Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Catching More Fish with a Fish Locator/Sounder

My fishing hours over the last 10 years have been pathetic. So I am finally outfitting an old boat and getting ready to head out onto the public waters of Kansas.

Most of my fishing experience is farm ponds in Kansas plus one beautiful 400-acre lake with lots of natural structure. I have fished there so much that I literally knew every sunken tree and big boulder on the bottom.

Question for the experts: I would like any advice from the fisherman on the forum as to how they use their modern fish finders/depth sounders to put fish on the line. Specifically how they target any particular fish species using the locator and matching that with a fishing style and presentation.

I like trying to tempt bass out of heavy cover, but believe that is difficult to see on the locator. I enjoy fishing for ANYTHING. If you can catch suspended walleye in 45' deep water in the summer using your locator - then count me in. If you can catch flatheads and channel cats in the old river channel in the large reservoir, I will do that. If you can pull up to structure and easily determine if the crappie are located there, then I will fish for crappie. If they are eating size, great! If they are stunted, and you still catch a hundred on your ultralight, then I will settle for that.

I have had great fun fishing for carp, for gar, for drum. If no large gamefish are biting, I will fish for GSF with a beetle-spin on light tackle.

Any fishing advice/style that is combined with utilizing information gleaned from the fish locator would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Please include any recommendations on specific fish locator equipment that you like for your personal use. Maybe include a rough price point for that product.

I consider myself a pretty hard-core angler. Success may be debatable but I have several boats over-equipped.
Even though I do use active target, I can't give it credit for putting fish in the boat.
The bigger challenge is understanding the species you are after and applying what you "see" to where they may or may not be.
I am more concerned with bottom depth, substrate and obviously, contours. Understanding fish movements and what they want is more important than actually seeing the fish. Seldom will you see WAE on a depth finder except in the case of suspended fish in deep water.
I use Lowrance products and have done quite a bit of beta testing for their C-Map Genisis mapping program. I've spent years building Bathymetry maps that I can bring up on chart page and decide where fish are "likely" to be with given conditions.
Livescope/active Target are not needed to gain advantage because as I said, they don't put fish in the boat.
I like dual frequency overlay capabilities and a unit that allows down scan and side scan as options. Bottom topography is your goal in conditions where fish hold away from shoreline structure. LMB tight to shore is something that requires you to pick a change in structure/habitat type and fish the transitions at the junction of those types. 1st drop or ledge off-shore will be the starting point for other species.
Price you are willing to pay will dictate the best unit for the job, and expensive is not always better but I would HIGHLY recommend GPS function so you can leave/make waypoints and navigate in pitch black conditions, which happens a lot if chasing SMB and WAE in summer conditions.

Thanks Snipe.

Every type of fishing I have done around North America (when I do get to fish with buddies on their home turf) has had a definite learning curve to put fish on the hook. Are you telling me a magic fish finder won't immediately move me to the top of the learning curve?

Your state lakes are a pretty long haul for me, but I do know those waters a little bit. I think Sebelius is the best current black bass lake in your area? What is your current favorite lake up in your area, and what fish (and technique) do you most enjoy at this time? (I might be able to translate your success to the reservoirs closer to me.)

My kids and wife do enjoy Wilson Lake a lot.

Sebelius is always good for LMB and the biggest spotted bass you will find in the country. Also home to the State record SAE.
Cedar Bluff & Wilson have all 3 species of Bass, Clinton and Perry are my Favs for WAE/SAE. tactics are the same on all for summer. Main lake structure holds WAE/SAE on the drops of humps and cranks and bottom bouncers are my go-to for daytime, large cranks trolled at night.

I quit lake and tournament fishing many years ago and gave my 20 ft Ranger with the 200 hp Evinrude to a friend. What the locator told me is that fish, like most non avian life forms, orient on structure. Something different like humps, ridges, draws, etc. The exception is the open water stuff like sand bass and stripers. And yet, the fresh water life forms also relate to “something”.

More important to me as a predator is finding out where the prey gets its groceries.

If I was retired, I might go out often enough to run a Texas Hunter feeder off of the back of the boat and fish with a 1" pellet on a Stubby Steve!

As a kid, fished offshore and caught fish. Also went out with dad in boat and he had a green box flasher. Fast forward 45 years and I've got a chart plotter/live scan and a side scan unit on my boat. The live scan is nice but you really have to learn it to be like the guys on TV and I'm not there yet.

If you get a lake map/topo, you can see where the points are, the underwater river channels, and steep banks (lines close together). That's all you really need to catch fish.

In spring time - fish like flats, summer they'll be deep enough to stay cool and winter deep enough to stay warm. Spring and fall are movement periods for them.

If you are buying a boat - yes, get a fish finder. I use a Striker 9 with side scan and bottom scan and that does 90% of what i need. The live scan shows fish moving. If you are looking for crappie/specs in 30 feet of water you don't need live scan, the down/side scan will do that just fine.