Fish finder FAQ's

[ediboy]

i have acouple questions i need answered and i hope i dont sound pretty newbish or anything i just wanted to know if it was the GREAT investment i plan it to be for spending that much on one.

i want a good quality one preferrably color screen
im not asking to find me one

i just wanted to know are most waterproof?
like if something happens and it gets soaked do i have to worry about it?
some info on that would be nice also..

how do they work?
i heard the solar rays they send out to search for fish scares them away rather then reading the waters aimlesly.

and also, are they illegal?
i heard of acouple cases where someone got a huge citation for having a fish finder on them.

i used to think it was cheating and somebody told me its not cheating its just how the rich man fishes.
made alot of sense i suppose.

help would be great
thanks!
-edboy

[tacklejunkie]

i used to think it was cheating and somebody told me its not cheating its just how the rich man fishes.

It's not cheating :wink:
Just because you can see the fish, doesn't mean you can catch them. I've been on my buddies boat at Silverwood and the finder was going nuts, but we weren't catching stuff accept for one or two here or there, where we didn't use the finder at all.

That said, it's definitely nice to know where the fish are, how deep the water is, the temp of the water and if any fishies are around for sure or not. There are times when that will help you get a fish or two on the boat more than others without a finder.

[Socal Bassman]

I'd say most fishfinders are water proof. I have heard a couple of cases where water has gotten inside the unit while fishing in the rain though. I won't mention brands because I'm not going to judge the quality of their products based on a couple negative reports. Do some research and read reviews before buying.

It's not cheating. It's just another tool. Like Tj said, just because you can see fish on the screen, doesn't mean you can catch them. The word fishfinder is actually misleading as it's main purpose is to find structure. Structure which will hopefully hold fish.