Fishfinder Tips For Halibut

[Mr. NiceGuy]

My eyes are often obsessively glued to my Lowrance Elite-5 Chirp, trying to understand the ways of the world.

OK, I admit it, I'm an illiterate FF nincompoop. After diligently charging and staring at this sucker for 3 years, I still feel functionally illiterate for using fish finders in effective ways.

- I watch depths and follow contours
- I feel my way along the edge of shelves and drop-offs
- I watch for underwater kelp clumps and boundaries of thicker kelp beds
- I watch water temperatures and travel speed for general planning
- It helps with dead reckoning. There's a lot of water out there.

To this extent, my FF has been useful.

When I see lots of sonic image hits, I'm still trying to distinguish between bait balls, swarms of red crabs, salad debris, equipment failure, etc. It kind of gives me a headache when I would rather be focused on fishing.

What appears to be significant fish marks haven't really helped me much either. When I see marks, that doesn't mean I catch anything more or less, relative to the marks. When I hookup, I can't say I ever saw relevant marks in the first place.

Can't say my FF helps filling my bait tank either, compared to simply dragging a sabiki and light iron behind me as I head out for my favorite target fishing areas.

After 3 years, trying to interpret the scrolling image data that passes across my FF is still elusive to me.

I haven't yet figured out how to turn on my charting function. I know I have some memory cards on my desk somewhere, but for now my fish finder memory slot is still empty. I suppose this is important for laying out my fishing routes and destinations based on home study of target zones and depth contours before I go out, but I'm not sure if this FF is better than the iPhone apps I use for the same ideas (Navionics Boating, Tide Chart, FishAlerts).

In addition to my iPhone apps, I also like the local fishing charts published by Baja Directions, Inc. www.bajadirections.com
Another good fishing chart that is usually in my vest pocket is published by Fish-n-Map Company www.fishnmap.com

I think my FF might be useful to quickly mark a GPS location when I hook up, both so I can drift back through it, and over time to accumulate information for my favorite places logbook. I've heard of people who have been able to retrieve valuable equipment that accidentally drops to the bottom by a location mark.

So, my dear friends and kindred spirits, please help me find my way out of my FF Fog and ignorance.

What are your favorite effective ways you use your FF that actually helps you catch fish? I know there are many good answers here. I want effective fishing hacks for using a fish finder for fishing productivity.

Please help!