Lost brush pile

[minnowtime]

I have Corp of Eng, brush piles on a Garim eTrex HC, should be accreate to 9ft. I'm using a Humminbird 718 w/ 20 & 60 deg.beams. When I see structure at waypoint put out plastic marker. When return to fish bush pile it is no where to be found, Have used the fish ID both on and off, Thought it could be bait fish but has happened several times, Need help as not a good to give up on brush piles!!

Would the Humminbird 570 down imaging correct the problen?? As can not afford the side imaging.

[jeepguyjames]

is your transducer mounted on your trolling motor or back of boat??......you could be marking your wpts off if your gps is far away from your transducer.....ie if your gps antenna is 6 ft away from your ducer and you mark a wpt, and your garmin has a 9ft potential for being off, your could be up to 15 ft off the brush pile you just marked.....get your gps antenna as close to your transducer as possible when you mark a wpt, might help (this is if your marking a wpt when you see structure on your graph).....also maybe go to the wpt and watch your graph, dont throw marker out until you see brush pile on your screen....again put the marker as cloe to your transducer and it should be right on what your seein on the screen.....if you can select a beam use the narrow beam to be even more accurate on marking the brush pile

[Crappie Reaper]

He stated that the Corp brushpiles were on the etrex.

If this is Oologah, and the Corp says they're there, then I bet they're there. Minnowtime, the shad on Oologah right now are extremely thick throughout the entire lake. You might have thought you were seeing the brush on your HB718 when actually seeing a mess of shad. The shad can run from bottom to surface, ball up near the bottom, suspended, or at the surface. You could have been just off the pile enough for the 718 not to pick it up. Another thought could be that with Oologah almost 3' below normal, many piles have become visable and there are people that love to "relocate" a pile they find. However, the Corps piles are built using pallettes as the base, tree limbs and then loaded down with rocks. They would be hard to grab and move. Check you coords on the pile vs the coords on the etrex. Zoom in on the etrex as far as you can when you're trying to locate a waypoint. It should help. Good luck!

[DRPEPPER]

Crappie Reaper is on the same track my mind is going. I fish lakes in Arkansas that swing 20' from Spring to Fall in elevation. I use my best guess at finding the brush because the satelites might think I am 20' above where I actually am. Because, I was 20 ' higher when I set my waypoint. On the other hand, they might think I am 20' below the surface. If I don't see brush when I am directly on a waypoint, I drop a bouy and circle it until I find it. It is normally only 20' to 15' away.
DP

[jeepguyjames]

Crappie Reaper is on the same track my mind is going. I fish lakes in Arkansas that swing 20' from Spring to Fall in elevation. I use my best guess at finding the brush because the satelites might think I am 20' above where I actually am. Because, I was 20 ' higher when I set my waypoint. On the other hand, they might think I am 20' below the surface. If I don't see brush when I am directly on a waypoint, I drop a bouy and circle it until I find it. It is normally only 20' to 15' away.
DP

so water depth affects your wpts ....I fish a flood control lake and my wpts dont move when the depths changes

[Cane Pole]

I know about marking baitfish as waypoints. I have done this myself. I now verify all waypoints with DI, SI.

No telling how many baitfish waypoints I have. Moving brushpile syndrome. ha

[Jeffunder]

Crappie Reaper is on the same track my mind is going. I fish lakes in Arkansas that swing 20' from Spring to Fall in elevation. I use my best guess at finding the brush because the satelites might think I am 20' above where I actually am. Because, I was 20 ' higher when I set my waypoint. On the other hand, they might think I am 20' below the surface. If I don't see brush when I am directly on a waypoint, I drop a bouy and circle it until I find it. It is normally only 20' to 15' away.
DP

X2 This is the best way I have found to find the brush

[skeetbum]

I know about marking baitfish as waypoints. I have done this myself. I now verify all waypoints with DI, SI.

No telling how many baitfish waypoints I have. Moving brushpile syndrome. ha

Glad I'm not alone.

[keeferfish]

I use the same Garmin and have found using the pointer arrow to approach the pile very slowly. If you miss it the first time toss a buoy behind the boat as soon as the arrow swings around. The next time approach from a different angle and a few feet one side or the other of the buoy. I bet you find those darn things after a couple of tries. They can be off as much as 20ft and you’re using different satellites then the day the pile was originally marked. Hope this helps and good luck.