portable fish finder for pier fishing

[oneluvunknown]

This thought crossed my mind. As I fish the piers in the fall for salmon, I was thinking what a great idea it would be to get a portable fish finder. Anyone got input? Whenever I take my step son out, we never get into much salmon. However , when he's not with me I get a ton of hits...then again it takes the fun out of fishing. But for him to go home excited and tell his mom he hooked into salmon/landed them would be a wonderful thing to see.

Thanks,

Hung

[Chas0218]

This thought crossed my mind. As I fish the piers in the fall for salmon, I was thinking what a great idea it would be to get a portable fish finder. Anyone got input? Whenever I take my step son out, we never get into much salmon. However , when he's not with me I get a ton of hits...then again it takes the fun out of fishing. But for him to go home excited and tell his mom he hooked into salmon/landed them would be a wonderful thing to see.

Thanks,

Hung

You could get one of those Humminbird units that have the castable transducer and you could use that to see what is out there. I haven't used them but seem like they would work.

Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

[Lund SSS]

This thought crossed my mind. As I fish the piers in the fall for salmon, I was thinking what a great idea it would be to get a portable fish finder. Anyone got input? Whenever I take my step son out, we never get into much salmon. However , when he's not with me I get a ton of hits...then again it takes the fun out of fishing. But for him to go home excited and tell his mom he hooked into salmon/landed them would be a wonderful thing to see.

Thanks,

Hung

Ok seem this seems a bit odd. your on a pier where your only limited to north or south. the father you go out the deeper you'll be. As far as "tons of hit" ??? I've put in PLENTY of time on the piers and the best salmon trip was 5 hits with 3 landed after about 4 hours. There either there or there not but you can't do much about it .....

[oneluvunknown]

Yes I understand that. But this would be a tool id use when bringing my stepson with me. As he is only 10 and loves to fish but has only had a few fights with them kings.

[Mortigan]

I was casting for browns last spring off Bear Creek and a couple guys showed up with one that looked like a long walking stick with a screen on top. They stuck the end in the water and could see a few browns schooled up off the mouth, farther than I could see (or cast, for that matter). Interesting tech...

 

I think it was this http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/bot/bot1200.html

Edited July 25, 2013 by Mortigan

[Adk1]

You could get one of those Humminbird units that have the castable transducer and you could use that to see what is out there. I haven't used them but seem like they would work.

Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

amen to that thought, my thoughts exactly

[BSmaster]

You could get really creative and place a transducer on an R/C boat.  That would keep a 10 yr old busy.  I am not sure how the other fisherman will accept that, but that would be kinda cool to see.  My dream has been to find a way to drop a camera in front of the salmon as they head up stream in the deeper areas.  The idea was to learn how they hold in patterns before they move up into the shallower water.  Status is still in fantasy mode.  Anything you do is likely to upset other fisherman.  Have thick skin.

 

Joe

[MadPerry]

I don't think it would be usefull at all.  The truth is, in 10 fow or less, it isn't going to show you anything unless there is a dropoff or hump.  Fish will almost never show on it.  That is because the cone is so small at that depth range.  Take a boat out in 5-10 fow and see what I mean.  You'll see very few fish on a graph. 

[Sk8man]

Pier fishing is a whole different bag than boat fishing or stream fishing for that matter. You are limited tremendously by the stationary nature of it which means that the probabilities of being in the "kill zone" are much more limited. Even if you had a fish finder that would spot potential target fish because of the shallow nature of the environment you have no idea whether they are bass carp or salmon for starters. When you are out in a few hundred feet of water and the large marks are suspended and streaking toward your trolled lures you have a better idea that they might be salmon but it is still not fool proof. Near shore and onshore fishing is usually a hit and miss proposition at best. When the fish are in and you happen to be there (or better yet you calculate to be there based on actual previous observations) you may luck out but more often than not if you aren't there nearly every day during the"critical period" you will miss a large part of the action...it is the nature of the beast. At that time of the year salmon respond differently than in the summer when they are actively feeding heavily too and many of the hits are out of aggression rather than from a feeding response so you brighten up the colors etc. to "provoke" them into striking rather than "enticing" them for a feeding response. What I am getting at is that it is the approach to the fishing situation that will put you on fish not the electronic "gizmos". By closely monitoring the site every chance that you get and trying different lures, presentations, closely studying the structure and specific depth profile around the pier and putting your time in at the pier will offer more rewards than depending on the electronics hype. The actual teaching of the fishing tactics and spending the time may prove more valuable to your relationship with your step son too than the fishing results. We often seem to believe that instant results are the only thing that matters (the American way :<) but the more important things tend to be the spending of time doing something together (i.e. quality time)....based on experience with my own three kids.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Sk8man