May 14th on the bream

[GPSguru]

1 hour ago, Andy135 said:

Sea floor composition is indicated by letters on charts, like the ones I circled above.

Are you referrring to bottom hardness colours on sonar images? If so, then the colours will be different between makes of sounder and also dependent upon whatever colour palette the user has chosen. Generally the brighter/closer to white a bottom return is, the harder it is e.g. rock, boulders, and the darker the colour the softer it will be (mud, fine sand etc). Bottom hardness won't tell you specifically what the bottom composition is but you can use it to make an educated guess when combined with a little local knowledge.

Here's an example from Doctor Sonar. Yellow = harder bottom, dark orange/magenta = softer.

The sounder tells you quite a lot about the sea bed, but using a rod with just a lead tells you a whole lot more.

I tend to use a cannonball lead, but it really should be something like an Aquapedo to get the full effect, however to do this, you must use BRAID as the mainline.

Just drop the lead down, drift, and let the rod do the talking, if it is hard rock you feel the grating and sometimes snagging as the lead drags across the rocks, if it is gravel you just feel a steady vibration, if it is sand you feel very little and this is the time to wind up 20 turns and let the lead drop, if when it hits the bottom it sticks, then it is mud, if it doesn't stick, then it is sand.

 

[Andy135]

12 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

The sounder tells you quite a lot about the sea bed, but using a rod with just a lead tells you a whole lot more.

I tend to use a cannonball lead, but it really should be something like an Aquapedo to get the full effect, however to do this, you must use BRAID as the mainline.

Just drop the lead down, drift, and let the rod do the talking, if it is hard rock you feel the grating and sometimes snagging as the lead drags across the rocks, if it is gravel you just feel a steady vibration, if it is sand you feel very little and this is the time to wind up 20 turns and let the lead drop, if when it hits the bottom it sticks, then it is mud, if it doesn't stick, then it is sand.

 

When I used to do a lot of luring for bass I could tell the same sort of thing by using a Fiiish Black Minnow on light braid. The difference between rock, gravel and sand/mud is quite noticeable thanks to the light braid, and to a lesser degree, a light rod.

[GPSguru]

 

@Andy135 ............ Hmmm, first time I have uploaded to you tube. This is a vid that recently came to me, and it was taken from Alans boat when we went to the Skerries last year. We are both cruising at about 32kts.

It was a strange format from a Phone (Samsung I guess ?) and I had to reformat the vid via Corel VideoStudio.

Does this work OK for you ?

 

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by GPSguru

[Andy135]

That works just fine. Looks like a lovely day on the water 👍

[suzook12]

works fine for me too