Trouble locating fish

[wjhuskey]

I have a Lowrance Hook 2 and to be honest, it doesn't seem to give me much of an advantage. It's probably because I need to get better at finding locations where I know fish should be living, given the time of year it is etc. I do a little bit of idling and looking for fish when I'm looking for a deeper water bite but seems like it would take an awful lot of idling in a lake the size I fish. I'm more of a shallow water fisherman so I enjoy fishing the banks in spring and fall - a fish finder doesn't seem to be much help for this unless you had a newer unit with sideview, am I wrong? Also, there are times I find arches on the screen and I can throw everything in the tacklebox, and try to get it to the right depth showed on the screen, but I have never caught a fish doing that. Is my sensitivity set too high? I'm going to try to figure out how to turn fish ID on. I've attached a recent picture of what my unit was showing one time - I assume it was mostly baitfish, but I couldn't get a single bite in that area. I've watched YouTube videos to learn more about reading sonar but I'm still missing something because I feel like my unit should help me catch more fish.

Anyone else feel this way? What advice do you have for me?

By the way, I fish in North Central Arkansas on Norfork or Bull Shoals Lake and in my opinion, they can be tough lakes to find and catch fish. They are clear and deep lakes. Thanks in advance for any advice and encouragement.

Screenshot_20211128-163648~3.png

[Chief Brody]

you definately found fish on that spot, but they might be small bait like you said. Have you tried a small piece of worm there?

The fishfinder, in this case, showed you a spot with potential.....bigger fish eat smaller fish.

[wjhuskey]

you definately found fish on that spot, but they might be small bait like you said. Have you tried a small piece of worm there?

The fishfinder, in this case, showed you a spot with potential.....bigger fish eat smaller fish.

Thanks for the reply. Yes I've tried smaller finesse baits in a spot like the fishfinder was showing me in the pic and still catch nothing. Fishing Bull Shoals and Norfork can sometimes be very frustrating lol, for me anyway. I guess sometimes the fish just simply aren't active.

[Team Colibri]

There are plenty of fish in your screenshot, but they are small. The transducers sold with Hook2 has a very large coneangle, which (unfortunately) makes fish look bigger on your screen versus a lot of the tutorials out there where the user/ teacher typically uses a transducer with more or less half of the coneangle.

Don`t turn on Fish-ID, forget that function unless you have kids with you that needs motivation. :)

This might be worth a read:
https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/202...nce-guide.html

[wjhuskey]

There are plenty of fish in your screenshot, but they are small. The transducers sold with Hook2 has a very large coneangle, which (unfortunately) makes fish look bigger on your screen versus a lot of the tutorials out there where the user/ teacher typically uses a transducer with more or less half of the coneangle.

Don`t turn on Fish-ID, forget that function unless you have kids with you that needs motivation. :)

This might be worth a read:
https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/202...nce-guide.html

Thanks for the informative link. I should also mention that I have a HDS7 at the console - I haven't been able to get structure scan to work since I bought the boat. I've checked and it does have the LSS-2 transducer mounted.
I use the Hook2 at the bow while fishing.

[Marc Marcantonio]

Since you are fishing deep clear lakes your Lowrance units are key to more success. Learn to search for offshore structure (topographical features) and cover (deep weedbeds, sunken objects). The key to finding off shore fish is in finding where their food goes (mostly baitfish/small fish) and then fish structure in that area.

Realize that your fishfinder will also show carp and other fish that you are not targeting, and even when you do find fish that are targeting they don't always bite. But when you do figure it out, you will probably like off shore fishing better than beating the banks.

As Team Colibri mentioned above, forget using "Fish ID". It does not differentiate between fish and other objects in most cases, and will frustrate you.

Regarding your StructureScan, you should get it working. Are the lights working on your StructureScan box showing it is getting power? Most boats have them wired to an accessory switch that must be turned on.

[Team Colibri]

Thanks for the informative link. I should also mention that I have a HDS7 at the console - I haven't been able to get structure scan to work since I bought the boat. I've checked and it does have the LSS-2 transducer mounted.
I use the Hook2 at the bow while fishing.

Which generation is your HDS 7? If in doubt, check this article: https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/201...rance-hds.html
Once you figure that out, please follow the cable from the LSS-transducer, we need to figure out if it goes directly to the unit or through a Structurescan-module. If there is a module, we need information on the litle LEDs on the module, are they on/ blinking?

[ilostmypistons]

I spent many years beating banks before I got the the HDS gen2. I was having a hard time figuring out what was happening off shore so I started using live bait and all the sudden things started making sense to me. I was able to quickly figure out over time if I was looking at Bluegill,Perch, Walleye or Bass. Once I started trusting what I was seeing my catch rate off shore went up and up. I honed my techniques along with what's going on around me like wind direction, current,birds feeding over the years and now I'm as comfortable off shore as I am flipping a dock

[wjhuskey]

Since you are fishing deep clear lakes your Lowrance units are key to more success. Learn to search for offshore structure (topographical features) and cover (deep weedbeds, sunken objects). The key to finding off shore fish is in finding where their food goes (mostly baitfish/small fish) and then fish structure in that area.

Realize that your fishfinder will also show carp and other fish that you are not targeting, and even when you do find fish that are targeting they don't always bite. But when you do figure it out, you will probably like off shore fishing better than beating the banks.

As Team Colibri mentioned above, forget using "Fish ID". It does not differentiate between fish and other objects in most cases, and will frustrate you.

Regarding your StructureScan, you should get it working. Are the lights working on your StructureScan box showing it is getting power? Most boats have them wired to an accessory switch that must be turned on.

My structure scan box is mounted under the console so I haven't noticed if the lights are working on it. I will check, thanks.

[wjhuskey]

Which generation is your HDS 7? If in doubt, check this article: https://teamcolibri.blogspot.com/201...rance-hds.html
Once you figure that out, please follow the cable from the LSS-transducer, we need to figure out if it goes directly to the unit or through a Structurescan-module. If there is a module, we need information on the litle LEDs on the module, are they on/ blinking?

I'm not sure what generation my HDS7 is but I'm pretty sure I got it for Christmas 2017. There is a structure scan box mounted under my console. I will check to see if lights work, thanks.

[Team Colibri]

I'm not sure what generation my HDS7 is but I'm pretty sure I got it for Christmas 2017. There is a structure scan box mounted under my console. I will check to see if lights work, thanks.

If you read what was in the link, you will know which generation HDS you have. ;)

[fly by night]

Thank you so much for posting the difference in the older HDS Get 1 and 2. I didn't have a clue which units I just purchased used, one 7" and an 8" and this clarifies it for me, much appreciated!!

If you read what was in the link, you will know which generation HDS you have. ;)