Seeing your baits on sonar...

[Fishin_Magician]

This year I installed a sonar mounted to the base of my trolling motor. I have just begun to realize I can see my baits on the sonar while I spider fish. I can watch the baits drop to the bottom and then reel them up untill my lure is where I see fish arches.

I do not know how i missed this earlier. I think it was because I angled my rods off to the side of the boat instead of off the front. I really like being able to watch the action on the sonar. I don't know how many times in the last couple weekends I said, "there are the fish right near the baits" and seconds later got a strike.

I was just wondering if any of you guys noticed the same thing while spider fishing. Sure makes it easy to hit the right depth.

~Fishin' Magician~

[percher]

I found the same thing while fishing this summer. I had a wide angle LCD graph type unit on my TM that stopped working. I put on a cheap Humminbird with a 20 degree transducer and started seeing fish and my tiny jigs or minnows on the screen. I now have 20 degree units on the back and the trolling motor so I can zero in on those brush tops and fish. I'm using Humminbird Fishfinder 525 units now and really like 'em. High power, easy to use and low cost. $125 at BPS. After all these years I'm finally catching fish with a fishfinder and not just seeing the bottom. Seeya, Don

[labill]

Guys, I"ve done the same thing with a 300TX Hummingbird and I was amazed at what I could see. I noticed it first time when I got hung up on a limb and broke the jig off. I , in disgust, just dropped the line and calmed down a bit, then started reeling back up and noticed a blip on the 300TX moving up at the same time I was reeling, and realized I was seeing a tiny lead shot I had put on my line for weight. I had almost forgotten to continue fishing while playing with the lead, watching it bounce up and down as I jigged it. The transducer was a 3 cone set, with the center cone at 20 degrees and a 45 deg on each side. Like it was stated, it had to be in the 20 degree cone to see the lead, which was supposed to be a 1/32 oz weight. I have a new respect for my cheap Hummingbird.

[Cane Pole]

Any metal object will give a good echo return. Metal don't absorb sound energy as easily as more porus subustances such as wood or "fish". I lost a lot of jigs screwing around with the finder and the trolling motor. ha

Tom

[SteveJ]

Tilt your trolling motor transducer forward a little and you can really see your jigs on the sonar.

[fiddlefarter]

I can see 'em on my eagle 320 too. To me, sometimes its handy, other times it just puts useless lines across the screen. But look at it this way once you are able to see things that well on your screen, you know how to use the unit. So many people don't know what they're looking at on them.

[anchorpuller]

I thought I was crazy and didn't think I would ever admit to playin' with my minner so I could see it on the fishfinder.
When I found out I could do it, I was like a baby finding his toes for the first time. :rolleyes:

[labill]

When I found out I could do it, I was like a baby finding his toes for the first time.

LOL! Thats a great analogy AP. I can relate.... :D

[LBM]

Have any of you noticed that while playing with the minnow or jigs, by moving them up and down, to watch the baits on your graph will seem to trigger bites sometimes when the bite action has been slow?

[Fishin_Magician]

Heh well I am glad I not the only one that "missed the boat" on this sonar ability for a couple years. I guess I would have noticed it sooner if I had put the rods out in a position that drops the lures into the sonar cone of view.

Heh you and LaBill are right achorpuller it was like a discovery for me that had been right in front of my face if I had know how to look!

SteveJ, I like the idea of angling the sonar a little towards the rigs to see them better. Do you think this will adversely affect the sonar view of fish, structure, and the bottom? I know the manual says to get it parallel to the bottom of the boat. But maybe tipping it a little forward would not cause any probs...

~Fishin' Magician~