Finding Fish Has Never Been Easier

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Finding Fish Has Never Been Easier

• Most anglers today cant imagine fishing without
  sonar to show them the depth and presence of
  fish. Add an electronic chart to the equation to
  provide a detailed lake map right in front of
  you, and GPS to show the precise location of your
  boat on that map, and youre in total control.
  Whether youre fishing a bass boat, walleye boat
  or utility boat, good electronics not only show
  you fish, but help keep you in the hotspot, too.
  They can even help you find your way back to the
  ramp or nearest fuel dock.

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Today, most packaged aluminum fishing boats
come factory-rigged with a reliable fish finder,
and your aluminum boat dealer can easily upgrade
your electronic array to incorporate Global
Positioning Satellites (GPS) for navigation, and
chart plotting to show your fishing boats exact
location on the lake as well as the structure
around you. In addition, available chart plotting
software will even tell you what your options are
for restaurants and motels near the lake when
youre done fishing. Adding GPS helps you mark
productive spots that hold fish for your return
later in the dayor even the next year. While
installing a GPS unit used to mean also
installing the module that picked up the
satellite signals to triangulate your position,
many modern GPS units feature that module
built-in. All you need is a battery to run it.
You might even opt for an inexpensive hand-help
GPS unit that you can affix to its own in-boat
mount.
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From there, the sky is the limit for rigging your
aluminum fishing boat with electronics. Todays
state-of-the-art units feature high-definition
sonar, side-scanning sonar to see fish and
structure to the side of your boat, even
360-degree scanning to show whats under the
water all the way around your boat. Larger
aluminum walleye boats used in all sorts of
weather benefit from radarrecreational radar
units have fallen drastically in price over the
last few years. Chart plotters come with a chip
loaded with detailed lake maps that show lake
bottoms for several surrounding statesall on the
same chip. Gone are the days of massive paper map
books. Anglers can trailer their bass boats or
walleye boats to any lake in the country and have
a detailed map of it right on their console. For
trolling in your walleye boat, you can even add a
speed-and-temperature probe that shows you the
exact level of fish-holding temperature breaks,
and if youre trolling with or against an
underwater current.
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If budget is an issue and you need to keep it
simple, basic electronics to help you find fish
and monitor the depth and structure are not
expensive. If you have an open aluminum utility
boat, either a jon boat or a utility-V boat, you
can purchase a sonar unit for less than 100. And
you dont have to drill any holes to mount the
transducer, which is the small puck that actually
shoots the sonar pulse down into the water.
Transducer brackets are available to simply clamp
onto the transom next to your outboard. Indeed,
with the tremendous advances in technology from
the most basic to the most sophisticated - for
todays angler the term goin fishing has been
replaced by goin catching.