By Capt. James McManus
There are many reasons I like to fish, the solitude of soloing, teaching newbies, or just getting together with buddies are some splendid reasons to hit the water, but one facet I really enjoy is watching my electronics. Now I have pretty good machines; they aren’t the biggest or the newest, but they work great and after using them for years, I can tell by what I am looking at on the screens, what is happening below the surface. I am not a real high tech guy, I just got a mini controller for my SuperSmart trolling motor because the original unit was like flying a fighter jet with all the options for routes, compass headings, replays, digital screens, etc. All I wanted to do was go forward or backwards at a certain speed, turn right or left and anchor when needed. It also weighed about three pounds less than the original unit. My boat has a couple of Gen 3 Lowrance units that are nine inches, they fit my console and I have fished salt enough to feel more comfortable duplicating things rather than relying on a single of anything. If I am on familiar water, I use one for side scan and the other for conventional sonar. If on unfamiliar or bottom feature specific areas, I split the side scan and GPS. The old sonar with bright colors and easy to see arcs work best for me, so that’s what I typically concentrate on.
Recently on Fontana, I fished down towards the dam. Having spent little time lately down that way, I started out throwing to the bank with jigs and jerkbaits, something that typically is good this time of year. With no hits in the first bit, I changed to point hunting. By that, I mean searching close to a point then moving out either circling or weaving out to at least 120 feet of water. There was no surface activity and at the first point, I found out why. In about 80 feet of water there was a big school of shad and undulating fish marks tailing the school. The more irregular the school of shad, with scattered small clouds or trailing wisps on the edges, the more likely they are getting hammered by something.
In Fontana that is more likely mixed schools of spots and smallies. Sure enough, I dropped an eighth ounce jig with a Keitech swimbait and as soon as it hit the magic 40-foot depth, there was that beautiful tick. As long as I kept up with that school, that’s all it took to catch a really nice bunch of fish. The best thing about good sonars is that when you lose the school there are always some fish, especially spots that just sink to the bottom and wait for the school to return, or at least digest some of what they have just eaten. All you need to do if you mark small arcs close to the bottom is drag a jig slowly in front of that mark. Spots have never truly been full, there’s always room for one more morsel. As much as I like catching fish on the surface I like to catch fish period, so getting used to your electronics can keep you in business when fish either aren’t busting the top or hanging to the bank. Let me know if you want to find some on the screen and enjoy what God has given us with these beautiful mountain lakes. Later, Capt. James
Capt. James McManus is the Owner of 153 Charters. Give him a call for a great day of boat fishing!