fishfinder Archives

Using A Fish Finder To Spot Out of Sight Fish

I do as much fishing as I can and when I’m fishing brooks and streams I do a lot of sight fishing, however as the water gets bigger and deeper it’s hard to see the fish that aren’t on the surface. That’s when a fish finder, like both of Casey’s Humminbird fishfinders.

I don’t have eyes like my fishing buddy Eagle Eye Paul. When I first started fishing with him I doubted the things he said he was able to see until he proved it over and over. Sure would be nice to have great vision.

Without a way to know what’s going on under the surface you either need to take a dive or use tools that will show you can keep you dry, like a fish finder.

I see a lot of clues that indicate what might be going on around the shoreline such as points that extend into the water or downed trees. Love through to structure.

When I had my canoe and fished lakes around New Brunswick I caught a lot of fish but when I got my first portable Humminbird Fishfinder I was able to see what I was fishing over and the fish I had been missing out on.

Casey has two fish finders which is great because when we are fishing together I have one I can see and he can usually see both.

I really enjoy float tube fishing and now there are fish finders available for even the float tube. I can just hook the transducer to a little fishing line and just toss it out in front of me to see what’s going on below and then I just keep moving around.

There are plenty of indicators that will help you find fish whether you’re fishing shorelines or off-shore. It just takes observing your surroundings but I have to admit I would rather take pictures of the scenery and use a Humminbird Fishfinder to locate the fish.

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Checking Out Garmin Fish Finders

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.

smallmouthbassfishingThe day began as a day of fishing chain pickerel around Chipman, New Brunswick but by 2 we thought it was perfect weather for trying the Saint John river around Jemseg for some smallmouth bass.

I had mentioned that Casey and I were on the Saint John river a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time.

I wouldn’t even think about it in a canoe if there was any amount of wind or large waves but it was calm and we would stay close to the shore.

Great To Have A Trolling Motor

Also I would have thought twice before going without Jamie’s trolling motor. Especially when we aren’t certain about the speed of the current there.

I don’t have a boat of my own, yet but you can be sure I’ll have a trolling motor just like I did on my last boat.

Checkout the affordable Bass Pro Shops Prowler T30/30 Trolling Motor and let the fishing wear your arms out, not the paddles.

We launched the canoe at the same spot Casey launched when we were there. Casey and I headed straight to the opposite side and headed down toward Harts Lake for a few pickerel, trolling for smallmouth bass on the way.

Jamie didn’t take long to get the first fish. It was cute but no smallie. Ah, such a cute little perch.

Jamie caught the first fish
Jamie Which Is The Lure??

It always amazes me when we catch fish on lures bigger than the fish. Of course when it’s Jamie with the little fish it’s time for me to tease him a bit.

At the beginning we were still in the main part of the river and had to deal with a few boat wakes. We were careful to face the canoe into the waves.

Not long after we started down the river we came to a big island that protected us from traffic on the main part of the river. This allowed us to feel a little safer further from shore.

I Have Two Rods Why Not Use Them

I was trolling with one rod and held it under my foot while I was using my second rod to cast to the structure near the shoreline. Why waste a rod by letting it sit in the bottom of the canoe, when it could be catching fish, right?

A couple of moments after Jamies first fish I hooked bottom but then the bottom jumped about 3 feet out of the water and spit my Rapala countdown lure at Jamie.

I think we fished a couple of miles down river before turning around and heading back.

We caught a few fish, had a lot of laughs. At one point we thought we were funny enough to go out on the road with our act.

About half way back to the launch point Jamie had another strike so I quickly retrieved my line so as not to get tangled with his monster fish.

Just as I reached the canoe, behind Jamie, I thought I snagged his trolling motor but I didn’t. A nice sized, 16 inch smallmouth bass, had hit my Rapala countdown right at the boat and flew out of the water covering Jamie.

Rapala has so many great lures it’s hard to buy just one. Here is a Rapala Trolls-To?-Minnow – Chrome – TTM20 I am looking at today.

I think it saw Jamies fish and was following it back to the canoe when it saw my lure cruising past it and changed it’s focus to my lure. Thanks Jamie.

jim-catches-smallmouth-bass
The Perfect Way To End A Smallmouth Bass Fishing Day

You can see the water behind me. That’s what it was like for the entire day. Who could ask for a better day of fishing?

Humminbird Smartcast RF35

humminbird-wrist-mount-fishfinderI do a lot of fishing from my float tube and there isn’t much room like there is in a canoe or boat so I have to pay attention to what I bring along. That’s why I am interested in the Humminbird Smartcast RF35 Wrist Mount Fish Finder.

Fishing from my float tube is very relaxing yet, at the same, quite explosive and exciting however it’s quite a bit slower getting around so it’s important to make the best use of the water around me and that’s where a fish finder comes in very handy. That was a little joke about a wrist mount fish finder, ha ha.

I have had a couple of portable fish finders from Humminbird but they are even too big for my float tube. The one I had at the time I took my fly in fishing trip to northern Quebec worked perfectly and I caught many more fish than the rest of the group. But I need a much smaller fish finder and the Wrist mounted Smartcast RF35 sounds perfect.

Dear if you are reading this my birthday is just a month and half away, so get your order in today.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

Pike Angler Seated in a Float Tube
Image via Wikipedia

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick with a friend. We both had float tubes and we had a blast catching smallmouth bass on the fly rod. But I think the day would have been much different if I didn’t know where the fish were as I have fished the lake many times from my boat where we had a Humminbird fish finder.

If we had hit this lake in our float tubes with that knowledge I am sure we would have been hunting bass all day long instead of catching and releasing bass all day long.

A fish finder is invaluable when it comes to new water and the slower you go, like me and my float tube, the better you want to be at finding the fish.

I have fished enough new lakes over the years, without a fish finder, and it takes a lot more work, which isn’t such a problem from a boat but I don’t want to be wasting time when I am only able to about mile an hour. :)

Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 Fish Finder Specs

  • Fully functional watch with date and time capability.
  • High visibility 1 1/4″ diagonal display with 48V x 32H resolution.
  • Water surface temperature and digital depth readout.
  • 75 ft. remote operating range, 100 ft. depth capability.

Wireless Technology

Your Smartcaster rf35 uses wireless technologies so there’s no need for a long messy cable or wire going to the sensor.  All you need to do is attach a length of line so you don’t lose it and then just give it a toss in any direction.

I can’t throw far from my float tube so I would use a spare fishing rod to cast it out.

Lithium Battery – 3 year life

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Like any of your tools you need to keep them clean after a day of fishing to make sure they last as long as possible.

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Humminbird Fishfinder 595C Combo

Buy this ProductHumminbird Fishfinder 595C Combo $ 499.99

Fishfinder 595c Combo shows your position on a built-in UniMap™ and delivers performance fishfinding in one compact unit.

Key Features

  • Combination GPS chartplotter and sonar capability in one compact unit with a quick disconnect mount
  • Built-in UniMap™ of the USA coastline, and inland lakes and rivers to 4nm detail
  • 12 Channel WAAS GPS receiver for highest accuracy
  • 320V x 240H 5″ brilliant color TFT display.
  • 20° single beam sonar optimized for coverage and precision bottom detail.
  • Better performance with 300 Watt RMS (2400 Peak to Peak) power output and depth capability to 1000 ft.
  • Sonar Echo Enhancement™ shows a bait when vertical jigging and delivers 2 1/2″ target separation.
  • Real Time Sonar™ captures the action at up to 40 times a second for better views when moving.
  • Upgradable to Navionics seamless cartography with inland freshwater maps from Navionics HotMaps and Marine cartography for blue water use.
  • Exclusive tilting & swiveling qQuick disconnect mount system without cables to connect.
  • Temperature included in transducer, GPS speed included!

Additional Features

  • Choice of Whiteline™, or Structure ID™ bottom presentation.
  • Fully gasketed waterproof design and it floats.
  • Selectable large digit screen for easy-to-read number display.
  • Bright CCFL backlight and selectable screen background colors for night use.
  • TripLog with distance, elapsed time, and average speed.
  • Microdynamic transducer design slices through water for reliable readings up to 70 mph.
  • Totally automatic operation or totally manual operation with upper and lower range control.
  • Depth alarm, fish alarm, and battery alarm.
  • One-touch Zoom with 2x, 4x, 6x, and 8x zoom levels.
  • Adjustable chart speed.
  • Feature Memory retains your settings.
  • One-year limited warranty.
  • Assembled in U.S.A.

Pre order today, this item will be in stock early 2005.
Click to Buy

The Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

humminbird-wrist-mount-fishfinderI love to get out fishing from my float tube. It’s so relaxing and at the same time exciting. Back when I had a canoe and a boat I had a nice little Humminbird portable fishfinder but found it too big for my float tube so I sold it with my boat.

I have looked for a nice portable fish-finder since but never saw anything that I really liked, until this morning.

It’s getting close to Christmas so I was looking through Amazon to see what was there and found this cool little wrist mounted fish finder, perfect for float tube fishing adventures.

Humminbird Smartcast Wrist Mount

I remember fishing Lake George New Brunswick, along with a few other larger lakes in the area, from both my canoe and boat. It was nice to have a fishfinder so we could located active spots we could come back to. We must have fished Lake George a hundred times and always seemed to hook into a lot of smallmouth bass.

I’d say it was mostly because of the Humminbird fish finder keeping us on the right locations.

I remember so many times I wished I had a fishfinder for my float tube so I could find those great spots again.

Here are a few specs for the Humminbird Smartcast RF 35 fishfinder.

First, Humminbird is using wireless technologies to the Smartcaster rf35 so you don’t require a wire going to the sensor. Just attach a length of fishing line and give it a toss out on the water and you’re ready to go fish finding.

The Remote Sonar Sensor has a separate, lithium battery that is non-replaceable , that has a lifespan of three years and will work for somewhere around five-hundred hours in the water.

Note: It’s always good advice to clean your equipment after a day on the water and it goes the same for your remote sensor. Keep it cleaned and it will keep going on keeping on.

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A Guide to the Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinder

Fly Fishing in Southeast Louisiana
Image via Wikipedia

If you are looking for a fish finder then it should have at least three basic features. It should tell you the temperature of the water, the depth of the water and give you a map of the bottom terrain for where you are fishing at provided it is not beyond its depth locator. These are three basic features just about every fish finder on the market now has and it is to be expected. Sometimes that is enough and sometimes you need something more advanced to help you hook that trophy fish. The Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinder delivers some of those advanced features.

To be quite honest, the Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinder is not the best fish finder on the market. It does have a limited depth and range for its sonar. But considering its price you do get the basics plus a little bit more. It is those extras that are fueling sales of this fish finder over comparative models.

Among the extras you get with the Eagle Cuda 300 is the power to see the distance downward of the fish. That is valuable because, when casting out your line and utilizing weights, you want to come to the most appropriate deepness for the specific fish you’re looking for. The topography the Eagle Cuda 300 reveals is pretty comprehensive taking into account it’s a cheaper product. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see that brush pile at the base of the lake that you might possibly get snagged on, but it does give you a view of a widespread topography.

The Eagle Cuda 300 also includes another rather helpful feature. It permits you to view the screen even in bright daylight. A good number of LCD screens are tough to read if sunlight is shining on them so this is something you ought to be aware of.

The Eagle Cuda 300 Fishfinder is very reasonably priced. You can find it online at various websites for around 0, which puts it into the economical category. Though it is not going to give you the intricate details of the size of the fish or the type, it still does the job quite well. As a beginning fisherman, this is a good purchase because it gives you the basics plus a little bit extra. If you are a competitive sportsman or woman, you may want to go with a more advanced model.

If you want to increase your odds of catching fish, you should consider investing in a fish finder. But how do you know if the Furuno FCV 295 10.4″ fish finder is better than the Garmin 140, for example? You need to read some fish finder reviews to help you decide on the right model for your needs.

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