Ask the Experts: Hoernke on Electronics
Like all pros, Sean Hoernke of Texas has specific settings he prefers for his electronics. (PAA: Alan Clemons)
Editor’s note: This is the first of a series that will appear periodically to answer questions from fishing fans. If you have a question to submit, send it to fishpaa@gmail.com and we’ll take a look. All questions will be considered but not all may be used. Also visit us at Facebook.com/fishpaa to leave questions for us, and also follow us at http://twitter.com/#!/ProAnglersAssoc
“Can you give me a brief explanation on how to set up electronics for the most real-time view of what’s going on below me, and how to interpret fish from brushpiles, rocks and other structure and cover?” Submitted via Facebook by Nick Jack of Kingwood, N.J.
Pro angler Sean Hoernke of Texas replies:
“Believe it or not, nowadays the electronics come with pretty good default settings right out of the box. But there are a few things I prefer to do when setting up my electronics.
“The first is setting my Ping speed, which is the speed the chart flows in realtime on your screen. I like to set mine almost to the maximum setting, which creates a pretty quick movement on the screen. This helps get more of a realtime feeling on your screen of what is going on underneath your boat at the present time rather than a slower ping speed where there is a longer delay in realtime.
“I also like to increase my sensitivity setting a few more clicks up from default. A quick way to figure out how high to set the sensitivity is the more you increase it the more ‘clutter’ will appear on your screen. Tiny, smaller images will begin appearing the higher you set your sensitivity. When you reach that point, decrease your sensitivity until the screen cleans up and only the larger images begin appearing.
The best step
“The best step in learning your electronics and learning the difference in rocks, brush, hard bottom/soft bottom, is to simply go out on the lake and idle over areas you know have those types of cover. Learn what the screen shows to help you gain more confidence.
“There are many resources on the Internet like youtube.com that will show you these things on video. But, in my opinion, there is no substitute for going out and spending time simply idling around and learning from what you already know to be on the bottom of the lake and seeing it for yourself on the screen. This gives you the confidence when you are out searching for new water that what you see on your screen is exactly what is on the bottom. In reading and understanding your electronics there is no substitute for idle time out on the water to help you gain confidence.
“Once you learn your electronics and have the confidence in your electronics the sky is the limit to what you will find down there!”
Keep up with Sean Hoernke by visiting http://seanhoernke.com/index.html
