Likes Likes:  0
Thanks Thanks:  0
HaHa HaHa:  0
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 29

Thread: Identifying Crappie on your Graph

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Cape Girardeau, MO
    Posts
    262
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default Identifying Crappie on your Graph


    just wondering what tricks or tips you guys have for identifying schools of crappie on your graphs. this is mainly a problem for me when fishing for suspended and deep water fish. i guess right some of the time but wrong others. thanks
    "Give me crappie, or give me death"

  2. #2
    Cane Pole's Avatar
    Cane Pole is offline Crappie.com 2011 Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Pumphouse Tn.
    Posts
    24,000
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default Ha ha

    Whenever someone posts that they can identify crappie on the finder, then I want to invest a lot of money in their technology. Sonar echos on something less than a solid object (smaller echoed signal strength) and appears as a fish based on the algorythm of the microcontroller program that determines what a fish is or might be. Debris often appears as fish on the sonar screen.

    My 2 cents worth and I put money on what I say here...
    Member BS Pro-Staff and Billbob Pro-Staff
    Proud Member of Team Geezer... authorized by: billbob and "G"

  3. #3
    Barnacle Bill's Avatar
    Barnacle Bill is offline Super Mod and 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Chesapeake, Va
    Posts
    20,315
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I think the biggest mistake people make is turning on the fish symbols. Those will show any reflection as a fish. I think the arches are much more accurate but even then not 100%. Just remember you have to be traveling at least 3mph to see an arch. Other wise they will look like a long line. Personally, I don't bother look for fish. I want to see the structure. But there again, if you see a hurdle down there and a buch of arches around it, chances are they are fish. Lowrance has an on line guide that is helpful in learning their systems.
    Fair Winds and Following Seas

    Bill H. PTC USN Ret
    Chesapeake, Va


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Central Illinois
    Posts
    1,511
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    I figure a school of fish are likely to be crappie unless I get alot of big targets. I figure that may be a school of stripers. I look for the bait fish on my depth finder and then I target the fish that is feeding on them. It is often crappie.

  5. #5
    Cane Pole's Avatar
    Cane Pole is offline Crappie.com 2011 Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Pumphouse Tn.
    Posts
    24,000
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default I here u Bill

    Here is a good link to lowrance. Good info here. I too use my sonar to find stuff, not fish. Good advice Bill.

    I use this link (and others) for classroom training.

    http://www.lei-extras.com/tips/sonartut/howitworks.htm
    Member BS Pro-Staff and Billbob Pro-Staff
    Proud Member of Team Geezer... authorized by: billbob and "G"

  6. #6
    Barnacle Bill's Avatar
    Barnacle Bill is offline Super Mod and 2014 Crappie.com Man of the Year * Crappie.com Supporter
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Chesapeake, Va
    Posts
    20,315
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Good link Tom. It helps explain why you see or don't see on your display.
    Fair Winds and Following Seas

    Bill H. PTC USN Ret
    Chesapeake, Va


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Drexel in western NC
    Posts
    937
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default Too Many Features

    I use the fish ID realizing what it is, a simulation. If I am trolling I will run about 35 miles an hour through an area looking for suspended fish. Crappie will show ( in my opinion) as the largest of the fish ID's. Bait fish will show as a smaller ID. If I see what I consider the possibility of a school I punch my hand held GPS. Depending on the area I may have several coordinates set before I start trolling.

    If I am structure fishing, I turn off the fish ID and look for channel breaks, end of points ect. I mark those locations with a buoy or GPS coordinates and then fish the structure.

    I do the same thing when searching for brush piles or trees someone else has sunk :D .

    I love a flasher. In more than 20 feet of water I know that the flashes I see above a stump or above a point are fish. I don't know what kind. I do know that on more than I occasion I have seen fish on a flasher and dropped a spoon and caught bass.

    I don't own a high end graph as I don't think the features they offer ( above a medium range) justifies the increased cost. They a just a tool, like a hoe or shovel and platnum plating doesn't make them perform any better.

    Now if you fish lake Erie where the water can be 60 or 80 feet deep, it is a different issue. A good graph there will show a school of smallmouth under a school of shad and even show one coming up to feed on the shad. That is with fish ID turned off.

    Bottom line as Tom said, know the features and how they function. Then use them as you see fit.


    Learn the rules so you know how to break them
    properly.



  8. #8
    papasage's Avatar
    papasage is offline Crappie.com 2011 Man of the Year & Moderator GA * Crappie.com Supporter
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Fitzgerald Ga. 31750
    Posts
    6,404
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    i like that site got it marked so i can read it when i git time. realy apreciate it .papasage
    retired and now i will always fish

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Richland,Oregon
    Posts
    419
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by adamr
    just wondering what tricks or tips you guys have for identifying schools of crappie on your graphs. this is mainly a problem for me when fishing for suspended and deep water fish. i guess right some of the time but wrong others. thanks
    Do some experimenting with your sensitivity settings. Turn it up real high where it is picking up every little thing then slowly turn it down until you are only picking up fish symbols. Do this while just barely moving and have the fish ID on. I trust what I am seeing at 15'-40' a lot more than above that. Look for a cluster of fish that stretches vertical through the water column being wider at the bottom than on the top. If the bottom is at 30' the top of the school is typically at 20'. When they are stacked like this they will usually bite. I don't bother with scattered fish symbols. On my unit crappie show up as the smallest of 3 fish symbols. The shape of the school helps a lot to ID crappie. On my water more often than not there will be perch, bass and bluegill mixed in or around the school but 90% of them will be crappie.
    If you have a deep rock or point that usually has fish practice with your finder by slowly going over that spot after adjusting the sensitivity. By knowing where the fish hold by past experience and shore reference you will learn to trust what you are seeing. It will surprise you how you will be going over a few scattered fish or none and then come upon your spot and the school is right where it should be. This gives you confidence in yourself and your unit.
    To find fish suspended over real deep water I turn the sensitivity up so high that the unit is showing a lot of clutter. I look for a hazy cloud twice as wide or more than it is deep. This is zoo-plankton and finding it is finding the fish. That's mostly a winter pattern on my water. Hope this helps.

    Brownlee Charters
    www.pinetel.com/~fishbrownlee

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    1,963
    Post Thanks / Like

    Default

    This reminds me of that TV commercial on the In-Fishermen show where the guy is selling the new fishing line. The ad claims that line is so sensitive that it can detect what is on the bottom of the lake. The ad shows a guy fishing with this new line and dragging his bait across the bottom of the lake and then claiming that he can fell what his jig hits on the bottom. Finally he strikes a sunken car or something and then he even claims that he can tell what the liscence plate number is on the car and the make and model of the car. LOL

    There are only two ways that I know of to determine what your sonar unit is displaying on it's screen. One is to get underwater with either an underwater camera or to scuba dive while using the sonar and look and see what is reflecting the sound waves back to the receiver. The second method that I use and more practical method is to catch a fish at the depth and see what type of fish it is. I have used this second method but would love to use the first method more often. My problem is that my air tank is empty and the tank needs certification. I am too fat today to fix in my 20 year old custom fitted wet suit and I don't have a diving partner or a BC anymore. LOL So I normally just fish at the depth that the signals show up and then see if I can catch a crappie.

    A third method is useful but it's not accurate and can be fooled. Crappie school sometimes in huge schools and stack vertically. But you need to catch a fish to determine what you see on any depth finder.

    Did I mention using an underwater camera system? Today for 3oobucks you can get a underwater TV camera system.

    I have observed fish while scuba diving and most of them won't change what they are doing unless you start swimming up to them and get close. But fish can see that we are nothing more than a slow poke in the water and they don't have to expend very much energy to stay out of reach. I have seen large 8lb Black Bass and many 3 to 5 lb bass at Dawson Springs Kentucky's Cilurian springs while diving there back in the early 1970's. I have seen huge 2lb bluegill on spawn in 20ft of crystal clear water there. A sight that I wish everyone who fishes could have witness with me. One experience that I never will forget. I would have loved to have conducted some experiments on those fish but my diving partners were not into fishing. They were not interested in doing some fishing experiments and we didn't even bring our fishing stuff. Today that dive site is well know and much nicer. It's been purchased by diving enthusist and turned in to a midwest diving paradise. If I were still diving I would return there someday to take in the view again.

    Hope this answers your question mate.


    Quote Originally Posted by Cane Pole
    Whenever someone posts that they can identify crappie on the finder, then I want to invest a lot of money in their technology. Sonar echos on something less than a solid object (smaller echoed signal strength) and appears as a fish based on the algorythm of the microcontroller program that determines what a fish is or might be. Debris often appears as fish on the sonar screen.

    My 2 cents worth and I put money on what I say here...
    Regards,

    Moose1am

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

BACK TO TOP