Odd man out? No Fishfinder

For me it's a must have.  Not for spotting fish, but for having an idea of the bottom structure and temperature which allows me to alter my presentation. 

If ya cant catch a fish without a FF, your not a real fisherman 

That said,

If you CAN catch a fish you see on your FF, your a miracle worker   

Mostly like others said, for knowing the depth, locating structure, but rarely if ever do I catch anything I think that I see on that damned screen 

But I definitely like knowing what's going on underneath me.

+1

It's comforting somehow, knowing how much water is under me.

Same for me, definitely!

But I definitely like knowing what's going on underneath me.

+1

It's comforting somehow, knowing how much water is under me.

Same for me, definitely!

6ft deep is the same as 100ft deep = you aint touching bottom, so what's the diff? 

Looking forward to using it up at Shelter Cove in May for sure!

 

You're not going to see much. I wasted a lot of time at GS3 looking for the "good" structure I'm used to seeing at Ft. Ross, and there isn't much of that there. You're mostly fishing reefs up there as opposed to big "peaks and valleys".

I think I caught more fish and definitely did better in tournaments before I started using a FF....

6ft deep is the same as 100ft deep = you aint touching bottom, so what's the diff? 

At 6 ft, you'd just see the top of my bald dome! 

Yeah, it's hard to put a finger on, (weak) pun intended, but there's just something about knowing that I like.  Look, I've got a simple mind. 

my main problem with fishfinders is that you get to like them, and then they crap out on you. Then you are all bereft and sad, and your buddies have to endure the "my battery died", "my connections busted" or the dreaded "my screen has water INside it" laments.

When I lost mine, both times it felt like I was getting divorce papers from my frikkin fishing gear.

I'll still get another one, once I recover and find myself.

I fishes on my kayak for 7 years without one, I had good success. Going out in the ocean I followed the guys with electronics. They knew the spots, had them marked.  Definitely helped.
Then I got one. Had it for a few trips and spent more time looking at it then fishing. Then it went with a kayak trade.
Now I'm getting another (thanks Tote) and am going to learn to use it. AnglinWes uses his to everyone's advantage that fishes with him. So I'm gonna watch him do it.

Bottom line for stripers that we target mostly just troll and we find them.


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Aside from all the other advantages they provide (depth, structure, temp., GPS, bait balls,etc.) I find them useful while trolling in 3 ways.
1. when you get fish arc returns suspended at a certain depth you know how deep to run your downrigger or diving       device for optimum results.
2. when you are running your gear at say 40 ft. in 60ft. of water  and you start getting bottom readings that show it getting shallower (60,55,50,45,40,) it's time to get the gear up or risk losing it
3. if you have GPS, the speed  feature tells you how fast you are trolling
Tad