As with any type of
fishing in these times, use of electronics in finding fish and fish holding
structure or locations is extremely important. Fish finders or sonar is
available from many manufacturers all with slightly different features and
price ranges. When selecting a fish finder for your boat there are many things
to consider such as; power, screen size, screen lighting, resolution,
zoom options, speed and temp, gps or chart plotting and of course price. lets
talk about a few of these.
For most recreational fisherman or even tournament fisherman all depth finders
in the affordable price ranges probably have enough power, the need for power
comes into play only when you are fishing the deeper waters say over 500ft
which most people don't do to much of anyway. The majority of the time when
people think they need more power to see fish better what they really need is
better screen resolution or a higher vertical pixel count. You can have all of
the power in the world and a low vertical pixel count and wont be able to see
fish and wont be able to see fish any better than you did with your old low
powered fish finder. Usually the power specs on most $100-$1000 units is in
the 300 watt to 600 watt range and any of these power ranges will work fine
for 0-300ft water if you have a high resolution model with a 240 or above
vertical pixel count.
This completely depends on the size of the space that you have for mounting
your fish finder. The bigger the screen size the better, so that you can see
it from the back of the boat. also units that have the bigger screens also
usually have more split screen options that allow you to do more detailed
target analysis we will explain more on that later. Get the biggest screen
that you can for the place you plan to install it. beware of screen washout in
bright sunlight however. make sure that the unit that you are looking at has a
nice bright screen and that it doesn't disappear in bright sunlight. This
problem is of particular concern with color units.
This is the most important factor in selecting a fish
finder. Its simple more vertical pixels =
more fish seen. The only drawback to having high resolution is that sometimes
when there is allot of debris in the water they can be misleading because they
will show every leaf and stick as well as baitfish, seaweed and so on. But
they will also show you the fish. I recommend a unit with above 240 vertical
pixels, some of the newer units are even up into the 400 something vertical
pixels now. As far as the over sensitivity issue they usually have filter or
sensitivity settings that you can fine tune if you need to.
For sturgeon fishing the resolution combined with zoom options are the key. A
fish finder with multiple zoom settings, bottom lock, and split screens
options are best. Also stay away from fish id or
fish symbols for sturgeon. Make sure that the
unit will display the raw sonar signals and will zoom in or track the bottom.
Another handy feature is if you are able to set the window size for a specific
number of feet while in bottom track. This allows you to track the bottom
tight and to put all of that high resolution into just a few feet. It will
then show any irregularities on the bottom as well as fish holding right on
the bottom.
This option is available on the mid to higher end models and while they are
more expensive they can be a lifesaver on days when the weather gets bad on
big water and visibility is poor. They can also be very useful in finding
those hard to find spots in the shortest amount of time. Also by combining
your fish finder and a gps or chart plotter is saves valuable space on the
boat. Get it if you can afford it.
Most units now offer speed and temp and with no
difference in price everyone should have it. On some days when you are
in real cold water conditions for sturgeon a few degrees warmer water can make
or break your day.
Once you have
tried color you will never go back. Just be sure that it is a bright screen
and is daylight viewable. My opinion the best screens are made by Lowrance, Garmin
and the new units by Humminbird. The color units are more expensive but are way better on the
resolution than any of the monochrome units. I have two finders and the
black and white one is now only used as a backup or gps.
Prices vary greatly. Get the unit with the highest
resolution and the best zoom options that fits in your budget. There are some
$200 finders that have the resolution needed Raytheon comes to mind, but for
the most part a good sturgeon fish finder is going to be in the $300-$1100
range.
Here is an example of some common representations of
Sturgeon on a fish finder. Note: to see images like this one you must be at a
slow speed with bottom lock or zoom on and with the fish id features turned
off. The image on the left depicts sturgeon when they are slightly suspended
off of the bottom and the image on the right depicts sturgeon when they are
holding tight to the bottom. Click on the images to view larger image.
Sturgeon are very difficult to see when they are holding
tight to a hard bottom such as bedrock or gravel, usually they are represented
by a "spike" or "bump" if you aren't marking any fish and you see something
irregular throw out some bait and see what it is. Sometimes the fish are so
tight to the bottom that you wont see anything and still catch lots of fish,
on these days finding dropoffs, ledges or channels becomes the key.
Copyright © 2003 [www.nwfish.com].
All rights reserved.
Revised:
March 27, 2008
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