Do salmon show up on a FF?? I found the answer

According to Darrell Uyeda, the answer is yes (1%)and no (99%).  If you fine tune a Furuno 1100 you can.  

Check out this coastside thread with picts of his meter, showing the fish just before he gets into them.

http://www.coastsidefishingclub.com/drupal/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=fishing%20reports&Number=194712&Searchpage=1&Main=194712&Words=+FISHON&topic=&Search=true#Post194712

Darrell knows his stuff.  I don't know him, but I've heard from many guys that I consider REALLY, REALLY good fisherman that say Darrell is by far a cut above all others when it comes to salmon in Monterey Bay.  

I guess a $3K fish finder definitely give him an edge.  He doesn't fish, he hunts for fish.  When he finds them on the chart, he sends someone down to get it!

Mooch, when are you going to replace your FF with a Furuno 1100?  If you get one, I'll follow you like a puppy dog AND of course provide bait!!

Stuart

Mooch, when are you going to replace your FF with a Furuno 1100? If you get one, I'll follow you like a puppy dog AND of course provide bait!!

Stu.....I'll plan on selling my heart and lungs to the black market...hopefully I can get a down payment for the Furuno 1100   ......providing bait will not be enough...you'll have to rinse out my kayak, rods,reels and buy me a hotdog and a coca cola  

It takes a $3000 dollar sonar to see 30 pound fish?

So what will it take to see 5 pound rockfish in 40 feet of water ? Or are you guys just looking for depth and structure ?

Regards,
Scott

Just depth and structure...  the fish markings are pretty worthless, IMO.  

When I was fishing at Caspar a few weeks ago, I did mark a school of RF.  I told Travis to drop down 20' and he instantly hooked up...  So I guess there is a small amount of entertainment value...

Rockfish have large swim bladders, so they mark pretty well, unfortunately they generally hang out around kelp (which also has air bladders) or the bottom, so you don't see them.  Most people look for a particular bottom structure or baitfish, instead of actual gamefish on the FF.

A school of blues and blacks will show up nicely on a fish finder because they tend to hang out in open water about 15ft down. I know this because I have tested it many times over. Will you see a lingcod ( no air bladder )? Probably not. Although you can see makinaw trout hanging on the bottom. Again no air bladder. So who's to say, but maybe that is the difference is 40ft vs 100 ft and salt vs fresh.

Fishfinders = depthsounder and bait finder and better models sand/rock/mud...ie They will also only tell you what the bottom structure is like if you are moving, standing still does nothing for you. ie mooching. They say you can't see salmon, then how do I pick up kokes trolling in the lakes?

Coolest fishing/fish finder experience was my big mac. Trolling along, plug is 7 or 8 feet from the bottom.  You can easily see the downrigger ball and plug on the finder. Go over deep pocket between two large rocks, see large mark come out of hole and right up to lure, I told my buddy "dude check this out I have a fish chasing my lure..." and my pole gets hammered.

Or night fishing under the lights is awesome too. Drop an achovie down. You can see a solid line across the then when a striper or trout comes to hit, you can see them.

-Brian

Ok - good to hear that some of my FF assumptions are valid. I've been on a boat in Tahoe, and been told that a jig was getting interest and be ready. Heard the captain tell others to reel up or down to get to where the fish were hanging.  And this was fishing  off the bottom in 200', for Macks.

I had assumed that Blues and Blacks would be visible, at least when they were hovering over structure. Ditto for bait, and for Kokanee. Always thought that  Kings would show up well though, so it's interesting to hear that they mostly don't show up.

I didn't figure on seeing Lings, or 'butts

I am kind of pondering the aquisition of a GPS/Sonar. The Lowrance M68C has had some folks saying good things about it. I'm going to want a unit that can be moved between my kayak, and my other fishing craft.

Regards,
Scott

Scott,
All other fish seem to show up on a FF, except for salmon (lack of an air bladder).  For kayak fishing, I’d spend as little as possible.

Speaking of Tahoe, I’ve also had the same experience jigging for Macks there.  We used 6 oz diamond jigs with sharp bronze treble hooks on Dacron line with a mono topshot.  

Back then, we had an older FF/Graph, which printed on roll paper (before LCD’s were around).  You could watch your jig, line and the fish that were off the bottom.  When it hit, the FF would print all the trashing all the way up to the boat if it was within the cone of the transducer.  You could even watch the curious ones follow up the jig off the bottom, then go back down.  Really cool stuff but it sort of took the surprise element out of fishing.  We were all glued to the graph and new when fish were near.  When they came up they were really, really FAT.  Until you cleaned them and all the air came out!!

Brian,
When my dad was retired living in Truckee, he fished for Kokes about 5 days a week.  Mainly at Boca and sometimes Stampede.  They definitely show up, especially in schools.  Funny thing is that they are either on the bite or off.  Not too much in between.  At times, it was very frustrating to keep trolling through them and come up blank.  White corn vs no corn makes a big difference.  

Stuart

rockfish and stripers register well even on the cheap $100 ff, which i use on my kayak[cuda 168].  the thing works great and is extremely durable.  it finds bait and rocks well, but it freaks out in the monterey canyon where the water is over 150' deep.  i also use it to keep my lure/bait right above the bottom structure, i think i avoid snags this way[although i did break my rod in half last week on a snag].

I can see a crappie jig at 30 feet on my unit.

MolBasser

Salmon guy, he said salmon don't generally show up on fish finders. Actually the same goes for trout and steelhead. I understand that you can see them in shallow rivers or lakes because shallow fish gulp more air and the fish finder is more sensitive in fresh shallow water.

I bet fishfinders  can see salmon in the ocean in shallower water. The trouble is you won't know it because it will blend in with the static, bait fish and other crap. The signal is too small.

I looked at one of those big dollar fishfinders and the real work is the transducer, the fishfinder is just a software and screen for the transducer to send the info. Anyway, I couldn't  get my kayak planing with that big transducer, plus it would catch going up on the beach and roll me over! Not to mention the 50 lb battery weighing me down.

If you want to find salmon, find the bait. Now, look for bait, birds diveing from the air and porpoises all together, you find that and you'll catch fish.