Use A
Kayak Fish Finder And Catch More Fish
Do you want to
increase your chances of catching your limit on your next trip?
Consider buying a kayak fish finder. Fish finders are sonar
devices that can help everyone from the weekend angler to a
tournament pro be a more productive fisherman (or woman). Using a
kayak fish finder can help you spend more time catching fish and
less time looking for them. And catching fish is why you're out
there in the first place, right?
A fish finder isn't going to make fish jump on your hook, of
course, but they can make locating them a whole lot easier (by
reducing much of the guesswork). Fresh water, salt water, beginner
or serious angler, it doesn't matter, a good kayak fish finder
will soon be your best friend when it comes to tracking down that
next big catch.
Okay, so how do fish finders work? These devices use sonar
technology to scan beneath your kayak and determine the bottom
structure and composition, water depth, locate where schools of
fish could be hiding, locate reefs, shipwrecks, and other large
underwater objects. They can even help identify thermal changes in
the water where fish are likely to congregate.
Low to medium priced kayak fish finders can be purchased from
Hummingbird, Garmin, Eagle, Lawrence, and others. They generally
consist of an LCD display panel that's mounted topside and a
sensor or "puck" that's fixed to the bottom of kayak.
This sensor is the "eye" of the unit, and is normally
attached to the hull using epoxy or some other type of marine
adhesive.
The fish finder display is usually mounted in a strategic and
visible place topside, by velcro or epoxy. Many paddlers prefer a
removable mounting so that the unit can be taking off during boat
storage, portage, and launchings and landings. Another
consideration when mounting is the fact that most of these units
aren't waterproof: you can get them wet, but you definitely don't
want to immerse them in water. One way to keep your fish finder
safe and dry is to store it in a dry bag when not in use.
Most kayak fish finders use re-chargable batteries that are good
for 10-16 hours of use. You might want to bring along a spare set
of batteries just in case.
Finally, you'll want to read the instructions carefully and test
the unit out on the water a few times. Like most electronic
devices, these fish finders can take a while to get used to, and
to understand what you're looking at on the display. But be
patient, learn how to read those underwater features, and pretty
soon you'll be catching more fish than ever before.
