Fish Finders
Written for the TSBA By: Robert Leach
Undoubtly the most significant advancement in the world
of fishing in the last few years has been in the development of fantastic
electronic products - namely fish finders & global positioning systems.
Probably every serious striper fisherman uses some form of fish finder
to give them an accurate
representation of what is under the water around their boat - fish,
structure, bottom composition, etc. This maximizes the time that they spend
in productive waters which will mean more strikes. So the question is not
whether or not you need a fish finder but which one is best suited to your
specific needs. There are many different models on the market with a wide
variety of features & price tags. The first thing that you should do
is determine your fishing habits, expectations & how much money you
want to spend. If you go striper fishing a couple of times a month &
your main objective is to get out on the water and have fun, then you probably
would not need the same unit as the rabid fishing fan who goes several
times a week. The next thing to do would be analyze the features of the
various units & determine what is important to you. To assist you in
this endeavor, here is a quick review of the most important features.
1. Resolution/Pixels - Each fish finder has a defined
number of vertical & horizontal pixels (dots) over the entire display
screen. The important numbers
are the number of vertical pixels & the total number of pixels
per square inch. A higher vertical pixel density displays the target depths
more accurately while a higher total pixel count per square inch will provide
a better representation of the structure beneath the boat. As a guideline,
the serious fisherman should consider a unit with at least 60 vertical
pixels per inch & a total pixel density of 5000 per square inch. For
example a unit with a
3.5 x 3.5 inch display & 320 vertical & 240 horizontal pixels
will have a
vertical pixel density of 320 pixels / 3.5" or 91. The total pixels
per square inch would be 320 x 240 divided by 3.5 x 3.5 or 6270 pixels
per square inch. Of course, there are many units under the above guidelines
which will do a excellent job.
2. Cone Angles - Every fish finder has one or more transducers
(and matching receivers) from which a unique, fixed-frequency signal emanates
in a cone-shaped pattern towards the bottom of the lake & back. This
angle & the depth of the lake under the boat determine the volume of
water that is being scanned by the sonar signal. Wider angles are best
for
shallower waters while smaller angles work better in deeper water.
Many units have multiple transducers, each with a different cone angle
&
frequency so you have more flexibility and most serious striper seekers
would want such a unit.
3. Fish symbols - Some fish finders display various sizes
of fish symbols
whenever the unit has detected a fish. However, most striper fishermen
like to see the actual images to interperate for themselves.
4. Power - The power of the unit can be given in peak-to-peak
or rms watts which are 1/8 of the peak-to-peak value. Be sure that you
are comparing similar units. The rms value typically runs between 75 &
600 watts. The higher the value the better but there are many fine units
in the mid-range.
5. Digital Displays - Some units digitally display bottom
depth, fish depth, speed & surface temp. but some good units units
don't use it.
6. Alarms - Many units in every quality & price range
have built-in alarms for shallow water, deep water & fish in the scanned
area. These are nice features & they can be adjusted & turned on
or off by the user.
7. Depth range - Almost every fish finder has sufficient
depth capability for all lakes and rivers in the southeastern United States.
However, you may want to occasionally fish deeper waters off-shore or in
the Great Lakes. Just be sure that the depth range is sufficient
for all your
anticipated fishing needs.
8. Grayline or Bottom Hardness - Some units advertise advanced
Grayline capability which allows for better definition of the bottom and
the separation of objects (hopefully fish) near it. In fact, experienced
users can determine the composition of the bottom if their unit has
good resolution and Grayline capability.
9. Other Features - There are many other features that
may be
important to different individual anglers. The most important one is
the additon of GPS and mapping capabilities. These can be extremely
important especially if you frequently fish during periods of low visibility
such as before dawn, after dusk or during foggy conditions. We will cover
this in a later newsletter.
Please use this information as a guideline and not
the absolute gospel when searching the the best fish finder for you. Good
luck.
TSBA
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