05-16-2019, 04:32 PM
[#0000ff]Yep. Those are definitely marks on your screen. Beyond that it is purely guesswork.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Unless you have a unit that shows big scales, long whiskers, teeth or shapes, the best you can do is factor in your previous experience and your knowledge of the lake and its species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Because of the variety of species in Willard...and their different habits at different times of the year...it is easy to mistake shad for crappies and vice versa. And any fish orienting to the bottom could be any species...walleye, crappie, carp, catfish or shad. They all hang out on the down-low at times. Unless your sonar is very good at delineating shapes and sizes you don't got a chance of getting it right all the time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All that being said, if you are on a set of "numbers" where you have done well on a targeted species in the past...when the fish were suspending at a specific depth...the marks that show up in the right zone are likely to be the ones you are after. But, as we all know, finding fish is no guarantee that they will open their little mouths and munch what you are offering.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I love it when non-fishing doofii scoff at our use of electronics...saying that it gives us an unfair advantage. What do they know about the frustration we feel when our electronics show lots of fish below us but we get no love from any of them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I was told many years ago, when first contemplating adding sonar to my bag of tricks...the main advantage of sonar is to help you eliminate water that holds no fish and to concentrate on water that does. Ya cain't ketch 'em where they ain't.
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[signature]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Unless you have a unit that shows big scales, long whiskers, teeth or shapes, the best you can do is factor in your previous experience and your knowledge of the lake and its species.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Because of the variety of species in Willard...and their different habits at different times of the year...it is easy to mistake shad for crappies and vice versa. And any fish orienting to the bottom could be any species...walleye, crappie, carp, catfish or shad. They all hang out on the down-low at times. Unless your sonar is very good at delineating shapes and sizes you don't got a chance of getting it right all the time.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All that being said, if you are on a set of "numbers" where you have done well on a targeted species in the past...when the fish were suspending at a specific depth...the marks that show up in the right zone are likely to be the ones you are after. But, as we all know, finding fish is no guarantee that they will open their little mouths and munch what you are offering.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I love it when non-fishing doofii scoff at our use of electronics...saying that it gives us an unfair advantage. What do they know about the frustration we feel when our electronics show lots of fish below us but we get no love from any of them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As I was told many years ago, when first contemplating adding sonar to my bag of tricks...the main advantage of sonar is to help you eliminate water that holds no fish and to concentrate on water that does. Ya cain't ketch 'em where they ain't.
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[signature]