FF up and running, but...

Well I took the new Cuda 250 out for a smoke test yesterday on Hagg Lake on a windy and rainy afternoon. It apparently worked just fine. After paddling out from boat ramp A, I finally saw a few fish down by the dam. I caust the smallest perch ever and a dink of a trout, both without any thought.

Now that I'm electronically here, I realize I don't know how to use the information I'm being provided. Anyone with some expertise or guidance in actually using sonar to help catch fish?

Thanks,
Jay

I'm interested in the same FF unit and would like to see some photos of your installation, particularly transducer and battery mounts.  I hope it works well for you - Alan

Jay,

I use a fish finder for several different things when fishing. 

a.) find structure (e.g. rockfish and bass fishing)

Being able to know your depth and find structure is probably the biggest advantage having a fish finder does for me.  Many fish are attracted to structure be that a large submerged rock, underwater brush, or even a steep slope and if you use your fish finder to keep you on structure you'll be fishing higher percentage water than if you randomly picked a spot.

b.) find bait (e.g. salmon fishing in the ocean)

Here's another example... say your fishing for lake trout in Crescent Lake.  You've heard that lake trout will be found where ever you find schools of kokanee.  Chances are that unless you have a high end fish finder you won't be able to spot the actual lake trout, but you should be able to detect large mid-water schools of kokanee (large black blobs) at say 90 ft.  Simply stop over the school and drop your jig down to just below the school.  If the jig is large enough you'll be able to see it drop on your fish finder.

c.) find fish
Actually finding fish is probably the most problematic and I'm still working on doing that reliably.  It would be nice to paddle around and say.. ah there's a large fish 33 ft down, drop your lure down and catch your fish. For me it rarely works like that (but it's a blast when it does).  You need to fine tune the fish finder to do this by adjusting the sensitivity and noise reduction levels.  Each water body is different in terms of turbidity and other physical parameters that effect your fish finder and you'll probably find that you'll have to adjust your settings each time.

Most fish finders have several fish finding options.. in particular they have a mode that analyses the readings and places cute little fish icons on them.  The problem is that if you have your settings off, these "fish" marks might just be noise.  I prefer to look at the raw signal and try to look for fish arches myself.   Note that fish with larger air bladders  (rockfish for example) will show the best arch signal.

Last Feb at the big sportsman show here at the Portland Expo Center I noticed there was a guy from Lowrance giving lessons on fish finder tuning and interpretting.  I wasn't able to attend because I was working an Invasive Species Outreach booth at the time.  I'm going to try and make a point of not missing it this year if it's offered again.

Brian

Now that I'm electronically here, I realize I don't know how to use the information I'm being provided. Anyone with some expertise or guidance in actually using sonar to help catch fish?

Thanks,
Jay

Jay,

Of all people, haven't YOU learned by now that ignorance = bliss?   

Isn't there a way to read thermoclines, and use this depth to find fish that hover in this area?

Isn't there a way to read thermoclines, and use this depth to find fish that hover in this area?

You need a decent thermocline to do this.  The unit itself won't detect the difference in the water temperature at the thermocline. If the thermocline is strong enough, it will be accompanied by a strong pynocline (density gradient).  This pynocline often traps small particles like plankton above it and some zooplankton will gather here as well.  If you're settings are just right you can sometimes see this layer and infer a thermocline.   

As for when you might expect a strong thermocline, you should look to deep lakes in late summer where the winds have been generally light.  I imagine Henry Hagg Lake is a good candidate in August.

The ocean around here and the rivers generally don't have thermoclines and shallower lakes turn over easier due to wind.   Also, from late fall through spring the stratification no longer exists (the surface is as cold as the bottom).

Brian

Brian

Isn't there a way to read thermoclines, and use this depth to find fish that hover in this area?

You need a decent thermocline to do this.  The unit itself won't detect the difference in the water temperature at the thermocline. If the thermocline is strong enough, it will be accompanied by a strong pynocline (density gradient).  This pynocline often traps small particles like plankton above it and some zooplankton will gather here as well.  If you're settings are just right you can sometimes see this layer and infer a thermocline.   

As for when you might expect a strong thermocline, you should look to deep lakes in late summer where the winds have been generally light.  I imagine Henry Hagg Lake is a good candidate in August.

The ocean around here and the rivers generally don't have thermoclines and shallower lakes turn over easier due to wind.   Also, from late fall through spring the stratification no longer exists (the surface is as cold as the bottom).

Brian

Brian

Thanks.  That's good to know!   

I was interested in how this works, but confused how it worked, because it is mentioned in the Cuda manual. 

Now that I'm electronically here, I realize I don't know how to use the information I'm being provided. Anyone with some expertise or guidance in actually using sonar to help catch fish?

Thanks,
Jay

Jay,

Of all people, haven't YOU learned by now that ignorance = bliss?   

Very true. However.....bliss on an empty stomach sucks 

You're bliss on an empty stomach is still two salmon fuller than mine this year.

Jay,

I use a fish finder for several different things when fishing. 

a.) find structure (e.g. rockfish and bass fishing)

b.) find bait (e.g. salmon fishing in the ocean)

c.) find fish

Brian

I guess Hagg Lake wasn't the best place to test out the features. Generally, the east end is flat, 50-60' and no structure until you get right near the dam.  With all the possible settings to be altered, it'll be a while before I get it dialed in. Eagle has a web sonar training site that I'll check out. Since most of these sonars are installed on boats designed to go a bit faster that those of us paddling (Hobie envy), which settings would you tweak for kayak based use?

Jay

I wouldn't worry so much about boat speed as they're designed to work at rest as well as while underway.   I personally like to have my fish finder on the fastest scrolling setting.   Getting the grayline set up right will help you distinguish between hard and soft bottom.  After that it's a matter of tweaking the sensitivity and noise reduction settings to get a decent clean signal that still allows you to mark fish.

Brian

Brian,

You'r hired.

Isn't there a way to read thermoclines, and use this depth to find fish that hover in this area?

Thermoclines on my FF show uo ass a line of little fishies nose overlapping tail all at the or about the same depth. I read structure below that line and sometimes bait balls too. Single fish are often just that, single fish. Can I entice them to my bait/lure well, sometimes but not often enough to think I cought the fish I saw on the FF.

I use the auto marking feature, little fishies vs raw data for convienence and a non cluttered screen. I had the raw data up on the screen when I saw the biggest darn return, filled the screen. Must have been a whale, or maybe a porpus or maybe a thermocline, whatever. Do wonder what it was.