Maybe it is because I’m a technophile, or maybe I just like having big boy toys. Whatever the reason I am a believer in the power of fish finders (aka depth finders) as a valuable tool in my fishing arsenal.
So when I noticed a blurb in a fishing newsletter about a new book, Depthfinders: A Guide to Finding & Catching More Fish by Wayne Heinz, I instantly went and bought myself a copy.
I actually ordered my copy from Inkslinger Books on Amazon.com, which I think may be the online shop of the author. In any case it came signed by the author with a personal message. That was an unexpected nice touch.
I quickly read through it and learned many helpful things that I’m looking forward to putting into practice on the water. It is definitely something I recommend to anyone who wants to get more out of their fish finder.
What Is Inside
Overall it is a great book. Inside he covers topics like:
- How Depthfinders Work
- Correct Transducer Installation
- How To Read a Depthfinder screen
- How To Adjust Depthfinder settings
- Common Issues with Depthfinders
His information is applicable to just about every brand and model – assuming the unit is sophisticated enough to have many of the options he talks about.
What I Liked
I liked how each chapter starts off with a funny cartoon, a good story and then into the material. I also liked that at the end of the chapter he has a nice table summarizing the main points.
The chapters covering how important transducer and cable running are were priceless. While I knew this was important, I didn’t realize how critical it was to proper operation.
But I think the real gem was explaining the ramifications of how that 3D sound wave gets rendered on that 2D screen, and what that means to our fishing. It is the stuff around this topic which gets into the meat of how to decipher what we are seeing on the screen, and what it means for our fishing.
What I Didn’t Like
My biggest complain was the common issues FAQ section. It was interesting, but most of the things were so specific to given models/brands of finders or boats, that most didn’t apply to my setup at all.
This seems like the sort of thing that would have been great to have on a companion website to the book.
Another thing, like just about every other fishing book I’ve read, it seems a bit overpriced for the actual length of the book, especially as a paperback. Maybe fishing is a limited book market, and that is the reason. Whatever the reason, as a consumer I don’t like it.
What Would Have Made It Even Better
While the book was great, I think it would have been even better with a larger focus on how to catch more fish using the finder.
For example in my experience downrigger balls showing up on the finder is a common issue. This blocks seeing fish at that depth. So strategies (beyond move the downrigger farther from the transducer) would have been nice.
Or instead of the FAQ about common transducer/wiring issues, instead have common fishing scenarios – and how to use the depth finder and adjust settings. Especially with before and after pictures.
A cheaper eBook version would have also been a nice option.
What Do You Think?
Did you read the book? What new things did you learn from it? What questions are left unanswered?
