I believe "most" of the members are not "tournament" anglers ... but are just enthusiastic Crappie anglers, looking for an edge. Even though I fish two tournaments a year ... I don't really consider myself so much a "tournament" angler, as just a Crappie angler that enjoys a little friendly competition and the company of like minded sportspersons. That's the whole basis and backbone of the tournaments we put on at Watts Bar Lake ... no entry fee/no money payout - just "braggin rights" and a prize package of assorted products from our Sponsors.
One of the biggest misnomers of sonar units - is calling them "fish finders". They don't "find" anything - they just simply show an electronic rendering of signal noise being bounced off underwater objects. Sometimes the "echo" signal may actually be a fish, and at times may simply be an air bubble or limb or other submerged debris. Even the higher end units can't determine a fish from debris ... much less identify species. They can pick up the echo signal of the unit's signal bouncing off a fish's air bladder ... and technically the bigger air bladder should represent a bigger fish - but it still isn't going to tell the user whether it's a Catfish, Bass, Crappie, Pike, or a suspended piece of plastic with an air bubble trapped in it ... !! They don't make a unit that pops up a window that says "2lb Crappie at 16ft" ... :rolleyes: You have to use your collective knowledge of habit and habitat, added to the "picture" portrayed on the screen, to determine if the "fish" you're seeing there ... are the species you're after. Even then, it's a guessing game.
Leave the gentleman with his "pipe dreams" and concentrate on using your sonar unit to establish depth, and find structure and cover ... and use your "bait" as the "fish finder" ...............luck2ya .............cp