Using Your Graph To Find Quality Fishing Locations 2024
mattk22 reply :
1. Are you mostly looking for balls of shad? Or more balls of shad related mostly to structure?
2. If you find a very promising piece of structure but don’t see bass around are you likely to stop and fish quickly, or do you pass over and keep looking?
3. Would you be more likely to fish an area with shad and no visible bass around or do you want to make sure you are seeing arches around those balls of shad to stop and fish?
4. If you are trolling along and see what could be bass on the bottom with no bait visible, do you stop and fish there, or would you be more likely to keep looking for another spot with bass and shad?
5. Do you stop and fish suspended bass much, or bass on the bottom?
lmoore reply :
I am far from an expert on the subject, but I'll chime in.
1) Depends on the time of year. In the spring, I look more for structure and likely "pathways" for the spawn. Bait is a bonus at times, but not something I actively seek.
2) Depends on the situation, but usually I would fish it, especially if using traditional sonar. If the cover is espacially promising, it's possible that there are baitfish/bass nearby you just aren't picking up on your sonar.
3) If there's food, there's probably fish, so I would generally stop and fish the area. That might not mean fishing right on the bait ball, but maybe on some nearby structure/cover.
4/5) Simply seeing marks on the bottom or suspended doesn't necessarily get me to stop. If I'm in an area where I think bass may be, I'll probably stop and see if the marks are indeed bass. I also might stop if I'm not just fishing for bass, and want to see what the fish are.
All in all, no substitute for experience. There is a pretty good How-To video on here at one point not that long ago, although I can't remember exactly what it was called. Maybe search the video section and see if you can find it.
BassnChris reply :
Here is video on how to use fish finder.
http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/how-to-use-a-fish-finder-depthfinder.html
lmoore reply :
^that's the one, sorry I was doing some "illegal" surfing at work and didn't want to search for the link. If you type "depth finder" in the search function on the main page, there a couple other good how-tos.
Pleiades reply :
Keep in mind that most of us amatuers use a depth finder to place yourself in the depth of water that you want to fish, not necessarily to see the bass that you want to catch. I use my depth finder to put myeslf in the right depth and perferably over some grass or other cover.
1. No matter the time of year or patterns for the day, I like to look for bait fish on my way to where I'm going to fish. Not necesarrily to stop, but just to take note and keep in mind the depth that the bait is holding at.
2. I think it depends if you're power fishing or finense. If I find the kind of structure that I want to fish with a crankbait, I don't need to see fish on it to fish it. However, I've read drop shot articles that say to not waste your time if you don't see fish below you.
3. I don't need to see the bass, although its a plus.
4 & 5. I don't really stop for lone arches. Maybe I should. I don't have much confidence trying to catch fish that are suspended.
Just one guy's take. Hope it helps, Paul.
Wayne P. reply :
1. Not all the time, mostly during the summer and fall. They may or may not be.
2. No
3. I would only fish when I saw the bass
4. Yes, I fish for individual bass or groups of bass
5. Both. Bass are not on the bottom all the time especially in mid summer when there is a thermocline
WRB reply :
In today's world of sonar/GPS that also side and down scan HD the answers get more complex, the basic are still similar.On 1/4/2013 at 12:24 AM, mattk22 said:I want to learn to use my graphs better and what to look for and had some questions. When you are at looking at your graph for places to fish, what are you looking for? I know it depends on the season/water temp as to where you may be trolling to look, but what are you looking for?1. Are you mostly looking for balls of shad? Or more balls of shad related mostly to structure?
Answer; both, I looking for how deep the shad are located.
2. If you find a very promising piece of structure but don’t see bass around are you likely to stop and fish quickly, or do you pass over and keep looking?
Answer; you can only see a tiny area under the transducer, about 1/3rd the depth of the water you are metering. Make a full circle around the structure to determine what may be there, mark the structure and return quietly after about 10 minutes and fish if you know what depth to target.
3. Would you be more likely to fish an area with shad and no visible bass around or do you want to make sure you are seeing arches around those balls of shad to stop and fish?
Answer; I am looking for baitfish to determine depth, bass often hear your boat engine or see your boat and swim away briefly, the only sure way to know if bass are there is to fish for them. Again, circle the bait first to determine what is there.
4. If you are trolling along and see what could be bass on the bottom with no bait visible, do you stop and fish there, or would you be more likely to keep looking for another spot with bass and shad?
Answer; your sonar can't determine the difference between fish species, it reflects the air bladder mostly, carp and bass look exactly the same to sonar for example. If I see marks that look like active bass, above the thermocline, I fish for them and have been fooled many times by catfish and carp.
5. Do you stop and fish suspended bass much, or bass on the bottom?
Answer; depending on the depth, if they marks are within the life zone and I belive they are bass, then will give it a try. You can't determine if the marks are bass without catching them. Fast moving fish, long thin marks on the sonar are usually trout or strikers, but not always!
The first thing everyone who uses sonar units to bass fish should understand how their unit returns signals that are displayed on the unit screen, otherwise your unit is nothing more than a depth finder. If you are only interested in the water depth below the transducer, then use your unit as a depth finder.
There are very good tutorials available that detail how to use your sonar/GPS units, Bruce "Doc" Sampson has good tutorials for example. Don Iovino's book is good, both are available from TW etc.
I fish deep structured lakes that have threadfin shad populations, silversides, crappie, trout that are pelagic baitfish and easy to meter on sonar. Baitfish that are dermasil or live near shore cover are harder to meter on down looking or scanning sonar units, due to the cover and shallower water.
I use sonar every time I launch my boat and meter or survey the marina area. Martina's are good places to learn the depth of the life zone because most have a population of bass and baitfish. The first thing I look for is the presence of a thermocline, a major factor most of the year where I fish. The next thing that I try to locate is baitfish or bass, sometimes you can see them visually under docks or swimming nearby. Shad for example hide near shore cover until the sun floats phytoplankton the shad feed on. If you can't meter any baitfish, they must be somewhere else, deeper or shallower than where you are using your sonar, like hiding in cover.
When I know the depth of thermocline, baitfish are located, then I can determine where to fish and what type of lures should work best, takes a lot of guess work out of my time on the water.
Bass located close to cover or structure elements are usually more active then bass suspended in the water column. Bass feeding on baitfish are active regardless where they are located. Active bass are what you are looking for, they are catchable bass. If you meter active fish feeding on baitfish, stop and try to catch them.
Tom
Shewillbemine reply :
Just had to say that this was an awesome question OP.
Tom/WRB you seem to have the most helpful and intelligent posts in these parts. Thanks.
mattk22 reply :
WRB
So you look for the thermo and baitfish and let that determine where u fish. Do you mostly make sure you see bass on your graph when you find your fishing spot?
papajoe222 reply :
I use my graph to confirm what I see on my topo map and to find areas that aren't shown on the map. During cold water periods, I'm looking for quick or sharp changes in depth like a creek arm or ledge. During the summer, I'm looking for transition areas. Changes in bottom composition, sparce to heavy weed growth, points or cuts in a weed edge, etc. I rarely look for fish and will stop and fish an area I have confidence in reguardless of whether my graph shows fish there.
I'll be using my down imaging unit to look for fish and bait on those areas I mentioned and I'm sure the presence of baitfish shown on it will increase the amount of time I spend on a spot, but I've yet to use that new toy. It may completely change the way I use my electronics.
Wayne P. reply :
This is an example of using the thernocline to find catchable bass. You look for them where the thermocline intersects the lake bottom like under the temperature number. Those suspended over the deeper water and above the thermocline are harder to catch unless there are baitfish schools nearby like the ones farther to the right.
Both senarios produced catches.
WRB reply :
Good screen shot. Looking at the arches; notice they are not symmetrical banana shapes, they have fat starts with thin tails, this tells you the target is near the outside edge of the sonar signal to the side of the thicker end. Arches located in the center of the sonar cone. are symetrical shaped. When you meter marks like the ones near the structure...fish there! It's really hard to fish suspended marks without tossing out a bouy marker, so get yourself at least 2 markers.On 1/4/2013 at 11:54 AM, Wayne P. said:This is an example of using the thernocline to find catchable bass. You look for them where the thermocline intersects the lake bottom like under the temperature number. Those suspended over the deeper water and above the thermocline are harder to catch unless there are baitfish schools nearby like the ones farther to the right.Both senarios produced catches.
[img=http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff167/WayneP_photos/Sonar%20Shots/RTS.jpg]
Tom
Wayne P. reply :
On 1/4/2013 at 1:25 PM, WRB said:Good screen shot. Looking at the arches; notice they are not symmetrical banana shapes, they have fat starts with thin tails, this tells you the target is near the outside edge of the sonar signal to the side of the thicker end. Arches located in the center of the sonar cone. are symetrical shaped. When you meter marks like the ones near the structure...fish there! It's really hard to fish suspended marks without tossing out a bouy marker, so get yourself at least 2 markers.Tom
Marker bouys are old school.
If you have a sonar/GPS combo, just create a waypoint for reference. I don't like using markers in 65' of water, LOL
With my units, I can have a casting rig around the waypoint for positioning to use a crankbait. OR I can just look at them from a distance with Side Imaging.
I have the casting ring set to 30'.
Nitrofreak reply :
On 1/4/2013 at 12:24 AM, mattk22 said:I want to learn to use my graphs better and what to look for and had some questions. When you are at looking at your graph for places to fish, what are you looking for? I know it depends on the season/water temp as to where you may be trolling to look, but what are you looking for?1. Are you mostly looking for balls of shad? Or more balls of shad related mostly to structure?
2. If you find a very promising piece of structure but don’t see bass around are you likely to stop and fish quickly, or do you pass over and keep looking?
3. Would you be more likely to fish an area with shad and no visible bass around or do you want to make sure you are seeing arches around those balls of shad to stop and fish?
4. If you are trolling along and see what could be bass on the bottom with no bait visible, do you stop and fish there, or would you be more likely to keep looking for another spot with bass and shad?
5. Do you stop and fish suspended bass much, or bass on the bottom?
1) Both
2) I pass and keep looking, although I may come back at a later date
3) A) Fishing a bait ball with no visable bass is not something I will normally do, but since they are in a ball that means they are still fairly shallow, threadfin will in most cases, not all, dispurse as they reach more open water, I will however make note of the location I have found them in and take notes of the structure and cover of the surrounding area, I will stay with the group to see where they lead, Threadfin shad, if that is what they are, will leave shallow cover very early in the day to head for open water and will more often than not form a group as they leave their safety of cover in search of food.
B ) If there are bass located with the bait, the bass will most likely be located under the bait, most always I have found some of the larger bass to be located behind the fish located under these bait fish, so yes I will fish this pattern, but my efforts are not just concentrated under the bait.
4) If I see a fish on the bottom, most of the time if they are bass they will be grouped in a bunch, so I am looking for more than one, sonars have a tendency to give false information depending on the model, a single fish or a tree branch tip either one can show up as an arch, a small turtle is the same, I am looking for multiple arches, take notes as you look around and find out why they are there, there could be a key point in the structure, like two creek beds that join at that spot, could mean you may have found a honey hole, so a single fish, no, multiple fish, yes I will stop and fish the area.
5) I don't spend much time with suspended fish out in more open waters, I will usually look for a point close by that they may be associated with, again I am looking for a group when I look at the structure associated with looking for bass.
Some of us do not have the luxury of owning sonars that do this sort of thing, but I will say there is a great advantage to getting one of these, for years it seems, the best on the market was a 2D sonar and only a handfull that I had seen could detect thermoclines, looking back now I wish I would have started with one of them.
When you first start looking for structure and start to understand the best places to look, the very first place I start to look is at a good quality topo map, I want to find the largest flat I can find, then I start looking for creek channels that lead to those flats, these flats could be great spawning areas.
Creek channels that acually still feed a lake are my primary channels I start with, current is the key as to why I look for these channels.
If you are looking for bait fish, Shad in particular, Threadfin or Gizzard Shad, Threadfin are what I like to key on, threadfin like current, they are a prodominately shallow fish 10 to 20 feet, most areas May through June is their spawning time, you can find them in these feeder creeks or in areas that have a lot of grass, they broadcast their eggs and they stick to the areas with vegetation, the more vegetation you can find the better during this time of year.
During the summer, they are in more open waters feeding on phytoplankton and zooplankton, structure becomes more productive, knowing productive structure during this time of year is important,(Hint) make sure you are looking for structure that provides current flow, either wind blown or power generation, thats where you will find the threadfin and the bass that follow them.
Back to Autumn, they revert back to the backs of creek channels that have this warmer inflowing water, these fish can not survive cold water temps and will start to die when the waters dip below 45*
WRB reply :
The threadfin out west school up all the time, even when hiding in cover like under a dock. Water depth makes no difference to threadfin in deep structured lakes, we often meter large schools in 150-300' of open water with bass feeding on them. It's better to find shad schools approaching underwater structure that abruptly changes depth like humps or major main lake points. The structure pushes up the shad school and bass trap them between the surface and structure element. This is the ideal condition, but you can catch open water bass feeding on shad. Best lures for this type of fishing are structure or flutter spoons and tail or under spins.
Soft plastics can also work and crankbaits work, so there are several choices.
Sonars with way points ot way point icons are more convenient then a physical buoy, both work.
Remember that I am Oldschool or WRB on this site!
Tom
Bankbeater reply :
Good post, thanks.
Wayne P. reply :
Balls of shad:
There were no predators near this ball of shad:
There was a very large bass attacking this ball of shad:
Wayne P. reply :
This image shows several bass after this school of shad around a tree, They have split the shad school.
Nitrofreak reply :
I gotta ask, did ya catch the one in the middle screen shot?
mattk22 reply :
Great screen shot.
Wayne P. reply :
On 1/5/2013 at 3:47 AM, Nitrofreak said:I gotta ask, did ya catch the one in the middle screen shot?
No, I didn't, although I tried for about 1/2 hour.
That was about a month before the Alabama rig craze started.
I may have had a better chance if I had known about that.
That bass looks to be about 30" long
It was at Briery Creek.
Nitrofreak reply :
I am no sonar expert, I know how very smart you are with them, but even I can see it's a monster, You say 30, I say I got your back LOL !!
I would not argue that for no amount of money !!!
I wish you would have caught him though, dag gum that would have been a great pic !!!
Wayne P. reply :
One more shad school image. The ole form-a-big-ball-to-trick-predators deal didn't work for this bass. It's right in the middle of them.
Nitrofreak reply :
Thats a pretty cool shot !!!
Is that the 1198C
Wayne P. reply :
On 1/5/2013 at 4:49 AM, Nitrofreak said:Thats a pretty cool shot !!!
Is that the 1198C
Yes
Nitrofreak reply :
I have been looking pretty hard at one I like what it does a lot, I think when I up grade thats what I am going with.
WRB reply :
Didn't see your question until now.On 1/4/2013 at 10:36 AM, mattk22 said:WRBSo you look for the thermo and baitfish and let that determine where u fish. Do you mostly make sure you see bass on your graph when you find your fishing spot?
I am a trophy bass fisherman, meaning targeting big bass verses school size bass most of my time on the water. Since the lakes I fish are high pressures small lakes, the big bass are conditioned to avoiding boats and metering a big active bass is rare. My goal is to determine the depth the majority of the bass are holding in and knowing if there is a thermocline depth so I will not be fishing too deep or below the bass. Ounce I know the life zone depth, then I go to known big bass areas and fish without metering the area so I don't spook any potential active bass. I always meter the area as I leave or move to another area to determine if bait and bass are there. If I have no idea where the bass are located, then surveying helps to find bait and bass before I start fishing and return to those areas that had bait or bass later in the day.
If I am targeting school bass on bait, I fish those when I meter them, because school bass feeding on bait are on the move and may not be there when I return. Big bass tend to hold in an area longer than school size bass. Hope that helps and answers your question.
Tom
mattk22 reply :
On 1/5/2013 at 9:50 AM, WRB said:Didn't see your question until now.I am a trophy bass fisherman, meaning targeting big bass verses school size bass most of my time on the water. Since the lakes I fish are high pressures small lakes, the big bass are conditioned to avoiding boats and metering a big active bass is rare. My goal is to determine the depth the majority of the bass are holding in and knowing if there is a thermocline depth so I will not be fishing too deep or below the bass. Ounce I know the life zone depth, then I go to known big bass areas and fish without metering the area so I don't spook any potential active bass. I always meter the area as I leave or move to another area to determine if bait and bass are there. If I have no idea where the bass are located, then surveying helps to find bait and bass before I start fishing and return to those areas that had bait or bass later in the day.
If I am targeting school bass on bait, I fish those when I meter them, because school bass feeding on bait are on the move and may not be there when I return. Big bass tend to hold in an area longer than school size bass. Hope that helps and answers your question.
Tom
Thanks. It did.
Pete-K reply :
Love this shot shows fish rounding up the bait.
Pete-K reply :
Then heres one more. This one I'm running a creek channel at 4 MPH and seeing lots of fish all along this little lake creek bed with log piles along it.
These are from my 987c SI first model made and still works great.
Heres going on up this creek channel.
ClackerBuzz reply :
Fluke did a great vid:
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