| I have been fishing for as long as I can remember. | | | | as an arch but a strait line on the LCD face. |
| As a boy growing up near the New River in Virginia I | | | | Today's modern fishfinders are a wonder of |
| have spent many hours fishing for Redeyes, Small | | | | technological achievement. They will show you with |
| Mouth Bass, Catfish, Carp and just about anything | | | | great detail any structure under your boat , baitfish |
| else that swims. I remember the first stockings of | | | | balls and any large predators lurking nearby. Couple |
| Striped Bass in Claytor and Smith Mountain lakes in | | | | these wonders with a chartplotter and you have the |
| Virginia. My father use to take my brother and I | | | | ultimate fishfinder. They are simple to operate and |
| striper fishing at night on Smith Mountain Lake shortly | | | | are very useful in navigating new or unknown waters. |
| after stripers were stocked there in the '60s and we | | | | Todays modern fishfinder chartplotter combos may |
| would catch 75 to 100 a night on Cordell Spot plugs. | | | | be loaded with electronic charts of any body of |
| This was very exciting for boys 9 to 12 years old | | | | water in the world. This provides for easy safe |
| even though we could not keep any of these fish as | | | | navigation. |
| they were all under the 20 inch size limit. | | | | Another feature of the combination is that it allows |
| In those days the only fishfinders available were | | | | you to place an icon on the chart itself to mark a |
| Lowrance flashers. These were simple sounders that | | | | spot that is unique or where you see a school of fish. |
| had a red diaode on a revolving wheel that would | | | | This allows you to return to that spot with ease , |
| light up at the surface , the bottom and on anything | | | | even years later as it is stored in the memory of the |
| between the surface and the bottom. There were | | | | chartplotter. This feature allowed my partner and I to |
| numbers around the face of the sounder that | | | | win a striper tournament during an NSBA event held |
| indicated the depth of any flashes between the | | | | on Lake Hartwell on the South Carolina-Georgia |
| surface and bottom and to specify the depth of the | | | | border recently. He had marked an area on his |
| water we were in. With practice over time we could | | | | electronic chart a few years earlier that held fish. We |
| distinguish between trees , baitfish and larger fish by | | | | returned to that exact location to find a large school |
| the strength or brightness of the flashes on the | | | | of stripers holding there and proceeded to win the |
| screen. Over the years we caught a bunch of | | | | tournament. We had not fished this lake in a couple |
| stripers using these flashers. | | | | of years as we are living in Virginia but the Lowrance |
| Finally in the 1980's LCD fishfinders came on the | | | | LCX-113C HD combination on board his boat came |
| scene. These sounders incorporated an LCD screen | | | | through big for us. |
| which allowed more accuracy in judging which returns | | | | Whether you are a novice angler or a seasoned |
| we received were bait , structure or larger fish. They | | | | professional today's modern fishfinder chartplotter |
| were simple to use but still did not have the high | | | | combinations will enhance your fishing experience and |
| definition of modern graphs as they did not show fish | | | | provide you with years of care free service. |