Congratulations! Now that you’ve purchased an electronic fish locator you’ll never have to waste time trolling for fish again. Fish finders are very easy to install and use and will be the most important fishing tool aboard your boat, other than your rod and reel of course. In this article, we’ll look at how to maximize the performance of your fish locator.
The secret to the effectiveness of a fish locator is the transducer. This is what sends out the sonar signal in a cone shape and transmits the information back to the screen on which you can view it. By bouncing a sonar signal, you will be able to see not only fish, but underwater structures and weeds. Many fish locators use a dual beam sonar. One beam is emitted at 60 degrees to find the fish and the other is at 20 degrees to accurately display the bottom of the body of water and its structure.
Some of the more compact models have transducers attached to a suction cup that can stick to any surface. These versions are compact enough and lightweight enough to be utilized in small vessels like speedboats, canoes, and even inflatable boats.
For those purchasing fish locators for larger boats, figuring out where to mount the components is important to ensure the best performance. Most fish finders come with a standard mounting bracket and transom mounting transducers. Ideally, it should be mounted somewhere convenient and accessible, like near the steering wheel. The transducer is mounted on the transom in a spot where it will be submerged both at low speeds and high speeds so that the sonar signal can do its depth finder job and scan the water even while you’re moving.
Operating a fish locator is as straightforward as pushing a button. After you turn on the unit, digital readings will show up on the screen. Based on which model you have, these will correspond to depth, water temperature and boat speed. The line running across the bottom of the display relates to the bottom of the body of water. The undulations on the screen indicate the terrain on the bottom. A thick, dark line represents a hard bottom, and a thin, light line points towards a soft bottom. Fish will appear as arches or icons.
Once you have installed the view screen and transducer, it’s time to program your unit. Most electronic fish locators come with default settings that you can modify to your needs. Start by selecting the “Normal” operation mode. This is suitable for most fishing situations. To adjust the settings, press the “View” button while in “Normal” mode to cycle through the different sonar modes. There will be several different options on this menu, from standard fish finder sonar all the way to side-looking sonar. You can save these settings so that you don’t have to reset the device every time you use it.
If you’re looking for the best GPS fish finder for your needs, it’s important to research your options carefully. Reading reviews is one of the best ways to do this; click here to read fish finder reviews on many of the most popular models of fish locators.
Tags: electronic fish locators, fish finders, fishing, sports and recreation