Thread: Thunderbird archives

Got a new toy. Humminbird 798ci SI. Installed it in the boat today. Will be on the lake tomorrow. Went out one day last week and caught 0 crappie and 1 channel cat about 3lbs in about 10 fow on a windy point. Went out Tuesday and the water was on the rise with all the rain. Lake looked like it came up between 3-4 feet.

Keep us posted on how you do tomorrow! Good to hear the water is coming up. Will this be enough to launch at post oak? It has been closed.

went out today vertical jigging and throwing a road runner around twin bridges. 0 crappie, put in at the denver boat ramp and it is no longer out of the water. water temperature is 65 plus and i even found some 70 degree shallow water. water is really muddy zero exageration. think that contributed to zero bites. i'm of the mindset tonight to save my gas money and try again next weekend.

well when out in bell cow lake caught one little crappie and got some bites in about 10 to 15 feet of water cant wait intell they move up ready to catch some good one my frezzer is lonely

Went out on Sat and Sun. Played a lot with the new fish finder. Identified a some fish on the screen but couldn't get them to hit anything. Tried vertical jigging and casting. Even used minnows. Nothing. Fish seem to be really scattered all over but mostly fish finder showed them over the channel at about 9-17 feet. Especially over the channel in 40-50 fow. I agree with Nate, water is really muddy (visibility was maybe 6") and lots of "trash' floating around that the rain washed in. I pulled a 13" wheel and tire from the water on Saturday. I put in at Denver Point, too. We fished The Little River leg from the Twin Bridges to where the channel gets about 50' deep. The fish finder marked hardly any fish shallower than 10 fow. Looks like the influx of all the water and the muddy condition has pretty well shut down the bite. As the water condition improves the bite should be on.

Chuck,
I have a 798 as well. With several of the lakes around here, the hard part is knowing how to identify the fish on the graph. There are so many rough fish everywhere, that it seems difficult be able to distinguish. After having mine for almost a year, I haven't done over anything yet that I could look at the graph and know that it's crappie. Has that been your experience? Most of the HB forums show beautiful pics, but they're typically from a 998 or above. Much more detail there. Has anyone else experience this? Should I be able to spot the schools and know they are crappie or am I expecting too much of my unit?

I also recently received a 798 c si. So far, the best way for me to tell if its crappie is how it is relating to structure. If they are tight on pilings, standing wood or brush its very likely crappie. In open water I have noticed that the spacing of crappie is closer and more consistent than other schools of fish like sand bass or white bass. On mine, in duel beam plus, the crappie schools almost look like a checker board return because the spacing is so consistent between the individual fish. Other kinds of fish arrange in more loose schools it seems. But I haven't owned this finder long, so it may not hold true at other times of the year.

Fishers, when you are spotting them tight to the structure, are you using switchfire or dual beam or SI? I've tried all 3 and with the crappie in thunderbird, they are usually pretty hard to spot due to their size it seems like. I've been playing with the settings a lot. The problem may very well be that I haven't been on a school of them yet so just haven't been able to see a what it should look like.