than trying to constantly make corrections by watching your depthfinder.
    This is just how I do it but others on here may have a better way.

    Hope this helps,
    Dave
    Buoy markers is how I do it sometimes. I gotta boat full of markers. I use the markers especially when the wind is up.

    But I also got tracks I follow with the GPS.

    Either way works fine.
    Member BS Pro-Staff and Billbob Pro-Staff
    Proud Member of Team Geezer... authorized by: billbob and "G"

  7. #7
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    I just use a waterproof lake map and my sonar to stay in the channel. You can also look for channel marker buoys set by the state to help keep boats off the rocks. This helped me a lot on my lake when I first began to fish it. Without a sonar how do you know how deep to fish, or if your on fish. As slabbandit said, you don't have to have an expensive unit to find the channel, fish or structure. My first unit was a eagle cuda that was about $80
    Waterboy1

  8. #8
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    Here on Lake Nimrod the C.O.E. had the river channel marked with red or green bouys but recent floods have taken their toll on them. Was real handy, especially for people new to the lake.
    CATCH A BIG-UN

  9. #9
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    I think that you have to have at the least a lake map. and you will have more success sooner if you get a decent locator one with the most vertical pixels the h/bird 565 is a good start it has 640 vertical pixels and that gives you better target seperation.
    Allatoona Bandit

  10. #10
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    Some of the lakes i fish here, the channels are too winding to troll them and the fish only move up them before and after spawning time for the most part. They go back out to the Tennesse river when the spawning cycle is over. What i would really like to know is where they go when they hit that big ol river

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