Fish Finders

Enter the modern fish finder. Even a small row boat with no motor is a huge advantage when rigged with sonar! Being able to identify all the humps, ditches, river channels, and other structures in the area you fish is the first step to success. Learn the neighborhood where the bass live and you will be able to more accurately predict their location. We know bass move around to locate cover, spawning areas and food, but the surface of the water gives very few clues. What's under the surface can be a mystery, but not with a good fish finder.

Back in the 50's there weren't many choices. You had a simple flasher and it was more expensive than the average angler could afford. Today the features are endless and the fish finders are very affordable. They tell you water temperature, GPS location and mapping, and even side looking sonar to cover hundreds of feet to each side! You need to school yourself in this new technology to avoid a costly mistake though.
Here are some companies that make a line of fish finders from basic to over the edge:

Humminbird

Lowrance fish finders

Eagle fish finders

Garmin fish finders

The technology for fishing electronics began in the early 1900's as nations looked for ways to detect their enemies at sea. SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) can be used to detect practically anything under the surface using transmitted sound waves that bounce off objects and return to a computer that interprets them. The “picture” used to be just blips on a screen. With the technology today, the picture can be extremely detailed, and in color, to give a snap shot quality display of the entire underwater world. Fish finders let us know what's down there from the surface to the bottom, and some will even give a picture of what's off to the sides as well! Like any electronics, you really get what you pay for. Cheap and affordable are not the same thing! How much definition the unit has, screen size, and extra features such as GPS mapping and memory are things the angler needs to think about before buying a fish finder. That being said, there is a unit for every budget and level of performance from weekend angler to pro anglers and charter captains.

FEATURES

Before you decide which brand to buy, consider what you need and then you can shop for bargains.

PIXEL COUNT

Put simply, the pixel count is how much information will be displayed on the screen. How deep your water is will help determine your pixel needs. Here is an example:

Fish finders with a 100 pixel vertical screen in 20 feet of water- 1 pixel = 2.4 inches of water.

Fish finders with a 240 pixel screen in 20 feet of water- 1 pixel = 1 inch of water.

What does that mean? Well, in 20 feet of water, anything smaller than 2.4 inches of width will basically be invisible to a 100 pixel unit. The 240 pixel unit would pick it up. I realize you are not fishing for minnows, but the greater the depth and the smaller the target, the more pixels necessary to receive a good clear picture of what's down there. That's it.

So a good fish finder for bass fishing in depths down to 50 feet would need a pixel count in the 300 to 400 range to give a good picture and detail. Naturally you want a unit that has the most resolution you can afford. Knowing what pixel count is will help you make that decision.

FREQUENCY

Frequency is the the speed, expressed in Hertz, at which the fish finder repeats it's “ping”. For the bass fisherman in the 50 foot maximum depth range, there really is no complicated decision to make here. All the units operate in the 200Hz range which is a narrow beam that gives a clear picture.

Some units have dual beams that can give wide coverage as well. These wide beams work in the 50-85Hz range and penetrate deeper water. The advantage of dual beams is the ability to locate large structures more quickly because you are covering more water in one pass.

With narrow and wide beams working together, you can locate humps and drop offs and individual fish at the same time. All this information is displayed at the same time on the screen. This makes dual beam units very valuable when scouting for schools of fish and the structures they use. Of course these units cost more than single beam ones.

POWER

This is also simple and not a huge factor for bass fisherman. In the 50 foot depth range, 500 Watts of power is plenty to receive a good picture and penetration. Some units will be as high as 800 Watts and more, but the power level is only allowing you to scan deeper water. The US Navy actually has units that are so strong, they have caused whales to beach themselves because it interrupts the whales own sonar navigation. Now we don't want to do that! Power is not an issue for your average bass fisherman.

GPS AND MAPPING

This is one of the greatest advantages of new fish finders. This eliminates the need for shore reference to find your favorite spot. You don't even need daylight to find your way! You can find a location, mark it on GPS and return to within mere feet any time you want to. You can repeat successful trolling runs over and over with incredible accuracy and mark exactly where you catch fish. This makes keeping a fishing log very easy.

The mapping technology these days will allow you to identify key structures and follow contours as small as 1 foot in elevation difference. You can even mark areas from home as long as you have a GPS signal. Once you get to the lake you simply press “GO TO” on your unit, and the distance and bearing are given to you. These GPS and mapping fish finders are extremely easy to use after just a little practice. I would say these two features are an absolute must if you want consistent results.

This added set of tools is definitely worth the extra price you pay. Chances are you will kick yourself if you don't get them! These mapping units have memory cards that can be used to back up your information and load updated software. Really cool!

SIDE IMAGING SONAR?

Side imaging sonar has only been available to navies and research organizations up until now. They used side imaging to find the Titanic and other ship wrecks. They have even tried to find the Lock Ness monster and Champy from Lake Champlain with this. We won't even get into why they couldn't find them though.

Units with side imaging take it to a whole other level. Instead of seeing lines going up and down on your screen, you see an actual picture of the bottom. It is as if you drained the lake and flew over it and took pictures. Do you think this might give you a little advantage? You're darn right it does!

Using Humminbird's unit, you can scan up to 480 feet side to side seeing ever object big enough to reflect the beam. It is truly amazing. Find that log that no one knows about. Isolated cover like rock piles and depressions that hold big bass will pop up on the screen and you will be surprised what you have been missing. In short order you will know every bump in you favorite lake. Knowing these features equals more and bigger bass caught. These fish finders are so fun to use, you might have to remind yourself to wet a line!

Remember that electronics, boats and gear are just tools. Without and educated bass fisherman they just represent money spent. Apply your knowledge to these tools, and it is money WELL SPENT!

What's the best fish finder?

Do you have any experience with electronics? Help others by sharing a story where your electronics saved the fishing day! Tell us what you think about a unit you've used.

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