 Knowing
how to make the most out of your electronics is crucial
to catching more bait, more fish, and winning more tournaments.
One
of Texas’ most well-known captains, Bill Platt,
works on these machines everyday and tells us how best
to use our eye in the water. Platt says the most important
machine on anyone’s boat is the bottom machine
or sounder. “Most people believe that the chart
plotter is the most important piece of electronics on
the boat. But that machine only gets you to the spot.
The depth finder helps you catch fish once you are there.”
According
to Platt, if you were to hop onto most boats you would
see that their bottom machine is set onto automatic
mode. That means their gain or clutter has not been
adjusted for the custom application that all fishing
trips require. For example, Platt highlights how when
fishing in deeper water a captain should ramp up the
gain, as opposed to when one is fishing in shallower
depths. Platt warns that not adjusting the gain is the
most common mistake that most skippers make. ”People
get in there boat and turn on their machine and think
it sets it up it self. They are simply not using the
electronics to their full potential.” Putting
the depth sounder in manual mode, like Platt, and constantly
adjusting the gain is what can help a captain identify
what’s really under a boat. Finally, another under
utilized feature on all bottom machines is the bottom
zoom feature. Since much of the bait that king mackerel
anglers target is located near the bottom, this feature
is critical when every detail and pixel counts.
Once
you have your sounder set up properly, in regards to
your gain, a new world is opened up to you. Identifying
blue runners, as opposed to smaller baits, is now possible.
“When it comes to identifying blue runners as
opposed to smaller bait, like pilchards, you will notice
that the blue runners aren’t as condensed and
are darker objects. On most machines, smaller bait will
be far lighter in color and will be much closer together
than others. An example of this was in Sarasota, where
we could tell the difference between threadfins and
blue runners. If you can properly calibrate your machine
it can be a huge advantage for you.” Platt even
says that picking out kingfish on a depth finder is
very feasible. Platt also recalls how when fishing oil
rigs in the Northern Gulf that spotting kingfish is
very possible. “If we see a lone, dark object
in the middle of the water column we will drop the downrigger
down and have gotten some good fish that way. But this
can only be done when the gain and clutter are adjusted
properly.”
Finding
the right bottom machine is incredibly important. Platt
suggests finding the right transducer for your type
of fishing first. “If you are spending most of
your time on the trail looking for kings make sure that
your transducer is 1000 Watts. If you do a lot of bottom
fishing, you might even look to a more powerful transducer.
You simply aren’t seeing the same stuff on a 600
Watt machine that you will with the more powerful transducer.
Getting a good transducer is very important! Also, many
of the newer models such as the (Raymarine) E-Series
or (Furuno) Navnet are built for this 1000 Watt tranducer.
I can’t say enough how important a good transducer
is to fishing success.” Platt suggests that teams
do a little research before buying a piece of equipment.
The nicer equipment will give you far better definition,
according to Platt. If you find the right machine, like
a Furuno FCV1100, you will actually be able to see the
thermo cline. Placing a bait on that thermo cline can
pay off big on the kingfish trail.
Whether
you are looking for tips for fishing the kingfish trail
or bottom fishing on a weekend these tips will help
you dramatically. Platt’s final words of wisdom
are to spend time learning the machine. “Like
everything, the more you use it, and the more you educate
yourself, the easier it will get.”
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