Fishing Without Electronics

[RyanLuft]

Can anyone give me advice on fishing from a small aluminum boat with not electronics?  Sounds lame - and it is - but it is all I have access to.  To boot, it is equiped with a 6hp Johnson and is sans trolling motor - so stealth is out of the question...what a hand to be dealt.

[chrisvmo]

Get out and fish as much as you can now you shouldnt have to rely on electronics as much now.

[Adam P.]

Your best bet would be to get out and fish like chrisvmo said. My granpa taught me how he used to fish before electronics. He would drift and fish and when he got into some fish he would anchor and mark his anchor rope with a small loop knot. That way when he would come back to his spots weither it was a point or hump ect. he would know he was in the right depth by the knot in his anchor rope. Also using bottom pounding baits like tubes, carolina rigs, and other jigs will help you feel out what structor you are fishing. Also try and get a topo map of the lakes you fish. It may not be 100% accuret but it will be better then fishing blind.

[t-bone]

Another piece of equipment you should have is a throwable marker buoy. Once you find fish, you can throw this out in the water and then you can keep in position or return to the spot later after you let it rest. This acts as your temporary waypoint on your virtual GPS.

The other thing it can do is give you an idea of the depth your fishing. It has a pretty heavy weight on it, you can bring it up and estimate the amount of line out.

[dartag]

get a good pair of Polorized glasses.  watch for color changes on flats and follow drop offs on clear lakes. 

[RyanLuft]

Maybe I should just give in and buy something portable.  I have been looking at units in the $100 range...Problem is - I am not really sure how to analyze what I am looking at.  I guess that is why I don't have one yet.

[REEL_MAN]

 How did we fish without all the fancy electronics  I still have my Grandfathers Green Lowrance  that revolutionized the fishing industry. I think we are spoiled, but it still doesn't make the fish bite .  Humminbird makes a good unit thats around the $110 mark that should fit your needs. Not fancy and is very easy to use.

REEL MAN
<)))>{

[SethV]

If you can scrape up a bit to spend, I would buy a small 12v trolling motor before I would buy sonar (of course both is ideal!).  Boat control is huge, and having gas only sort of puts you at the mercy of the wind, or you have to run the gas motor all the time - and that still makes boat control tough.  You can probably look around and find a nice used trolling motor for $100 or so.

Seth

[TCook]

Ryan, you got the right idea but it might be a pain in the arse to bass fish out of a small aluminum boat and might not be the most productive and fastest way to improve. Maybe some fellas on this site would be willing to take you fishing and show you the ropes?? Much better and faster way to learn fishing with experienced anglers on bigger lakes in my opinion than messing around in small lakes in a small boat if thats your goal. I would recammend attempting to hook up with some of these guys and spending any extra money on rods, reels, tackle, and gas $$ for the boater instead. Remember I was in your shoes a few years ago and now although I am still a back seater I still get out as much as most guys with a boat and all the guys I fish with came from this site except one. I would say I learned alot in a couple years thanks to my buddies from GLB.

[skeeterman190]

 I am as the say a slow learner.. umm this is kinda weird but i never had a gps til last year.. i had 1 built in my head and went with that..i still find myself always lining things up before i even look @ the GPS? but now that i have it huh! dont know how i did without. i found it very useful. but back to your point. a graph can help if you fish structure off shore. but i learned how to fish without 1 that prolly explains why i was a bank beater. but you will always catch them! if i was you id spend more time and money on lures and rods. theres always fish shallow on our nice weedy lakes. i got your message on Facebook. i will get back 2 u ive been a busy person and havent got a chance to check it out.

[smbassman]

I grew up fishing out of a row boat with no trolling motor or graph.  I caught a ton of bass from that boat.  In Michigan's natural lakes, the weeds are just as easy to see with your eyes as with a graph.  In summer when you want to fish the outside weeds, row out until the weeds start to dissappear and fish.  When it was not too windy, I would leave the oars out and stand in the middle of the boat.  Every couple of casts, I would quietly row a little bit then slow the boat and fish and work the weedlines.  On windy days, I had a locking anchor pully and a cleat to tie off on.  Just drop anchor and fan cast the weedline, then lift up a few feet and row or let the wind carry you to the next spot to drop anchor.