Fishfinder Chartplotter Combinations

I have been fishing for as long as I can remember. As a boy growing up near the New River in Virginia I have spent many hours fishing for Redeyes , Small Mouth Bass , Catfish , Carp and just about anything else that swims. I remember the first stocki

   I have been fishing for as long as I can remember. As a boy growing up near the New River in Virginia I have spent many hours fishing for Redeyes , Small Mouth Bass , Catfish , Carp and just about anything else that swims. I remember the first stockings of Striped Bass in Claytor and Smith Mountain lakes in Virginia. My father use to take my brother and I striper fishing at night on Smith Mountain Lake shortly after stripers were stocked there in the '60s and we would catch 75 to 100 a night on Cordell Spot plugs. This was very exciting for boys 9 to 12 years old even though we could not keep any of these fish as they were all under the 20 inch size limit.

In those days the only fishfinders available were Lowrance flashers. These were simple sounders that had a red diaode on a revolving wheel that would light up at the surface , the bottom and on anything between the surface and the bottom. There were numbers around the face of the sounder that indicated the depth of any flashes between the surface and bottom and to specify the depth of the water we were in. With practice over time we could distinguish between trees , baitfish and larger fish by the strength or brightness of the flashes on the screen. Over the years we caught a bunch of stripers using these flashers.

Finally in the 1980's LCD fishfinders came on the scene. These sounders incorporated an LCD screen which allowed more accuracy in judging which returns we received were bait , structure or larger fish. They were simple to use but still did not have the high definition of modern graphs as they did not show fish as an arch but a strait line on the LCD face.

Today's modern fishfinders are a wonder of technological achievement. They will show you with great detail any structure under your boat , baitfish balls and any large predators lurking nearby. Couple these wonders with a chartplotter and you have the ultimate fishfinder. They are simple to operate and are very useful in navigating new or unknown waters. Todays modern fishfinder chartplotter combos may be loaded with electronic charts of any body of water in the world. This provides for easy safe navigation.

Another feature of the fishfinder chartplotter combination is that it allows you to place an icon on the chart itself to mark a spot that is unique or where you see a school of fish. This allows you to return to that spot with ease , even years later as it is stored in the memory of the chartplotter. This feature allowed my partner and I to win a striper tournament during an NSBA event held on Lake Hartwell on the South Carolina-Georgia border recently. He had marked an area on his electronic chart a few years earlier that held fish. We returned to that exact location to find a large school of stripers holding there and proceeded to win the tournament. We had not fished this lake in a couple of years as we are living in Virginia but the LCX-113C HD combination on board his boat came through big for us.

Whether you are a novice angler or a seasoned professional today's modern fishfinder chartplotter combinations will enhance your fishing experience and provide you with years of care free service.

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Michael King is a retired USCG liscensed striped bass guide and professional striped bass angler. He is CEO of MLK International LLC. and owner of of an on line Marine Electronics Superstore. He resides in Virginia with his wife Leslie and children Lydia and James.