Finding Fish Locations

Fish location is important to catching fish. We have talked about what type units are used to find fish and how to do so with out a lot of expense. Now do you really need two depth finders on your boat? Yes I think you do because you need the unit on or in your dash to keep you in deeper water and to show you structure as you move along using your big motor. The dash unit is your first indication that you have located fish. So once located what do you do next? You must have a good marker to throw out which will have a weight attached to a line so the marker will stay where you throw it. No matter how good you are you can’t stay around fish in open water with out a marker.

Throw the marker off to one side of where you see the fish so when you pull back up to that location to fish you will not end up tangled in your marker by mistake. Now is the time your front locator comes into play. With marker out you drop your trolling motor and move back to where you marked fish using the front unit to show you just where the fish have moved and at what depth they are located. If fish are shown say in fifteen feet of water but the depth is forty feet then you need to drop you bait to the depth of fifteen feet. If after you have tried several places showing fish suspended up off the bottom and have not gotten any hits you may want to consider trolling around the area with baits that will run about the depth where you have seen fish. When all this fails move on and find more fish.

Locating fish on a rock pile or a ledge is much the same approach. You mark the location and then try different lures that will reach the depth where you spotted fish. Some days you will find lots of fish and they will not bite. Remember what your fish locator showed on those days and it will help you in the future determine if the fish are active or not. Fish will bite somewhere on a lake each day so by doing this you can look an area over them move if it shows no activity. In the winter it is most important to fish only where you show bait fish when fishing deep water.

Can you do with out a fish locator? Sure millions of fishermen fish from the banks and from boats that have never had locators and catch fish. In time you can learn to read the banks if you are in a boat and tell if he water should be deep or shallow near by. You will also learn that the best most expensive fish locator you can buy will not show you all the fish or even show you bait fish at times. I have not marked any fish and started to fish an area that in the past has produce fish and wham started to catch fish. A fish locator is just another tool to help you be better at catching fish. Till next week get out on the water and learn to enjoy each day as tomorrow is not promised. I’ve gone fishing.

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