If You’re Not Using a Fish Finder, You’ve Been Fishing All Wrong!

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been fishing for a year or a decade, if you don’t evolve with time and do your due diligence on your tools and ways, you’ll be left behind. Even if you’re not a professional, it doesn’t make sense to sit for hours on end and go through the drudgery of waiting. There are people out there with authentic fish finders and they’re catching more fish than ever, thanks to improved gadgets and better sonar technologies.

Here’s Why You’ll Have an Edge if You Use a Fish Finder

Its purpose is evident from the name; a fishing apparatus that’s used to seek the presence of fish. A fish finder is normally fitted with a transducer that converts electrical impulses into sound, which travel down the water, strike the objects, and come back as echoes which are then picked up again and converted into electrical impulses by the transducer. The fish finder, depending upon its features, then converts these impulses into some visible signals or relevant pictures.

In retrospect, here’s what a fish finder can do:

• It allows the fishermen to view the depth and aquatic structure.
• You can also have an idea about fish hiding spots and water temperature.
• The gadget has a screen that can help you locate fish in all types of terrains underwater.
• It normally has a speedometer that helps you drive the boat at a decent pace – also to ensure that the fish aren’t scared off.
• The screens can be black and white as well as colored, with ample brightness to be visible under the sun.
• Most fish finders have a side-scan option that lets you figure out if there are any particular rich areas on either side of the boat.

Types of Fish Finders

Choosing a fish finder should be less about how it looks and more about how beneficial it can be. The key is to choose a fish finder that can scour through the insides of the rivers as if it knows the way.

Standard sonar

This is the simplest fish finder you can get your hands on. It sends down sound waves until they’re bounced off by an object or a fish — and that’s exactly why it’s a no-no. You don’t really know if it were the weeds the waves bounced off of or a swarm of little fish.

Chirp sonar

Fish finders with chirp sonar will send down waves, just like standard sonar ones, but they’ll do so in little quick bursts. What good does that do? It helps identify the things that are moving (fish) and the objects that don’t (weeds/structure).

Down imaging

Instead of just indicating the presence of an object down below, these types of sonars create a picture of an object based on the frequency response each object creates. So in addition to having chirp sonar, they give you a vivid picture of what’s down below. The only downside to these is you can’t scan the sides of your boat or dock, just the bottom.

Side imaging

These sonars solve the side imagery scan issue and can give you a clear picture of what’s around you — this is especially useful if you’re out fishing in a boat. Some of the most advanced fish finders will have a chirp sonar, down imaging, and side imaging, all combined into one nice handy gadget.

Summing It up With Key Components: Consider These When Buying a Fish Finder

Transducer

A transducer determines the quality of the imagery you’ll receive. If it’s a famous brand like Garmin, you don’t have to worry about anything.

Mounting

A fish finder should ideally be mounted at a spot that doesn’t expose it to a lot of water. Through-hull mounts go on the side of your boat, transom mounts are for the back, and in-hull mounts go on the inside.

Cone angle

The cone angle is essentially the radius your fish finder can cover. You don’t want a poor radius that frustrates you more than helps.