Around 8:30am I found a good concentration of fish on the eastern edge of the A-1 grid (see picture). Got one 20 incher on a jigging spoon. and missed a few more. As I drifted into 25 feet of water they started schooling. I started throwing a topwater Striper Swiper and caught three fish on three consecutive casts. One was 21 inch the other two were just under 20. I wasn’t ready to quit for the day so I left the school and moved out deeper looking for a bigger 5th fish. Big mistake! Got a few more bites but no hookups. I managed to jig up a nice perch but that was it. I moved back shallow and the fish were still there but they were acting weird. They were rolling on the surface like a Tarpon gulping air but they wouldn’t bite. I could see them swimming around my boat. It was a mixed bag size wise but a few of them looked to be well over 25 inches. I threw everything I had at them for an hour but they just wouldn’t eat so I called it a day.
Crabjack, we have a 587 Humminbird and I’m still not sure I have it configured the way it should be for best results. Would you mind sharing some of your settings on the 597? In particular I’m interested in Sensitivity within Sonar Menu (recently changed ours from 10, the midpoint, to 15)and “Fish Sensitivity” which I moved to a higher setting from default. I’m assuming you have “Fish ID” off and it appears you have “RTS” on with a narrow window. Anything important I’m missing and don’t know about?
Glad you were productive in that depth and technique. That was going to be my gameplay tomorrow. Also glad you posted pics of the Bird as I just ordered the sonar version of that unit. Picture looks great.
Patti, not sure if it matters, but that unit has a higher pixel count and a much more powerful transducer. Probably doesn’t make a huge difference, but something to think about. I know I can’t get that level of detail with my Garmin as it is less powerful sonar with fewer pixels. Hence why I ordered the new 5" Humminbird.
I have told 4 different people to head to that area in the last couple of days…I just had a feeling the fish would be there. If i can’t ever find them in the big pool this time of year around that area is where i head to. I gotta get my boat finished and get back out there…
@pattianne - I fiddle around with settings all the time but currently the sensitivity is set to 10. I use the dual beam feature 200/83 kHz and I have the Fish ID set to OFF.
Another setting I play with is the “Switch Fire”. In “Clear Mode” the returns are filtered to remove clutter. In “Max Mode” you get raw data but the screen can get a bit busy. I like “Max Mode” when jigging or down roding so I can see where my jig/bait is tracking. In the above picture i was in “Clear Mode”.
I’ve had this unit for a couple of years now and I’m still figuring out all of the nuances.
I hope this helps.
They have been in there a couple weeks now… Tried to get my wife out this weekend but to much going on! I am going to slide out Friday and play for a short!
Thanks, Crabjack. Just asking to try and ensure best settings and avoid any dumb mistakes. Maybe Humminbird needs to put out a sonar manual for Dummies. The Capt is making her professional debut in the Ladies Tournament Saturday morning and if we come up empty, she might make me walk the plank. At least we know a big chunk of water where the fish aren’t.
