Stillwater indicator watchers: What's your approach?

[Matt B]

Buzzy and I figure either he was rabid or psychotic. Wouldn't leave us alone!

I figured it was just your trained fishing bird. You know, like this:

 

[Engee]

Like this??View attachment 58455

oops. I just finished reading this thread for the second time and realize this the second time I posted this photo. Dementia!!

 

[Engee]

I hate fishing barren water. I know it's barren because my Stryker 4 depth sounder tells me so.
It is a tool that has helped me be much more successful in stillwater.
I move around until I spot fish on my sounder. I then know the depth to fish and that I'm showing my gear to the fish.
It's easier to know if my fly is the right one if I know I'm putting it in front of fish.
Without the depthfinder I don't know if there are no fish where I'm fishing or fish are present and rejecting my offerings.
I fish with more confidence using a depthsounder.
This image shows a good sized trout at 12 or 13 feet and another at 22 feet that are under my pontoon boat with others within the cone of my transducer.

View attachment 49072
This one has glare on the screen but shows 3 decent trout that I just paddled over the the top of and others in the periphery of my cone angle.
View attachment 49075

For me I can't imagine fishing without it.
I can stumble into a few once in a while without one but am much more consistent with one and waste less time hoping to get lucky.

I too have Striker 4 that does me almost no good because I don't know how to use it. The video is great, but way too long to digest in one viewing. I do understand that fish you see have already passed through the transducer cone, so do you use the A-Scope on a split screen to tell if there are still fish under you?? Reading bottom, structure, depth and temperature are easy advantages, but the ability to find fish would be great.

 

[Wanative]

I too have Striker 4 that does me almost no good because I don't know how to use it. The video is great, but way too long to digest in one viewing. I do understand that fish you see have already passed through the transducer cone, so do you use the A-Scope on a split screen to tell if there are still fish under you?? Reading bottom, structure, depth and temperature are easy advantages, but the ability to find fish would be great.

I keep it on full screen as for me the advantage lies in knowing the depth range the majority of the fish are occupying. I'm not really concerned with targeting individual fish as I rarely anchor and fish underneath me.
If I'm spotting fish on my screen I'm confident there are others close by outside the vision cone of my finder.
I probably don't get as much info as is possible but fish with confidence with the settings I use.

 

[Divad]

I too have Striker 4 that does me almost no good because I don't know how to use it. The video is great, but way too long to digest in one viewing. I do understand that fish you see have already passed through the transducer cone, so do you use the A-Scope on a split screen to tell if there are still fish under you?? Reading bottom, structure, depth and temperature are easy advantages, but the ability to find fish would be great.

Fish that are marked that have scrolled on through the screen to the left are past fish in some random direction, fish that have recently popped up on the right are "live" under your transducer. You can change the speed of this window too. A-Scope can be helpful when not moving, jigging/chromie fish in water with no debris. I use it to spot check my cone width at water depth, it gives this reading on the bottom of the A-Scope split screen. Once get a gist for your cone size I dont think you need to use A-Scope for fly fishing and when split on the Garmin 3.5" it hinders your traditional view too much.

You can turn on Fish indicators in your Settings but I would recommend either using it briefly at first or foregoing the setting and learning the color/shape of your mark. Right now a lot of your warmwater species are densely congregated which is interesting to see and can make spotting trout easier. I like to cruise the edges and shallower bays right now to find feeding lanes.

 

[onefish]

I too have Striker 4 that does me almost no good because I don't know how to use it. The video is great, but way too long to digest in one viewing. I do understand that fish you see have already passed through the transducer cone, so do you use the A-Scope on a split screen to tell if there are still fish under you?? Reading bottom, structure, depth and temperature are easy advantages, but the ability to find fish would be great.

If you are trying to find fish, use the 77hz as it gives you a wider cone angle hence more searching power. Keep watching your video tutorials. Mastering your sounder WILL help put more fish in your net.

 

[Engee]

All great replies. I appreciate the info. I'm usually too busy fishing to play with the sonar, but I do need to put the rod down and just take the time to play with the settings and get used to what I'm seeing. Thanks to all for the help!

 

[iveofione]

I have depth finders from 3 different manufacturers and the instructions that come with each are just dismal. None assumes that the buyer is new and knows nothing about how to use a depth finder. Instead they seem to talk in tongues using abbreviations and acronyms as if we knew what the hell they were talking about. I equate them with the computer nerds whose entire vocabulary is laced with acronyms that are alien to the average citizen. They could be speaking Swahili for all I know...

 

[Capt Insano Emeritis]

Full sink on a 71/2’ st Croix at Cady lake chirinomid finger walking. The count down to 30’ takes a while. Not how i like fishing but it certainly tests my lack of patience. Indicators for me when and if I ever unretire my steelhead rods. I may just list them for sale.

 

[Divad]

Full sink on a 71/2’ st Croix at Cady lake chirinomid finger walking. The count down to 30’ takes a while. Not how i like fishing but it certainly tests my lack of patience. Indicators for me when and if I ever unretire my steelhead rods. I may just list them for sale.

Here here! I’ll drink to that (later). I have a really hard time indicator fishing on lakes, and would rather go various sinking lines in retrieve.

I have two bags of those slip bobbers never used, figure I will keep them for something to learn later in my life.

 

[Buzzy]

Here here! I’ll drink to that (later). I have a really hard time indicator fishing on lakes, and would rather go various sinking lines in retrieve.

I have two bags of those slip bobbers never used, figure I will keep them for something to learn later in my life.

Today it was "quick release" strike bobbers, tomorrow it will be airlok strike bobbers. When the bobber bit works, it is a blast.

 

[Engee]

Today it was "quick release" strike bobbers, tomorrow it will be airlok strike bobbers. When the bobber bit works, it is a blast.

My bags of bobbers will also last a lifetime. They don't release enough to create any wear! It takes a little catching to wear a bobber.

 

[Salmo_g]

My bobber, er, Iracator, fishing technique is to look away, cuz that's always when the bobber goes down. Had I used this technique is the days of using barbed hooks, my hookup rate would likely have been higher.

 

[_WW_]

My bobber, er, Iracator, fishing technique is to look away, cuz that's always when the bobber goes down. Had I used this technique is the days of using barbed hooks, my hookup rate would likely have been higher.

All I have to do is just think about touching my coffee cup.

 

[Capt Insano Emeritis]

 

[Capt Insano Emeritis]

View attachment 58988

You all need one

 

[Wayne Kohan]

My bobber, er, Iracator, fishing technique is to look away, cuz that's always when the bobber goes down. Had I used this technique is the days of using barbed hooks, my hookup rate would likely have been higher.

In my float tube, I need to grab some lunch or be messing with tying new flies on the other rod. In my boat, the go to is to grab the urinal bucket. I always wonder if someone is using the telescopes above Dry Falls while I'm "dangling the worm" while trying to land a fish.

 

[Bambooflyguy]

I agree Wayne....I call it “Dick out....bobber down!”

 

[Shawn Seeger]

In my float tube, I need to grab some lunch or be messing with tying new flies on the other rod. In my boat, the go to is to grab the urinal bucket. I always wonder if someone is using the telescopes above Dry Falls while I'm "dangling the worm" while trying to land a fish.

We have come to calling him "Tommy the Spotter" (the theory is like a sniper team, shooter and spotter)... The theory - Tommy is starring (and he wins way more starring contents than we do) at all fisherman's eyes, and he uses "lateral line" communicating with all the other trout in the lake. When Tommy sees us fishermen "look away", Tommy yells "NOW" and the other trout feel it through their lateral line and bite the fisherman's fly!

Some days Tommy is WAY more on the game, than we fishermen, and sometimes we get lucky and set the hook, to the "slow, blind, old" fish!

We have come to hate Tommy!

 

[Buzzy]

In my float tube, I need to grab some lunch or be messing with tying new flies on the other rod. In my boat, the go to is to grab the urinal bucket. I always wonder if someone is using the telescopes above Dry Falls while I'm "dangling the worm" while trying to land a fish.

The old "DIH" technique, it will get you everytime.