If powerfishing shorelines with search baits is what's working on a particular day then yeah, a fish finder won't help you much in that situation. But there are plenty of situations where a fish finder (more importantly - knowing how to interpret and respond to what your fish finder is showing you) will be the difference maker.

There are days when I don't even bring my fish finder, because I know I'm just going to be throwing frogs in lily pads or powerfishing the shallows. There are days when I bring it just to see what the water temp is. And there are days when I'm confident I would have caught nothing at all if not for the fish finder. At the end of the day it's just another tool and knowing how and when to use it (chasing individual fish marks is often a waste of time) is what really matters.

I recently got the Striker 4 and have found it very useful. Definitely has helped me catch more fish by not wasting time in places there are no fish.

Yes, they are a great tool, but use them -in addition to- not in place of the good techniques you already have. They are merely another point of information.

Some of the more valuable things they tell you is depth and surface temprature, and depending on the quality of the unit, they give you a great understanding of the makeup of the bottom (side sonar with a large screen is great for this). All this information is really useful in understanding whether to fish a particular spot, and how to fish it.

Regarding the 'fish finder' aspect of fish finders, I don't have much luck targeting individual fish, but it helps me see if the water I am in has a lot of activity. If an area has activity, I will note the depth, temp, and the makeup of the bottom, and then fish the whole area using good technique and a few appropriate baits. If I have luck, then I might stick with that depth, bottom type and whatever bait is doing best.

Sonar does not see fish in the weeds very well, and so the fish finding part of the device works best for me in open water. Also, if you are on top of the fish so that your sonar can see it, you may have already spooked it. Some people drift and drop shot over individual fish, but I can't imagine doing that in my fairy clear lakes unless the water is more than 15ft deep and there is some chop to hide me.

Useful for determining depth in lakes you haven't fished or after rain and runoff.

If you actually learn how to use it, yes. If not, its an expensive thermometer.

If nothing else, I’d be watching the water depth to find benches, shallow areas, ledges, structure, etc.

Those marks are suspended fish.  Could be schools of bait, could be large individual fish.  At the very least, it's telling you what depth, and thus water temp, is most comfortable for whatever fish those are.

The light marks below look like weeds.

Sonar can help you discern between hard and soft bottom.  Learn how to adjust gain and read bottom density.

This spot looks banging, you should be catching.  What fish are in your lake?

Side and down scan? That's definitely gonna help you catch fish. Suspended fish are tricky. Do what the poaching scopers do. Hover stroll, vision 110, 110+1, etc.

Your fish are about 10ft down, so either lower your line to that depth or set a slip bobber for 10ft.

Having a fish finder that you know how to use, 100% will make you a better fisherman. It really is the best tool to set you apart from people who just assume fish are distributed evenly across all the water.  The more time you spend using the finder and understanding the different views and settings the better you will be with it. For example, if your side scan isn’t in auto I would put it in auto. You would get a much better reading if your L/R was set to 40’ rather than 80 IMO. It is also important to understand the limitations of your low and high res sounding capabilities. You will use both to make a better guess at what is going on as in your picture some with only low res might assume that was suspended fish above bait but looking at the high res you can see those are plants with suspended fish above them.

I mostly use mine for figuring out what the depth is and what the bottom looks like in areas where I'm not already familiar with the topography. My setup is a pretty basic Striker+4. I have used it for vertical jigging in deeper water, but that's probably only 10% or less of my use case. Some of the newer units have side scan, which shows a much wider image of the bottom than the traditional cone you referred to.

I use the fishfinder to learn about how the fishing spots look, structures or weeds, depth, soft / Hard bottom etc. to know what spots might hold fish.. I"m not looking for the fish itself, just trying to "look" at the bottom when I cannot see it with my eyes..

I usually fish at one small lake so after using the fishfinder a couple of times I no longer need it there, but it's great when I'm at new spots and don't know if it's 2 or 20 m depth under the boat.

For trolling I use 2d/chirp to mark bait and see where the thermocline is, which will influence where I decide to fish.

For bass fishing, I’m using side scan to find transitions from rock to sand, rocks/boulders, either singles or fields of them, and can also pick up fish sometimes.

Also, just general depth, water temp and obviously mapping. I fish the Great Lakes primarily, and you’d honestly be lost without a view of the subsurface.

It provides information that you otherwise would never get. Depth, structures on the bottom, water temp, schools of baitfish, weed edges etc. It’s not just for finding fish, it’s for finding spots the fish might be at.

You might see fish suspended and you now know there’s a high possibility the fish, today, are suspended. So you fish with lures that cover the depth they’re on. Other times, you might see a big amount of baitfish in a particular size. You now know what size fish they’re probably eating. You size your lure accordingly. You might see fish hiding close to structure in several places. This pattern tells you that you might need to fish closer to structure this day.

There are always patterns to pick up that you can use to catch more fish. Slowly but surely, you get wiser and use that info and your experience to catch more fish. ”Last year in this spot, they ate 2” fish. Let’s rig a rod up with a smaller sized lure.” Things like that make you maximize your chances.

If you’re not out there to become better and to maximize every aspect of fishing, then maybe they’re not for you? I collect so much information from my electronics that I otherwise would never do. It helps me read the water much better. Being able to read the water is the difference between a good fisherman and a great fisherman. You can adapt more easily, to catch more fish, from being able to read the water that efficiently.

I never really use electronics to sightfish, rather, to learn how to best adapt to the conditions I’m presented with.

Imo sidescan is the single most useful tool we've ever come up out with, even moreso than FFS.

I too am a kayak fisherman and utilize a big 9" screen on my rig.

My main use is simply for depth and temperature, but downscan/2D sonar can be really handy for pinpointing the depths that fish are at. I also use it when I'm drifting a dropper rig for catfish as I can see my weight on sonar and tell the depth I'm at.

Sidescan allows me to actually see the structure on bottom and whether its mud, sand, rock, timber, etc. In open water for trolling, sidescan + downscan can help me pinpoint schools of fish. Sidescan does make you have to go over something to scan so obviously there is the risk of spooking fish, but you can always come back later because now you know what the structure actually is. Plus sidescan on deeper water is can be pretty reliable out pretty far.

A few things,

First, 10 miles is a long way in a 17 offshore. I have a 17 Whaler with a new engine, but don’t go that far offshore. 3 mikes tops for me and only on a clear day. I’ve been puckered too many times.

Second, you didn’t say if you had a chart plotter so I’m assuming you don’t. Finding anything without a chart plotter is a challenge. Sure, you may get lucky and see birds chasing baitfish that are being pursued by a school of Spanish Mackerel, but unlikely. You can surface troll for kings, if they’re around, but also unlikely. Trolling for grouper will require a depth finder.

Your best bet with your lack of electronics is to anchor next to a channel (stay out of the channel) and chum and bottom fish. Use a heavy bait or spinning reel and you might get lucky.

You should have a gps bottom navigator if you are ocean going. It's for safety and it gives your precise location in case things go sideways. You can have a radar on it which will show you larger schools of fish. Don't go on open water unless you have the proper equipment.

I’d use a contour map like on navionics which also has gps that’s probably your best bet. While you won’t see the fish you can fish areas where fish might be and hopefully drift over structure

Navionics app on your phone, you can download the charts onto your phone so you don’t even need cell service when you’re using it.

Birds. Usually above fish schools. Especially flocks of them at sea.

I don't know. Never used it nor have I needed too. Fish can be easily caught from shore without it.

Funny enough I just was using this on my kayak on my trip to FL, this tiny thing works pretty good, it has a floaty on it so you can just throw it and float it on the water but it has a mount in case you wanna drill into your boat and mount it. I just used my scupper hole and ran the wire thru my kayak and it worked perfectly. I suggest just keeping extra batteries and mounting it in the middle or the front of you boat. Tight lines!

First you’re gonna need a valid id

Boat fishing is like shore fishing except you can zoom away when the fish ain’t biting. Many of your questions vary per region. Best bet is get out there and learn yourself.

And the thing people often overlook are expendable anchors. You can buy a fancy boat anchor but sometimes they get stuck and you gotta cut em loose. So we used cheap alternatives for anchors. Something heavy, cheap, and if necessary expendable. Heavy scrap metal, dumbbells(which were much cheaper decades ago so this may not be so viable today), but we never used “boat anchors”. Just tied some heavy metal to a rope and used that instead.

There are YouTube tutorials on how to utilize your fishfinder. In my opinion and experience, “fishfinder” is a misnomer, I find it more useful as an “underwater terrain scope” assistant helping to find dropoffs, staying in productive depth, avoiding underwater shallows/surprises. It takes a while to understand all it can do, and I’m still learning. Best if you can go with someone who is really proficient, or hit up your local fishing store/club. Sometimes BassPro has classes.

I have grown fonder of soft sided tackle boxes ones with trays that have slide in compartments with lids, they are convenient for separating lures for different techniques.Bobber fishing stuff in one,crank baits another, bass another, Check the oil in the lower unit, is it two stroke or four if two, you need two stroke oil to mix with the gas unless it's oil injection. Fish finders are nice to find weed lines dropoffs surface temps. YouTube is your friend

What depth are you trolling at? Seen this before and it wasn’t game fish. But could be many species mixed in too. I’d try a flutter spoon at 15 to 18 ft and some crank baits 5xd 6xd’s and run over them for those fish higher in the column. Something bigger is deep too, I remember seeing a bunch of gar like this or some kind of shad,

Those are definitely fish. Just because you can see them doesn't mean they will bite or are actively feeding. What kind of fish are you after? I see some bait, so you know what kind of bait it is?

How many different lures did you try on the down riggers? Did you change colors of swimbaits on the A rigs or change style of A rig (ie blades/no blades)?

If those aren’t fish, then I don’t know what are. Any number of reasons they aren’t biting…including the wrong species, trolling too fast/slow, too high/low, too loud/quiet, etc.

If they’re hybrids, strippers, or white bass… just because the fish are there doesn’t always mean that they’re feeding. I’ve never trolled for them but I’ve ice fished for white bass in a wintering hole. There were whole days when those fish were just hanging out there not biting. The bite can be really feast or famine for em in cold water.

Those are fish. Maybe try to downsize to a single swim bait or u-tail grub on a heavy jig head.

What you are looking at in those images is traditional sonar LHS and Downvu RHS. Traditional is a cone shaped beam. Downvu is a thin "slice" - usually higher frequency (and resolution/crispness) depending on your settings. Also less penetration in deeper water and narrower coverage. They each tell you different things, kind of.

Photo 2 is a bait school sitting on the bottom

Image 3 is fish moving around under the boat, why they appear longer in 2D.

See all those arches - they're the fish you can't catch :-)

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