Outdoors Angle: Understanding Your Boat Electronics

Here’s your weekly Outdoors Angle with Flag Outdoors Columnist Steve Carney.

     It is amazing to me the number of anglers out there that have no idea how to interpret their electronics on the water. Most don't even open the manual. Your boat electronics are only as good as the operator and have very little to do with the retail price. Anglers think that spending 2500.00 for a unit will make them a better fisherperson but in reality you can get the same performance from a 700.00 unit if you know how to fine tune the unit.

     Most modern electronics are easy to use having them set to the "auto" feature. In the old days, we had to manually set up the distinct settings and it was a pain. The modern units work well on auto but you can also fine tune several settings manually. The most important setting is the "gain" which determines the quality of your signal. Make sure it is set just above the average setting. This will allow you to determine hard bottom from soft and define fish much better.

     I rely on my electronics all season long when guiding clients because I spend at least the first hour scanning different depths actually looking for fish before ever wetting a line. Your electronics are the eyes below the surface. The final key is the transducer on the transom which is where the signals are sent. If you are not getting a good reading at medium speeds, chances are the transducer is interfering with your outboard. Adjust until you get the good reading you deserve.

     Finally....read the manual !

     Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM1100 WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM1100 WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.