Fall Crappie hotspots revealed by Humminbird Side Imaging

[Jason Halfen #511]

As water temperatures cool in fall, walleye and crappie roll out of their late-summer doldrums and strap on the feedbag in advance of the ice-locked months of winter. Rather than scattered over large feeding flats or roaming open water, I often find my favorite target species to be closely associated with two primary types of structure: rock bars and artificial fish cribs. In this article, I'll demonstrate how Humminbird's Side Imaging technology can be used to identify these structures and to find the fish that are using them. After we discuss location, I'll touch on a couple of very productive methods for putting fall walleye and crappie in the boat.

Fall fishing hotspots revealed by Humminbird Side Imaging

[frank lawhead]

Very nice--great veiwing

[creekslick]

Thanks for sharing the info.

[AgriHawg]

Thanks for sharing.

[wilbur]

Jason maybe you could give us some of your settings to start with.

[blueball]

good info ,thanks

[bugman]

What a weapon,thanks for the great article.

[Rowdy]

Tell me more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Jason Halfen #511]

Jason maybe you could give us some of your settings to start with.

I typically run a Side Image range of 100 feet.

For boat speed of 2-3 mph, a chart speed of 3-4 is appropriate. Faster boat = faster chart speed; slower boat = slower chart speed.

Most of the lakes I fish have firm bottom....sand or gravel. A SI sensitivity of 10 or 11 works fine for that. Softer bottom = higher sensitivity.

I run SI contrast of 12-14. This gets tweaked a lot during a typical day.

Sharpness = off 99% of the time.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

[wilbur]

Thanks Jason