SONAR IN YOUR FISHING

      Fishing has gone through a tremendous evolution in the past twenty years.  There has been more equipment developed in that time to help anglers find and catch more fish than there was in the previous one hundred years.  Even in the past five years we’ve seen an explosion in the amount of gear available to anglers that is proving to be very helpful in angling success.  Nowhere have we seen more developments than in the area of sonar equipment.  Sonar equipment, often referred to as depth-finders or fish-finders, have been refined so much in a short period of time that they are thought of by most boating anglers to be essential equipment.  I wouldn’t disagree.

 When sonar was first applied to sport-fishing, some anglers used it simply as a tool to find fish.  At that time, sonar was more appropriate for locating structure and other areas that might hold fish.  Most anglers, and most sonar units at that time didn’t have the capability to employ sonar as a fish-finding tool.  Things are different now.  Sonar units have the power and resolution necessary to show fish.  In fact, in many bodies of water where fish suspend frequently, sonar is used specifically for locating those schools of suspended walleyes, salmon, and trout.  And, just as sonar is very good for finding fish, it remains an excellent tool for locating the structure that holds fish.

 Sonar has become a very important tool in the ice-anglers arsenal also.  Many ice-anglers wouldn’t think of venturing onto the ice without a sonar.  In fact, most companies that manufacture sonar units make one specifically for ice-fishing.  The folks at Zercom have two units in their line-up that are excellent tools for ice-fishing.  The LCF-40 is a liquid-crystal sonar that excels as an open-water or ice-fishing sonar, and the new Color-Point was created with the ice-angler in mind.  The Color-Point displays bottom as one color, your lure and fish as another color.

 Most sonar units designed for ice-fishing will display your lure, even a 1/32nd ice-fly, on the screen, which is a real help.  Let’s say you are working your bait right on the bottom, but by watching the depth-finder, you see that the fish are three feet off the bottom.  Raise the bait to that level and your odds of catching fish are greatly improved.
 The same concept holds true for open water fishing.  When working fish that are suspended, note the level where the fish are suspending.  Select baits, usually crankbaits, that run at that level or slightly above, and your odds for success will increase dramatically.  You have to put the bait where the fish are if you want to be successful, and sonar enables you to do that.

 Most anglers are aware of the advantages of using sonar in their fishing.  If you haven’t made sonar a part of your fishing, now is a good time to consider doing so.

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