Sounders and hunting the fish

[SgtBundy]

Now that I have a kayak and sounder I have moved from struggling to attract fish from one spot (land based) to struggling to find fish all over. The sounder has been great for finding bait schools say around the fridge, and occasionally seeing what I think are larger fish under me as I move about, but I am yet to really mark fish and put something onto them.

I am just wondering what are some techniques I can use to make better use of my sounder? If say I am moving around and mark an arch under me, should I be immediately trying to drop a plastic on its head and jig up some activity, or should I be looking for the bait schools and working around them? If I do mark a bait school should I be trying to stay on top of them or just work the area?

The other question is if I am not marking any fish, should I be moving on until I find something? For example on the weekend I was looking to try jigging some soft plastics hoping for jewfish around spit bridge. If I am not seeing anything is it worth creating the activity anyway and just prospect around, or seeing as I have this tech should I be hunting around for the bait or marks to seek out the fish? Obviously I should be looking for structure or water flows that support the fish, but is it a matter of testing the waters and validating the spot with the sounder, or using the sounder to find the spots?

Maybe some basic questions but I guess I feel like I am sort of bumbling around with a downward looking window and am not sure what to do with it

[Alastair]

+1

[sharknett]

Depends what you are targeting at the time.

If you are after demersals like snapper, then you are looking for structure. Reef edges, gravel patchesetc and then figuring out how the current is likely to affect fish movement.

If you are after pelagics like kings then you want to find bait schools and hang around. If you find a bait school that is tightly packed, has a more vertical shape or has larger arches around it, then it is more likely to have larger fish harassing it. You don't need to stay right on top of the bait school as the predators will often be picking off the individuals that get separated or move differently to the rest.

Jew I have no practical experience but my understanding is they will hang out of the flow behind a reef or in a deeper hole when the current is running then move out to actively feed when it slows.

[SgtBundy]

Thanks Sharknett