Do you believe your depth finder

We fished sardis this weekend and to be honest got skunked. Talked to several people and was told the fish were still in some what deeper water. We found a couple of areas that were 11 to 9 feet deep with the depth finder showing what looked like tree stumps and branches. It also show fish stacked from the bottom to about 5 feet. I criss-crossed the spots several times to pinpoint the spots and dropped markers but got know fish except for one 14 inch bass.

I must have done this 12 times on saturday and tried everything I could think off. The only thing I was wondering is since I have fish ID on are they really fish or is the finder just thinking its fish.

How much faith do you put into the fish ID feature or do you use it at all

Going to be days like that ." Sometimes you are the windshield , sometime the bug" .They were not doing much for us (single pole) till we went to a 1/32 jig . made all the difference in the world . :juggle

I definitely believe my fishfinder. What ive found most challenging is determining what type of fish im seeing on the graph.

I've gone so far as to throw a cast net on a spot thats covered up with fish just so i can see what they are. I once puled up about a dozen small bass, blue gill, and yellow bass. I tossed them all back, but the cast net enabled me to see what they were.

Another time when i was trying to learn what craopie looked like on sonar i found a return that looked like the "christmas tree" shape id heard people describe as a crappie school. I eased up on the spot and tossed a jig past them and let it arc down through the spot...and BAM! A crappie. Just to be sure i tossed it again...BAM! Another crappie.

Then there have been times...LOTS of times...when i see tons of fish but couldnt get a thing to bite. Very frustrating.

So to sum it up, yes i trust my fish finder...but its success is hindered by my limited skills! :)

Im certain my sonar wishes it was purchased by a more skilled angler. Right now its like a retriever owned by a guy who cant shoot.

Same thing at Enid this past weekend. Tried single-poleing 4-7 fow, trolling 10-15 fow. Got skunked also! Catching dinks. That was the story everybody I talked to. Tried everything!!:dono

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Originally Posted by armyman

Same thing at Enid this past weekend. Tried single-poleing 4-7 fow, trolling 10-15 fow. Got skunked also! Catching dinks. That was the story everybody I talked to. Tried everything!!:dono

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Shoulda tried 8-9 fow!!! Bahahaha

Trust it, the more I learn the better I am at locating with it and sometimes I catch a fesh or two

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Originally Posted by ducker

Shoulda tried 8-9 fow!!! Bahahaha

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Dang, Ducker! That's probably where the big fish were!! Thanks for the tip, I'll try that depth next time!:Rofl:Rofl

I just wish that one day sonar would work as good as their simulation mode. I have never seen one work as good as their simulations or advertisements. Well anyway I need something to blame when I don't catch fish. So I just say the sonar was lying again this morning.

Spent 13 hours on Enid Saturday and boated 4 keepers, several white bass and 20 or so 9-11 inchers. I tried EVERYTHING, deep-shallow, trees, single polin, all sorts of jig at every weight. You name it and I tried it, except for the Tennessee fishing stick. (goes Boom!!) More water in the lake than I have EVER SEEN.

Never really did trust "fish ID" settings on my old 2d sonar units. I can probably count on one hand the number of times the "ID" said a fish was there & I caught something.

Don't have to worry about that now, since I have a DI unit (no 2d sonar) that gives me images like this :

Attachment 201850

Just this past weekend I marked a single fish, shaped exactly like the larger images in that screenshot, dropped my jig down and moved less than 10ft ... then set the hook on a 12" Crappie. Saw several images that were easily recognizable as catfish ... and we caught catfish along those same stretches of water. Wish I had taken screenshots, but I was too busy watching my rod tips.

... cp :kewl

Trust it for sure.....but turn the fish id off and learn to look for the arches and bait balls, fish id marks to much trash and clutter

FISH LIARERS WHEN IT IS TELLIG YOU FISH . JUST FISH LIKE THEE AIN'T NO FISH . I CATCH MORE WHEN IT DOESN'T SHOW ANY THAN WHEN IT SHOWS FISH .

I believe my depth finder 100%! From the way it works, it will only show somehing is there...if something is there! I marked a bunch of fish monday and tuesday as well, but had very little luck. Sometimes they just arent biting I guess. Marked the fish, and caught crappie, but not near the volume I was lookiing at on my fish finder. lol

I'm not sure about my Eagle fish finder. Went today and saw fish but did not get a bite (nothing new for me). The thing that I don't understand is that my fish finder might say that the water was ten feet deep but the fish registered at say 18 feet deep. Maybe they are under ground. LOL

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Originally Posted by armyman

Same thing at Enid this past weekend. Tried single-poleing 4-7 fow, trolling 10-15 fow. Got skunked also! Catching dinks. That was the story everybody I talked to. Tried everything!!:dono

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It was good meeting you at the lake. Maybe we can meet up sometime and catch a few.

Eagle 350C mounted portable on PVC . and powered by 12V 7 or 3 1/2 gel cell. I trust it . I just wish they still made it. Since I mostly chase bluegill on smaller waters like strip mines it really helps . I also catch some big ones where nothing shows. They will come from a long way outside the cone in gin clear water . I don't honestly know if mine would ID a fish setting on the bottom though??? .

Had a fishmark 480 that we took to Canada. Marked fish much better than my 999 or 597.