It can be really frustrating to have water in your fish finder. Just like a watch with water in it the display can start fogging up making it tough to read.

It would work fine until the sun hit it directly causing it to heat up a bit and then the fog moves in, on that display that is.

My first experience with getting water in a fish finder was on a 7 day fly-in fishing trip we took to northern Quebec twenty some years ago.

I leaned over the side of the boat as I was connecting my fish finder and it went straight in the drink. Only for a second but I guess it was long enough to take in a tiny bit of water, just enough to fog up my screen.

After a couple of days of that I was ready to toss the fish finder back in the water, for good.

We went through some financial difficulties some years ago and I sold the boat to help make ends meet so today I don’t have a boat but we are getting closer every day to the time I’ll have another fishing boat.

The fish finder I’ll get will have to be really water proof so I am looking now and adding fish finders to my wish list which I keep leaving where Jenny can find it before Christmas and my birthday.

Today I am browsing Garmin Fishfinders on Amazon. I really like Amazon and find great deals all the time. It’s always at the top of my list when looking for fishing related products.

The Garmin Fish Finder 400C 4-Inch Waterproof Fish-finder

I couldn’t believe how far fish finders have come since my first fishfinder. So much more detail and I’m looking at colour display units as well. How cool is that.

Fish finders took us from trolling the bottom to find structure to watching a colour display without getting snagged on bottom in the process.

I have to find an affordable fish finder so we stay on budget and the Garmin Fishfinder 400C is is just that. A great investment in my retirement.

No problem telling a fish from a weed or a rock and that’s important to me as I don’t get out fishing as often as I would like so my time is important and I don’t care to waste it fumbling around finding fish and structure.

Water Temperature Is Important

When on the water it can be really important to know the water temperature and the Garmin 400C Fishfinder does a great job. It can make the difference early and late season when the water temps fluctuate and shut down or turn on fish.

Backlit Display For Early/Late Fishing

When I go fishing it’s usually from before day break until it’s so dark it can be tough to find your way to the boat launch. That’s the time accidents happen on the water so having a backlit display is literally a life saver and gets us back safe and sound.

I received an email from Jenny while she was at work the other day. It was about a catfish with eyes bigger than it’s stomach as it had tried to eat a basketball or maybe it was a soccer ball.

The catfish did manage to get the ball in it’s mouth and then it was stuck. It couldn’t swallow it nor could it get it out of it’s mouth.

No matter how hard it tried to dive and stay down it just popped back to the surface. Fortunately for this guy a couple came along who deflated the ball and removed it allowing the catfish to return to the deep.

It immediately reminded me of a pickerel fishing day, of course. It was a day I was fishing from my float tube in a cove off Salmon river out of Grand lake.

If you’re thinking it tried to eat my float tube, you’re wrong. Surprise.

It was a very hot extremely calm day, not a breeze blowing at all…

Paulie The Pickerel Stole My Bass Popper

When I can fish the weeds for pickerel or bass I’m having fun as they get very explosive in shallow water, especially when your fishing from a float tube and your elbows are on the water.

When it’s really calm and the water is like a mirror it’s time to get out the top water lures, like my bass poppers. Those can be some really cool moments and it’s even better when it’s almost dusk.

I put on one of my trusty bass poppers, as pickerel love them, and made a cast directly away from the weeds and let it sit until the ripples disappeared and then gave it tug. Love the sound a popper makes when it’s pushing water.

Nothing…

I made a second cast and the second it hit the water things exploded and my line went slack. That was it. The crazy pickerel must have made a turn, caught the line, above the steel leader and then smacked my popper.

My line was cut so fast I didn’t even feel any tension on the line, just slack line. I was dumbfounded for a minute or so. Probable said a few nasty words as well and then I tied on a new leader and went back to fishing.

After a few minutes of fishing I saw something reflecting light and moved over to see what it was. Then it disappeared but came back to the surface again.

It was my lost popper, still in the pickerel’s mouth.

I took my second popper and cast beyond the pickerel’s position and waited for it to pop up again. Then I just pulled my line until it was close enough to snag the first popper and the fight was on.

I landed the pickerel and had my bass popper back again.

I’m sure the pickerel said thank you as I released back no worse for wear.

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• Pickerel Fishing Salmon River From Grand Lake To Past Chipman (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
• Pickerel Fishing French Lake Fun (thejoyofflyfishing.com)
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• Saint John River, Harts Lake And Some Smallmouth Bass And Pickerel Fishing (flyfishinginnewbrunswick.com)