Thread: Thunderbird archives

Gentryj I have the 1198. Probably only had it about 2 months but it sure will make you a believer!

Hey all...Haven't ever fished at T-bird, but it's probably less than 30 mins from the house. Where would be a good place to start looking for crappie from the bank this time of year?

Originally Posted by taptap

Hey all...Haven't ever fished at T-bird, but it's probably less than 30 mins from the house. Where would be a good place to start looking for crappie from the bank this time of year?

I would guess with the rocks on the twin bridges or along the dam. They heat up in the sun and warm the water right? I've seen nice stringers come up from there this time of year. Also the shore by the hog creek boat ramp was on fire for a few days last year. Also pretty busy though.

Redge, I'm JEALOUS!!! I want one but not yet. The 798 doesn't have as much detail as yours obviously. that just means I need to become a less crappy fisherman lol.

Originally Posted by gentryj

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.

gentryj, Depends on the water conditions and how close to the structure they are. I mess with the settings from lake to lake till I get the resolution I want. If you notice when you are in any particular view, as you adjust the sensitivity, surface clutter, clear/max modes ect. that the screen updates as you adjust. You can freeze the sonar views with the cursor button and mess with the settings till you get what you like. What I do is find a place I think there are fish or pass over a place I think there are fish and adjust the settings till I see the fish. If that brush or structure never shows fish, I look elsewhere till I find a place that does.

Thanks BW...

gentry, sorry for the late response, but when i troll i mainly use bandit 300s. sometimes i use the 200s but the 300s will get down around 13 to 15 feet which is where i seem to have the best luck

I also have a 798ci. i love it but i never got hung up on trying to see the schools. i used mainly for a gps, to find structure, and then just fish the structure. i dont have to see the fish to know they are there. guess i was never patient enough with it to mess with the settings

Fishers, Thanks for the tips. I realize I don't have to worry too much about seeing the fish on the graph, but typically, I think I spend too much time fishing each spot because of not being sure how long I should try them. I guess the question is how fast do you fish through different spots and structures before you decide to slow it down because they're unaggressive. FYI, I typically only fish with jigs, but am looking to learn new strategies to throw into the rotation.

Redneck, thanks for that. Should I just try to coincide the colors that I know work well with my jigs? I know that speed and vibration are the most important things typically, so I don't know if it really matters that much. Let me know when you want to go. I live 5 minutes from the lake.