new Boat maiden Voyage

[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 2] [/size][/red][/font][][font "Arial Black"][red][size 2] Well here it is, Went to Willard this afternoon around 3:30pm. This time all went well, no problems . The motor ran like champ. Fish finder was showing some fish but no takers today. I fished in front of the feedlot for a while stayed in about 5-7 feet of water, water temp was 58 degrees when I started and climbed to 60 degrees just before the sun went down. trolling speed was 3.2-3.5 mph.[/size][/red][/font]

[font "Arial Black"][size 2][#ff0000] Headed over to the light pole area, lots of traffic there didn't see anyone catching fish. water temp was 60 degrees, speed 2.5- 3.0, time was 7:00 pm. Most fish were located from 11-13 feet of water. I used everything in the box just weren't interested today . But the boat was just fine .[/#ff0000][/size][/font]

[font "Arial Black"][size 2][#ff0000] AFDan52 [/#ff0000][/size][/font]
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Were you dragging lots of weeds in the shallows?Seems like the water under 6 ft had it's share of weed growth when we were trolling through it. Glad to hear that your boat is running good.[/size][/font]
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[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 2] Hey BLM, how goes it? Yes I did get into a little bit of the weeds, mostly just after leaving the channel and heading towards the SouthWest corner. i tried to stay in close to see if they were into the shallows.[/size][/red][/font]

[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 2] AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[Gumbo]

You're not going to mark much in 5-7 feet of water. At that depth you're only seeing maybe a foot--depending on transducer cone angle--of the bottom. But it will show you depth and bottom composition.

[fish1on]

[size 2]You have officially used that boat more than me now!! LOL Glad it worked out for ya and sorry about the fishing! Better get out of the slump for the tournament!!![/size]
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[wiperhunter2]

We were fishing east and west of the feed lot yesterday in 3 to 7 ft of water and were marking more fish there than anywhere on the lake. The finder we were using is an Eagle tri finder which works great in shallow water because of the hugh cone angles.
Hey AFDan, good to hear you got that boat on the water, I sure hope the catching improves in the next few weeks. WH2
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[Gumbo]

Curt, I'm not knocking your graph. I'm just trying to say don't believe every mark in that shallow of water is a fish. In that shallow of water, a submerged bug will return a strong signal.

Also, realize that fish are boat shy--especially in shallow water. They're not going to sit there while a boat passes just overhead while their lateral lines are being blasted by your sonar's hi-powered ping.

I also have a fancy sonar with multiple angled transducers in the head of my electric trolling motor, and it will show any or all of the transducer views at once. So in shallow water I can see a broad swath of the water column. But I try to be realistic in translating what I'm seeing. And the fact is, in shallow water you have question whether that big arc on your graph is a fish or not. Most of the time, it will be a not. That's not to say there aren't fish in the area, it just means that they've spooked out of the way of your boat are are likely off to the side where you may catch them.

All I'm saying is question what you see in shallow water. And focus more on bottom depth and composition in shallow water than on arcs on your sonar.

[wiperhunter2]

I realize the finder isn't right all the time but it is always a good sign when you mark fish and then you start catching fish. That is what happened on Sunday. Some fish are very spooky, as you said but wipers are not one of them because we have caught them in the prop wash(less than 15ft behind the boat) of the motor many a time. This does not mean they don't move aside when the boat goes by but when you have the side scanner you can sure see a lot more in shallow water. WH2
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