Without a Fish Finder....how good are you?

[huntinslabs]

I would fish no different. Now in the fall trolling without my handheld gps for speed would be trying but I bet I could. Dont have any fancy electronics on my boat now so I havent been spoiled yet. But my next boat will have the nicer units. Aint gonna knock somebody that has em fer sure.

[Gabepeeps]

If your fishing Lake Lanier, good luck!!!!!!! Dock shooting is the way to go here but you'd have to shoot a lot of docks before you find em. On other lakes, I'd longline to cover as much water as possible. Drop a buoy everytime I caught one. Then use em like waypoints and troll past them.

[Slabprowler]

Ant never had one them nice fish finder/gps units and don't catch as many as some but catch my share .I have fished a couple times with folks that do and one day I plan on and am hoping to get one I have always wondered what makes the fish be here or their .but do know that if I don't never make it to that point to get one I will keep on fishing because the more u fish the more you learn .the more water you conver the more honey holes you find.

[Alphahawk]

I owned boats from 2001-2004 with sonar...then went until 2015 before I got another boat. I had a backpack that I had loaded with gear...water. I would take one rod and beat the banks at Center Hill...Pickwick...Nickajack.....and walk 7-9 miles a day fishing. I keep logs. While I now have an si unit I still have my logs as to where and when I found crappie beating the banks. They have returned to same spots for years. Now I use my sonar and am locating tons of fish with it...and I don't want to give it up....but as most on this forum know one has to put the time in...and a lot of work to catch the fish consistently.


Regards

[lowe175]

Really depends on how I'm fishing. Most of the time I don't even look at mine. Long lining would be a little harder. Also driving at night would be hard on some of the lakes I fish. That being said I feel very confident without it most of the time.

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[doggone]

Even the smallest most rudimentary model is an invaluable fishing aid. The value does vary depending on exactly how,when,and where your fishing. I caught fish before they came out....and I still use some basic models...still do not have a high end one. But how can you underestimate the ability to locate submerged weed beds,brush,humps,holes,stumps,channels.To be able to tell what the basic bottom composition and contour are,to determine the slope of a bank or the length and contour of a point, and to quickly assess the depth of the thermocline,etc.etc.? Even if they never showed me a fish.... It's going to help me catch more fish.

If you are fishing a lake that has submerged grass,and you note on the finder that your bites are coming from grass in the 6 to 7 ft depth range and the grass is about two to three feet tall and dense. The finder has helped you establish that...more quickly than you would otherwise. Now...you catch the fish off that spot...how much faster will you be able to find similar spots with the finder versus without it? How much more quickly will you be able to determine the size of it and the spots of highest probability with it versus without it?

[Crestliner08]

Before I got my first "Green Box", I used maps an awful lot. When no maps were available, I used a hand line with a one pound weight to mark and plot structures on a hand drawn map. Of course, back then I was a heck of a lot younger and a lot more determined than I am these days. I would not think about going on the water without a sonar anymore.

[whiskerwhipper]

Quite a few people I know are obsessed with having state of the art electronics on their boats. They drive around more often huntn for fish than actually trying out an area. Then their game plans fall apart when a unit freezes up or transducer cable get ginzued by a prop. My theory is there is a 2 part equation to catching fish. First part is finding them. If you can find them, super. Next part is presenting your bait(s) to them. No high end unit in the world can get them to bite. Not even cussing at the screen will work. I use a basic Lowrance X-3 on my freighter to find them or prevent myself from wasting time in too shallow or deep of water. Since I got a low powered boat, I don't go far from the ramp so i know my way back to port.

[crappie cowboy]

Most the guys I know would have a whole lot more money in there pockets without them for sure. I think we'd still catch a fair amount of crappie without electronics. We did in the past years, I'm almost 71 years old, and we have caught stingers full without fish finders when I was young. A tournament without them would be a hoot....lol

[CrappiePappy]

Well ... w/o a depth finder, I'd be fishing visible cover most of the time. I'd also still be using minners a lot more often than I do, now, and trying different places that produced in the past (which is exactly what I did back before there was such a thing as a depth finder).

How good would I be ?? But, I'd probably still be fishing, catching fish, and enjoying myself, now, just like I always have.