Reading a Fish finder (newb edition)
 

So, im cruising on my yak, chillin, peepin out my new fish finder (first time owner). Its moving along steadily. then BEEP. BEEP. BEEP BEEP BEEP. TOns of fish around some structure on the bottom.

but wait.... where the heck do I CAST!? Under me? Behind me? Im moving at probably 4 knots.... is that structure way back there now?

alright, that fills my "stupid question of the week" quota. Till next time.

First thing you should do is turn the BEEP off.

Next thing you should do is prepare yourself for the type of fish your fishing for.

As an example

I normally fish for halibut but I'm not going to drop my bait down in an area where I see nothing but kelp or rocks/structure. However, the minute I see a sandy bottom near that structure down goes the bait. Why? because I know that hali's hang out in sandy bottoms near kelp and rocks/structure.

What were you fishing for?

i was fishing for large mouth bass. Havent taken it in the ocean yet. but they were everywhere. and then I would be in about 30ft of water with a flat bare bottom and out of nowhere 10 (big) fish would be under me in about 15ft of water and then disappear. These were the striper schools which I do want to eventually target. I just need to know how to actually read where the fish are in terms of real life

This is a good place to start. Make sure you have the fish Symbols turned off. The raw data will tell you more.

http://www.lowrance.com/Support/Tips...onar-Tutorial/

How dare you

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in the salt... vertical/diaginal "schools" of fish is kelp, haze on the bottom is usually squid or grass and bait schools are suspended clouds. dont worry about seeing the fish your after. they usually wont show up on the finder unless a school of YT passes under you or your soaking a live mac straight down and you watch a thresher come in and harrass it.

really all you need to worry about is depth, temp and what structure your over. most FF are pretty quick so even moving at 4MPH your getting an accurate reading of whats under you. some will work at 25knots. or so they claim.

You want to learn how to use the fishfinder....yes turn off the beep and the fish ID....and then just simply go out and fish and pay attention!

Here's a decent place to start:

Fish Finder Video Tutorials

Hope this helps!