Fishing knowledge & fish finder guides

Garmin fish finders: technology and product families

Historical article · Update coming soon

Garmin Panoptix LiveScope with LVS32 — Historical Field Test

Historical article · Update coming soon

Lowrance Elite-7 Ti² — Historical Review

Historical article · Update coming soon

Lowrance fish finders: sonar technology and product families

Historical article · Update coming soon

Lowrance HDS-7 Carbon — Historical Review

Historical article · Update coming soon

Lowrance HDS Live — Historical Model Comparison

Historical article · Update coming soon

Raymarine Dragonfly 5 and 7 Pro — Historical Review

Historical article · Update coming soon

Raymarine fish finders: sonar, mapping and product families

Historical article · Update coming soon

Build Your Own Fish Finder Battery: Gerd's 12.8 V, 15 Ah Power Box

By Gerd Werthenbach · Original article reproduced verbatim

Which fish finder battery will keep your unit running reliably?

A clear fish finder image is useless if the power runs out after just a few hours. Many anglers choose a battery based only on its Ah rating or price. This leads to unnecessarily heavy gear, short real-world runtime, or, in the worst case, an unsuitable charger. This article distills the existing comprehensive battery test and its real-world runtime findings into a clear decision guide.

Which fish finder helps you find the right fishing spots faster?

A modern fish finder can do a lot: It shows depth, bottom, vegetation, drop-offs, baitfish and, with live sonar, even movement in real time. That is exactly why choosing one is harder today than it used to be. A unit can look impressive on paper yet ultimately be a poor fit for your boat, power supply or the amount of time you actually spend on the water.

What Is a Chartplotter—and How Does It Help You Find Better Fishing Spots?

Anyone who uses a fish finder knows the problem: You pass over an interesting drop-off and see baitfish, a hard bottom transition, or a striking line. On your next visit, the area is almost impossible to find again without a reference point. A chartplotter does not save the catch—it preserves the observation. Over time, that creates a personal picture of your fishing water.

Is the Garmin Striker Vivid a Good Entry-Level Fish Finder?

The Garmin Striker Vivid series includes devices from 4 to 9 inches. It is designed for anglers who want a better view of the bottom, drop-offs, vegetation, and notable areas without immediately building a large chartplotter or network system. This can be a particularly well-matched approach on small boats, kayaks, and belly boats.

Which Fish Finder Is Really Right for You?

Anyone who has seen a fishing buddy lose track of the bottom in Norway's Hardangerfjord with a brand-new fish finder because the unit was not suitable for that application immediately understands the problem. A good fish finder can still be the wrong unit for a particular application.

What Can the Deeper CHIRP+ 2 Really Do on the Water?

The original article was written when the CHIRP+ 2 launched and asked the right question: What does the new device actually offer anglers? We retain the detailed technical assessment but clearly separate it from a current purchase recommendation. Check current product lines, prices, app versions, and package contents directly with the manufacturer.

What Does a Deeper Fish Finder Really Do for You on the Water?

Deeper sonars are among the devices that have changed shore fishing. You can cast them, use them on a kayak or belly boat, and map structure without having to drive a large boat over the spot. The previous guide rightly focused on exactly this point: For the first time, shore anglers can quickly get a picture of what is happening below the surface.

How Does the Deeper Pro Plus Perform After a Year on the Water?

A good long-term test should not pretend that the newest model is automatically better than everything that came before it. For the first time, the Pro Plus showed many shore anglers how much faster they could understand a body of water by saving depth, structure, and position together. That is exactly why this article remains important.

How Well Does a Deeper Smart Sonar Work in Real-World Use?

The original field test did not answer a laboratory question, but the more important one: Does a portable fish finder help when actually fishing? Our answer remains yes—if you use the device to explore and do not expect it to draw a ready-made fishing spot on the screen for you.

Which Beam Cone Should You Use with Deeper?

This was already one of the most common questions in the previous Deeper article: When should I use the narrow cone, when should I use the wide cone, and when should I use the medium cone with CHIRP? The principle has not changed. The setting is not the goal; the goal is answering your question on the water.

How Do You Interpret Deeper Images and Use Them to Find Real Hotspots?

The original article demonstrated this exact principle in a video: The sonar image is not the hotspot itself. It is a tool that helps you answer your question on the water more effectively. Are the fish holding along the shallow drop-off today? Is the forage moving along the weedline? Is there a calmer, deeper area in front of the groyne? Asking questions like these will help you find relevant fishing spots faster than simply waiting for fish arches.

How Do You Find Better Fishing Spots with Deeper Lakebook?

The existing Lakebook article highlighted an important idea: A large screen and a map are useful not only during the session. They also let you prepare and review. For shore anglers, that is often the greatest benefit of a castable fish finder. You no longer start from scratch on every visit.

Why Doesn’t the Absence of a Fish Arch on a Deeper Mean “No Fish”?

This existing URL is intentionally being retained. It answers a different, very specific question than our comprehensive guide to Deeper images and hotspots: What does it mean when you don’t see a distinct fish arch?

Deeper CHIRP or PRO+: Which Technology Really Helps You on the Water?

The old question “Is CHIRP worth it compared to PRO Plus?” was valid because it looks beyond the technical terminology. A fish finder is not good just because its frequency sounds modern. It is good if its display lets you see more quickly whether a drop-off is really there, how steeply it descends, and whether the area suits your target species and the season.

Which Castable Fish Finder Is Really Right for Your Waters in 2026?

The old “Top 5” comparison made sense at the time, but it included devices that no longer provide reliable buying guidance today. The strong URL is therefore being retained, but the content has been completely reassessed: current castable fish finders, clear limitations of the technology, and above all the question of what information about your waters you are really missing while fishing.

Garmin Striker Cast Review: Does This Castable Fish Finder Really Help Find Fish?

From shore, you often lack the information boat anglers take for granted: How does the bottom slope? Where do the weeds end? Is there a drop-off or hole in front of the spot? A lead weight tells you the depth. A castable fish finder lets you explore structure, bottom composition, and possible fish signals more systematically.

How to Read Sonar Images Correctly: How Do You Interpret Fish, Bottom, and Structures?

In the following article, we want to show you how to correctly interpret and analyze your sonar images. Many boat anglers choose a fish finder to locate fish and hotspots faster. But disillusionment sets in shortly after the expensive purchase, because very few fish finder images are easy to interpret at first glance. Beginners often have no idea what to make of the images and travel kilometer after kilometer before their rods even touch the water.

Navionics for Anglers: Which Charts and Apps Do You Need Today?

From Chart View to Fishing Spot

Carp Fishing in Rivers: Where Do Carp Hold in Current?

A lake allows many carp to use large areas without constantly expending energy. In a river, that equation changes. Water moves, carries food, reshapes the bottom, and can make entire shoreline areas unusable during high water. A spot that was calm yesterday may be under pressure tomorrow. That is why water level is not a minor consideration, but part of the location itself.

Carp Fishing in Spring: Where Are Carp Holding and Which Bait Works?

After winter, many waters begin with very low temperatures. Carp often hold closer together and move very little. Various studies identify a water temperature of about 5 °C as a significant threshold: Once it is exceeded, activity can increase sharply. Winter groups gradually break up, and individual fish make short excursions—sometimes only a few meters, sometimes several hundred.

Carp Spawning Season: When Do Carp Spawn and Where Are They?

A shallow pond can develop very differently after a warm week than a deep gravel pit lake. A cold inflow, nighttime frost, fluctuating water levels, or a lack of submerged vegetation can slow development. At the same time, a sunny, wind-sheltered bay may already be much further along than open water. That is why the question “Do carp spawn in May?” is too broad. A better question is: Where has the water warmed consistently, what vegetation is accessible, and how are the fish behaving?

Do Large Hooks Really Catch Larger Carp?

In carp fishing, hook size is often used as a selection tool. Anglers who want to catch large fish use a large hook and expect smaller carp to be unable to take the bait. This logic overlooks how carp feed: They suck in food along with water. The weight, shape, and balance of the rig therefore affect how naturally the bait is taken.

How to Feed Carp Properly: Which Amino Acid Do They Prefer?

Amino acids are produced by the body or absorbed through food. They are involved in building proteins, metabolism, and other bodily functions. That is why they are found in carp food as well as in many feeds and attractant concentrates.

Float tube fishing: choosing and equipping a belly boat

Fishing kayaks: selection, fish finder installation and original battery-box project

Choosing a fishing rod: blanks, action, ratings and fittings

What Determines Who Catches the Biggest Perch?

The study is interesting because it does not view fishing as a single hero story. Instead, many fishing trips and catch reports were compared. This provides a more objective perspective on why some anglers catch perch more often while others land a big fish more frequently.

Perch Fishing: Where Are Perch and How Do You Find Their Hotspots?

Short answer: Perch are not simply wherever a promising drop-off appears on the lake map. They are where prey, structure, light, temperature, oxygen, and season align. So first search the most likely area, and only then decide on lure size, lure color, and presentation.

Which Perch Lure Matches the Prey, Depth, and Season?

Many perch anglers start with the tackle box: soft plastic, hard bait, crankbait, or creature bait—one of them is bound to work. This sequence feels proactive, but it postpones the most important decision: Why should a perch feed right here, right now?

Where Are Perch in Spring—Before and After Spawning?

“Spring” is not a uniform condition for perch. A small, shallow lake warms differently from a deep gravel pit. Wind, tributaries, shoreline color, shade, and water turbidity determine where the first temperature advantage develops. Day length and the location of the body of water also shift the timing; the studies described in the book document spawning events in different regions and time frames.

When Is the Best Time to Fish for Pike—and Where Are the Fish Then?

“They always bite in fall” and “You only catch pike in the morning” are convenient rules, but they do not make for good planning. They conflate at least two things: how active pike and baitfish may be—and whether you can reach them at your chosen spot at all. The right time of day does not automatically make an empty spot productive. By contrast, a promising spot can also work at midday if it offers prey, cover, and an attack lane.

Where Are Pike in Spring—and Which Hotspots Really Make Sense Now?

Spring is not a date on the calendar. A shallow gravel pit lake, a murky oxbow, a deep quarry lake, and a river warm up differently. Wind, water level, inflows, shoreline orientation, and water color can shift the process by days or weeks. That is why “they are in the shallows in mid-April” is not a useful rule.

Why doesn't every large lake have good pike spots—and where should you look first?

The old article asks the right opening question: Why do some large lakes look perfect but produce hardly any pike encounters? A large area can mean lots of deep water, open water, and long distances. If forage, cover, vegetation, and suitable transition zones are lacking or widely separated, the search becomes more difficult. A smaller body of water with a clear weed edge, forage fish, and accessible deep water can then be easier to read than a huge, uniform basin.

Which Pike Lure Matches the Prey, Cover, and Water Depth?

Pike are often ambush predators. They use cover, visibility, and the element of surprise instead of constantly chasing every baitfish. That is why lure selection does not begin with the tackle box lid, but with the question: Where can the pike see, reach, and surprise its prey right now?

Where Do Pike Hold in Rivers—and How Do You Read Current, Drop-offs, and Eddies?

In a lake, a pike may hold in the same opening in the weeds for an extended period. In a river, even a rising water level changes how water flows around a tree, the depth of a bay, and the routes taken by baitfish. Yet the same basic questions apply as in still water: Where is the prey? Where can the predator wait unseen? Where is its refuge? In a river, there is a fourth question: How exactly does the current affect this spot?

Where Do Pike Hold—and How Do You Find Their Most Likely Hotspots?

Pike are not constantly hunting. Their strength lies in a short, explosive attack from cover. The pike book therefore describes most fish as ambush predators: They remain still for long periods and use vegetation, wood, shade, or a drop-off until prey comes within range. A smaller proportion of the fish are more mobile and actively search for food. For you, that means a random cast across a large area of water may find an active fish—but often not a stationary pike.

How Do You Read Unfamiliar Water Before Your First Cast?

Unfamiliar water seems vast at first, even if it is only a small gravel pit lake or a short stretch of river. Every cast could go anywhere. This is exactly when many anglers start focusing on the lure: changing color or size, or retrieving faster or slower. But that still does not answer the most important question: Which area is even plausible for my target species today?

When Does a Drop-Off Really Become Worth Fishing?

On a map, you can usually identify a depth break by closely spaced contour lines. In practice, it is wider than a line: the top edge, the slope, and the base of the drop-off. There are often other transitions as well: from hard to soft bottom, weeds to open water, murky to clear water, current to slack water, or light to shade.

How Do You Find Fish in a River Instead of Just Casting to the Next Groyne?

A drop-off in a lake can combine prey, cover, and depth. In a river, there is another question: How much energy does a fish need to hold there? The main current brings food and oxygen, but it is not a practical place for every fish to remain during every phase. Alongside it are seams, back currents, deep channels, calm pockets, and transition zones that make up the real search area.

How Do You Find Fish in a Gravel Pit Lake When Everything Looks the Same?

A gravel pit lake does not form over centuries like a natural lake. Excavation, backfilling, access roads, former work areas, and steep slopes shape its bottom. On a map, this often looks clear and enticing: just a few meters from shore, the bottom drops quickly into a deep basin. That is exactly why the same contour is fished constantly on many waters.

How do you read depth contours to turn a map into a sensible first fishing spot?

A map does not reveal all of a waterbody's secrets. But it eliminates the initial guesswork. On a large gravel pit lake, reservoir, or wide river, there are often many hectares of water between two accessible shoreline spots. Depth contours give you an overview: Where does the bottom drop off? Where does a channel run? Where does a plateau end? Where is there a shallow ridge between deeper areas?

Where Do Fish Hold Around Weeds and Aquatic Plants?

An underwater weed bed is not one uniform green carpet. Small crustaceans, larvae, snails, and other food live among the stems, on dead plant matter, and along the bottom. Juvenile fish can find shelter there. That is exactly why choosing a location starts not with the lure, but with these questions: What draws prey here, and how can my target fish reach it?

How Do Wind, Light, and Water Color Change Your Fishing Spot?

The map shows you the shape of the body of water. But on the day you fish, changing conditions determine which of these features will most likely hold fish. Wind can push water toward one side, create waves, and redistribute food. Sun or clouds change light levels above and below the water. Turbidity can result from rain, wind, algae, inflows, or disturbed bottom sediment. None of this changes fish location according to one simple rule—it changes the questions you use to assess the spot.

How Do the Seasons Change Fish Locations in a Body of Water?

“Shallow in April,” “deep in summer,” or “everything in open water in fall” sounds convenient. But it quickly becomes inaccurate when you compare a clear gravel pit lake with a shallow, murky oxbow or a dam-regulated river. Even on the same body of water, a sheltered bay can react differently from the open center. Fish locations therefore result not from the calendar, but from a chain of changes.

How Do You Find Fish in a Lake Instead of Just Fishing the Best-Looking Drop-Off?

A lake often looks simple from above: water, shoreline, maybe a few reed beds. But underwater, a dredged drop-off, old river channel, flat, submerged hump, weed bed, mussel bed, and soft bottom can lie directly next to one another. This shape determines where food can develop, where prey finds cover, and which routes predators can use between hunting and retreating.

Where Do Fish Find Structure and Cover in a Canal?

Many canals have reinforced banks, a more predictable width, and few visible bays. That does not mean they lack structure. Their structure is often simply subtler and closer to the bank: quay walls, sheet piling, riprap, bridges, docks, harbors, locks, pipes, moorings, slopes, or stands of old trees. Underwater, there may also be small drop-offs, scoured areas, and hard transitions.

What Does a Hard or Soft Bottom Reveal About Potential Fishing Spots?

From shore, the bottom often looks uniform. Underwater, very different areas can lie within just a few meters of one another: a firm gravel strip next to softer sediment, a mussel bed at the edge of a plateau, a hard ledge in front of the weeds, or a muddy area in a quiet bay. Bottom composition is therefore more than just a technical term. It offers clues about what might grow, live, or accumulate there.

How Do You Find the Thermocline in a Lake—and What Does It Mean for the Fish?

In summer, a deeper lake can be divided into three zones: the epilimnion at the top, the warm layer that is more affected by wind; the metalimnion in the middle, the thermocline; and the hypolimnion below, the colder deep water. The temperature changes especially sharply in the metalimnion. How distinct the boundary is and how deep it lies depend on the weather, wind, lake depth, water color, and time of year.

How Do You Find Zander in Winter and Control Your Lure?

The old article provides the foundation: In cold water, the lure should be worked slowly and close to the bottom; patience is part of the process. Instead of covering large stretches without a plan, narrow down plausible areas. This does not mean that every zander is holding on one specific spot. It means that a good winter spot needs a clear function: depth or calm water, prey, and a transition the fish can use.

The groyne is occupied: Where can you find zander at other current seams?

A groyne is not a magical zander parking spot. It changes the current. Water accelerates, breaks, and turns around it; calmer areas and transitions form alongside it. This is exactly where prey can briefly be swept out of line or gather. For a good hunting spot, a zander needs not only food but also a position it can hold without expending too much energy.

Where Are Zander Throughout the Year—and What Changes First?

A productive zander hotspot in May can produce many blank days in October. That is not a contradiction, but the result of a dynamic body of water: vegetation grows or dies back, forage fish change depth, the water mixes, and light and oxygen levels change. Anyone who blindly fishes the same drop-off all year is often testing habit—not the current habitat.

Why Do Wary Zander Follow a Soft Plastic Lure—and What Should You Change First?

It's easy to say, “The zander was wary.” On the water, that statement is useful only if it leads to a testable question: What reason would a zander have to notice and take my lure in this spot? A fish may be full, outside your casting line, pursuing different prey, or seeing the lure for only a moment. Simply switching to a new soft plastic does not automatically solve any of these possibilities.

What Air Pressure Is Good for Zander Fishing—and What Does the Trend Really Tell You?

The existing article begins with an experience many anglers know: When the weather remains consistent for an extended period, the day often feels more predictable. When conditions change quickly, bites become harder to come by or a familiar spot suddenly seems empty. This experience is valuable—but it becomes useless when turned into a magic number.

Where Do Zander Hold in Lakes and Rivers—and How Do You Find Their Hotspots?

What good is the best soft-plastic bait if the zander are holding in the wrong place? That is why the zander book begins not with lure color, but with habitat. Zander can use very different conditions in lakes and rivers. They may occur alone or in groups, change locations, or remain near a structure for an extended period.

How Far From Shore Are Zander in Rivers—and Where Are Their Hotspots?

In a river, the water is moving. This determines where prey can hold and how much energy a zander must expend to maintain its position. The main current carries food, but it is not a suitable resting place everywhere. Transitions become interesting: the edge of a slower current lane, the tailout of an eddy, the edge of a deep channel, an underwater point, or a hard bottom transition.

Where Are Zander in Spring—and How Do You Find the Right Starting Point Outside the Spawning Season?

Spring is not a single, uniform state. In early March, a lake may still feel like a winter fishery, while a shallow, wind-sheltered area warms up significantly faster on the same day. By April or May, water level, forage, and spawning activity may already look completely different again. The central point of the previous article therefore remains valid: zander fishing in spring cannot be treated as one-size-fits-all.

When Is a Dead Baitfish Right for Zander—and When Should You Use a Bottom Rig or Float Rig?

The existing article describes fishing with dead baitfish as closely matching the zander's natural hunting behavior. That advantage remains: A real fish provides shape, scent, and a subtle presence without requiring you to constantly impart action with the rod. This is particularly useful when you want to thoroughly fish a drop-off, quiet pocket, or clearly defined area for an extended period.

Which Retrieve Suits the Depth and Prey When Fishing for Zander?

When fishing for zander, anglers often talk about reel-handle turns. But the number alone says little: reel size, line retrieve, jighead weight, depth, and current alter the lure's path. What matters is how long the soft plastic remains in the presumed strike zone.